The women in orange left the Saints feeling all blue on Saturday night in Kentucky. Photo by Timothy D. Sofranko for Hope athletics

There will be a new champion in Division III women's basketball for the first time since 2014 as Hope knocked off one-time defending champion Thomas More 74-67 on Thomas More's floor in the second round.

• Second-round scoreboard
• Updated NCAA Tournament bracket
• More women's tournament headlines

The Saints, who had won the 2015 national title as well before vacating it this past November, lost for the first time since March 15, 2014. Hope led by eight points on two separate occasions in the second half before Thomas More (28-1) cut the deficit to one, 64-63, with 3:34 left in the game. But Angelique Gaddy converted a three-point play, then hit three out of four free throws to keep the Saints at bay. Mandy Traversa hit four foul shots in the final 13 seconds to ice the victory.

Traversa finished with a team-high 22 points. Madison Temple had 22 for Thomas More, while Abby Owings added 20 on 8-for-21 shooting. Hope advances to the Sweet 16 and will face Christopher Newport. Sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be announced on Sunday afternoon.

"That's how we are best," Traversa said. "When we're playing as individuals, we're not so great, but when we play together, we can beat anyone. Right now we're on top of the world."

St. Thomas remained in the unbeaten column after a high-scoring fourth quarter, rallying to defeat Chicago 73-69. The Tommies trailed by as many as eight points in the second half but took the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter. Kaitlin Langer scored a game-high 19 points, including a 7-for-8 performance from the foul line. She scored 13 in the second half, going 5-for-6 from the floor. "In the first half they were very set on keeping it locked down and packed in by the block," Langer said. "In the second half it was a little bit looser. That's where those looks came from."

Monica Holguin scored 13 and added a game-high 10 assists as Trinity (Texas) improved to 28-1. By Roosevelt Joubert, special to d3photography.com

Trinity (Texas) advanced to the round of 16 on the backs of a strong fourth quarter, defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 77-66. Micah Weaver scored 11 of her 17 points in the final period, while Monica Holguin had half of her 10 assists in the final 10 minutes to help the Tigers (29-1) advance. 

The Tigers will face Whitman at a site to be determined in next Friday's sectional semifinals. Whitman emerged from the NWC pod with a 69-67 victory over Puget Sound.

Puget Sound trailed 54-41 at the end of the third quarter before rallying within three points at 66-63 with 1:03 to play. Casey Poe's jumper pushed the Whitman lead back to five and she added a free throw with 25 seconds left to extend lead to six. Elizabeth Prewitt hit a three for the Loggers with 21 seconds left to cut the deficit in half and they had two chances to tie the game after Whitman failed to inbound the ball. The Loggers missed their first three-point attempt and then Samone Jackson was fouled on the second. Needing to make all three free throws with 0.4 seconds left, she made the first and missed the last two, sealing Whitman's win. 

Sam Porter scored 22 points and had a game-high seven steals to lead Christopher Newport to a 69-51 win vs. Lynchburg. The steals broke the school record for steals in an NCAA Tournament game set by former Captains great Karen Barefoot, now head coach at Old Dominion. It's CNU's sixth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16.

Mass-Dartmouth extended its first NCAA Tournament trip into a second weekend, defeating Montclair State 71-63. The Corsairs (24-5) shot 10-for-14 in the first quarter in building a 23-13 win with Alicia Kutil scoring 13 of her 20 in the first 10 minutes. 

Kara Houppert scored a career-high 23 points to lift SUNY Geneseo to a 78-72 victory vs. Rochester. The Yellowjackets hit back-to-back three-pointers to open the final frame, cutting the Knights' lead to 60-57 with 7:44 to go, but that was as close as the visitors would draw. Bridgit Ryan spurred a 12-4 run for the Knights over the next 3:39, extending the lead to 72-61 with 3:05 to go. The Yellowjackets moved to within six points, 72-66, on a three-pointer with 1:13 left, but Geneseo sank six of their eight free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

Amherst and Ohio Northern each remained unbeaten, with the Purple and White defeating Mary Washington 60-51 and the Polar Bears holding off Trine 55-48. Amy Bullimore scored a game-high 20 for ONU. 

Marymount advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010, defeating Albright 69-59 behind 21 points and eight rebounds from Nicole Viscuso. The Saints will face St. Thomas, a team they met in the Sweet 16 in 1996.

Babson won at FDU-Florham in overtime of a game that ground to a halt, at least in the scoring column. Neither team scored in the final 2:18 of regulation, and the battle continued for the first 3:59 of overtime as well before Rachel Groom hit two free throws to give the Devils a 61-59 lead. But freshman Jacqueline Jozefick hit one of two free throws, then took advantage of an FDU turnover and scored with 5.9 seconds left for the 62-61 lead, which ended up being the final after an overtime in which the two teams combined for five points.

SUNY New Paltz continued its run, moving on to the Sweet 16 with an 83-80 win at Ithaca, avenging a regular-season loss in the process. Lindsay Bettke scored a game-high 26 in the win. "The way we played is completely different from last time," said senior guard/forward Morgan Roessler. "The way we defended is different and the way we move the ball around is completely different so I do not think they were ready for that at all and that is what got them."

Madeline Homoly scored a game-high 26 points off the bench as Wash U moved on with a 83-74 win vs. Wheaton (Ill.). Homoly made a layup with 5:50 left in the third quarter to give the Bears a 46-45 lead and they never trailed again.

SUNY Poly took the first lead of the game at Scranton, but the Lady Royals took control shortly thereafter as Scranton won 76-65, moving to the Sweet 16 for the 21st time in program history. Bridgette Mann had 19 points and a game-high seven assists.