Game 32 - NCAA FINAL FOUR

No. 2 Transylvania (31-0) vs No. 1 NYU (29-0)

Thursday, March 14th, 2024 | 7:30 PM | Watch | Live Stats 

THE LONGEST ACTIVE WIN STREAK IN THE NCAA IN ANY SPORT
Transylvania's win streak is now at 64 games after defeating UW-Stout and No. 16 UW-Whitewater in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight to advance to the program's second NCAA Final Four. Juli Fulks earned her 400th career win in the 14 point victory over UW-Whitewater.



The win streak is tied for the 3rd longest streak in NCAA DIII women's basketball history.

1 - Washington University of St. Louis - 81
2 - Amherst - 68
3 - Transy - 64
4 - Thomas More - 61
4 - Hope - 61
6 - Capital - 60
7 - DePauw - 58

All divisions for women's basketball

1 - UConn - 111
2 - UConn - 90
3 - Washington University of St. Louis - 81
4 - Ashland - 73
5 - UConn - 70
6 - Amherst - 68
7 - Transy - 64
8 - Thomas More - 61
8 - Hope - 61
10 - Capital - 60
11 - DePauw - 58

All divisions for men and women

1 - UConn - 101
2 - UConn - 90
3 - UCLA Men's - 81
4 - Washington University of St. Louis - 81
5 - Ashland - 73
6 - UConn - 70
7 - Amherst - 68
8 - Transy - 64
9 - Thomas More - 61
9 - Hope - 61


REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
The Pioneers won the HCAC Regular Season Championship for the 3rd consecutive season, which also was the third straight season that the Pioneers have finished their regular season schedule undefeated. It is the sixth time under Juli Fulks that Transy has won the HCAC Regular Season title. Transy earned the 1 seed for the tournament.


HCAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS

The Pioneers defeated both Franklin and Mount St. Joseph to capture their sixth straight HCAC tournament championship. Dasia Thornton was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting back to back double-doubles. Kennedi Stacy was named tournament MVP after scoring 32 points in the championship game.



THE OFFICIAL BRACKET


HOSTING THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
For the third season in a row, Transylvania hosted the opening rounds of the NCAA DIII tournament at the Clive M. Beck Center at Transylvania University. In 2022, Transy won their first three games in the tournament while hosting all the way to the Elite Eight matchups. In 2023, Transy won the NCAA championship and hosted until the Final Four. 

This year Transy hosted Chatham University, Emory University, and Ohio Wesleyan University in the opening rounds. 

RESULTS
Game 1: Ohio Wesleyan 64, Emory 54
Game 2: Transylvania 61, Chatham 40
Game 3: Transylvania 70, Ohio Wesleyan 55

LAST TIME OUT
Recap from Transy vs UW-Whitewater

The No. 2 ranked Pioneers punched their ticket to the NCAA Final Four in Columbus after defeating the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 62-48. The Pioneers advance to play New York University, who the Pioneers defeated 73-69 last season in the NCAA Elite Eight. The win was one of many milestones on the night.
 

With the win, Transylvania not only punches their ticket to Columbus, Ohio for this Thursday's Final Four matchup versus NYU, but it extends the NCAA's longest active win streak in any sport to 64 games. It's the second time in program history the Pioneers have reached the NCAA Final Four, having done so last season.

"I am super proud of this group. Obviously when you have to go on the road and play the home team, you know how much better you have to be." Head Coach Juli Fulks said after the win.
 

Transylvania found themselves in a similar spot from yesterday after the first quarter of tonight's Elite Eight matchup. The Pioneers trailed by one after the first quarter, and one going into the half.

Transy rode a 18-6 run in the third quarter to flip a 22-23 deficit into a 40-29 lead. Sydney Wright was in total control on offense, scoring nine third quarter points to shift the momentum to the Pioneers.

"It was a little bit of the coaches getting on me, and especially Coach P. (Lea Wise Prewitt). She told me that I was stronger than everybody out there and to take it to the goal, so that's what I did." Wright said. The Pioneers led 44-39 heading into the fourth.
 

The Pioneer defense held the Warhawks to just nine fourth quarter points, while hitting free throws down the stretch to win the Elite Eight matchup by fourteen and punch their ticket to the Final Four.

The win is number 400 for Head Coach Juli Fulks.
 

"Blessed. Blessed and grateful when you get to do this." Fulks said following the win. "We've had a team that's put up a lot of wins together. That's probably not the biggest milestone of the day. The biggest one is my parent's fiftieth anniversary today.  That's probably the piece that keeps everything going. I have awesome parents that are at every game, and they have been at most of those wins and nearly all of them since we've moved to this side of the country." Fulks said after being asked about what she's feeling after reaching 400 career wins.
 

Five different Pioneers scored in the win. Dasia Thornton led all scorers on the floor with 16 points and 11 rebounds, her thirteenth double-double of the season. Sydney Wright finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Sadie Wurth was 4-5 from the field with 14 points. Kennedi Stacy and Laken Ball both finished with 9 points.

The Pioneers are now 31-0 for the second time in program history. They'll face undefeated New York University (29-0) this Thursday at 7:30 PM at The Performance Arena on the campus of Capital University.

To keep up with Transy Women's Basketball, follow the team on Instagram and X @tuwbx

AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR...

FINAL FOUR MATCHUPS

- Transylvania vs New York University - Thursday, March 14th, 7:30 PM

- Wartburg vs Smith - Thursday, March 14th, 5 PM.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TIME

- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, March 16th, 7 PM

SCOUTING THE NYU VIOLETS
Undefeated heading into today's game, NYU has dominated the competition this season. The Violets' last loss came at the hands of Transylvania last season in the Elite Eight in Lexington, Kentucky, a 73-69 loss to the eventual 2023 National Champions. The Pioneers and NYU are the only two remaining undefeated teams this season. 

2023-24 Women's Basketball Standings

SCHOOL	CONF. GP	CONF. RECORD	CONF. WIN %	CONF. RF / RA	GP	RECORD	WIN %	RF / RA
New York	20	20-0	1.000	1600-1081	43	43-0	1.000	3451-2312
Washington St. Louis	14	10-4	.714	1039-908	28	18-10	.643	1995-1799
Emory	14	9-5	.643	934-918	26	19-7	.731	1832-1604
Chicago	14	9-5	.643	914-881	25	16-9	.640	1779-1612
Rochester	14	6-8	.429	962-1023	25	11-14	.440	1697-1705
Case Western Reserve	14	4-10	.286	891-993	25	11-14	.440	1604-1655
Carnegie Mellon	14	3-11	.214	901-973	25	11-14	.440	1728-1612
Brandeis	14	1-13	.071	749-1068	25	5-20	.200	1450-1859

Players to watch

PAT DEACON CLASSIC CHAMPS
Transylvania Women's Basketball won the Pat Deacon Classic last month after beating Maryville College (72-42), and Wisconsin Lutheran College (54-48). The Pat Deacon Classic saw a dominating first game from the Pioneers as Kennedi Stacy would have 23 points in 19 minutes after going 6-9 on three point shots against Maryville. In the second game against Wisconsin Lutheran, the Pioneers found themselves trailing 10-15 after the first quarter, then led a strong comeback thanks to the efforts of Dasia Thornton with a 25 point and 13 rebound game. Thornton would earn Pat Deacon Classic MVP while Stacy would earn Pat Deacon Classic All-Tournament Team Honors.   
GAME 1 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE GAME 2 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE

GRATZ PARK PRIVATE WEALTH HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Transylvania continued to dominate at home as they defeated Edgewood College 62-46  and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 71-59 to win the Holiday Tournament. Dasia Thornton finished with a game high 22 points in the championship while earning her fourth double-double of the season after grabbing 10 rebounds. Laken Ball was named to the All-Tournament Team and Sadie Wurth was named tournament MVP.
GAME 1 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE GAME 2 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE

THE WBCA DIII COACH OF THE YEAR
Transylvania Women's Basketball Head Coach Juli Fulks has been named the WCBA DIII Coach of the Year, WBCA announced yesterday.

Fulks will receive the Pat Summitt Trophy, named for the late legendary University of Tennessee coach and awarded annually to the coaches of the year in each of the WBCA's membership divisions.

"The WBCA is proud to announce Julie Fulks as the 2024 recipient of the Pat Summitt Trophy presented to the WBCA NCAA Division III Coach of the Year," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle M. Donehew. "Julie was chosen for this honor after leading her team to an exceptional season. The WBCA recognizes and applauds her leadership example that can be seen in her student-athletes, institution and community."

Fulks's squad is 31-0 heading into today's NCAA Final Four matchup vs. NYU, and hold the NCAA's longest active winning streak in any NCAA sport regardless of division. The Pioneers have won 31 games in back to back seasons for the first time in program history. In Transy's last game, Fulks won her 400th career game as a head coach. 

Coach Fulks's squad placed five players on the HCAC All-Conference awards list.

• Dasia Thornton, First Team
• Kennedi Stacy, First Team
• Sydney Wright, Second Team
• Laken Ball, Second Team
• Sadie Wurth, Second Team

Coach Fulks was named HCAC Coach of the Year following the conclusion of the regular season. Dasia Thornton was named HCAC Player of the Year, and Kennedi Stacy was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Year. 

After winning the NCAA Championship last season, Fulks has led her team back to the NCAA Final Four. 

WBCA DIII ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR
Transylvania Women's Basketball Associate Head Coach Hannah Varel has been named the 2024 WBCA DIII Assistant Coach of the Year, the WBCA announced this evening.

WBCA  Assistant Coach of the Year is presented to one associate head coach or assistant coach in each membership division who demonstrates commitment to their program, their student-athletes and their head coach; their impact coaching on court; their mentorship and impact on other coaches; and their professional manner and attitude.

Varel, a 2023 Thirty Under Thirty Honoree, has helped Transylvania not just dominate the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, but all of NCAA DIII as well. Since joining the Pioneers in the 2020-2021 season, Varel has helped the Pioneers win their 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th consecutive HCAC Tournament Championships while helping lead Transy to three straight undefeated regular seasons, back-to-back NCAA Final-Four appearances, three Elite Eight appearances, and one National Championship.



An assistant coach her first three years at Transy, Hannah was promoted to Associate Head Coach before the 2023-2024 season. Varel has been a huge factor in Transylvania's 64 game winning streak, the longest in the NCAA in any division or sport. 




LEADING THE DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS


Juli Fulks enters her tenth season for the 2023-24 season and has created a dynasty as one of the NCAA DIII's best. Fulks has dominated competition since becoming the head coach of Transylvania, winning 211 games in her previous nine seasons. Fulks' teams has won the HCAC regular season championship five times, and the HCAC tournament championship five seasons in a row.

In her first season, Transy earned an at large bid to the NCAA DIII tournament and became the first undefeated team in HCAC regular season history (18-0). They finished the season ranked 13th nationally, the highest in program history to that point.

The Pioneers won their first NCAA tournament game under Fulks in the 2018-2019 season when they defeated Piedmont 77-67.

In the 2021-2022 season, Fulks' squad finished the regular season perfect at 16-0, and then won the HCAC Tournament against Anderson 81-51. The Pioneers hosted the NCAA Regional for the first time ever and reached the elite eight for the first time in program history before losing to Trine University 47-54 to end the season 22-1, a then program best.
Fulks led Transy to a perfect 33-0 last season, winning the first national championship in school history. 

Awards the Pioneers accrued throughout the 2022-23 season is as follows: 

-Madison Kellione - NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner, NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament MVP, Women's Basketball Coaches Association First Team All-American, D3Hoops Second Team All-American, Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 First Team, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team & Co-Player of the Year, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year from a Female Sport.
-Kennedi Stacy - NCAA DIII Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team, Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Third Team, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team & Defensive Player of the Year.
-Daisa Thornton - NCAA DIII Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team, Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Third Team, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team.
-Laken Ball - Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Second & Sportsmanship Team.
-Coach Juli Fulks - Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Coach of the Year, D3Hoops Co-DIII Coach of the Year, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
-Tom Bolson Academic Team Award: Madison Kellione, McLain Murphy, Emilie Teall.
-RAFY Coaching Staff of the Year.
Juli Fulks' all time record sits at 400-142.

___________ OF THE YEAR

COACH OF THE YEAR 
For the third consecutive season and fifth time as head coach of the Pioneers, Juli Fulks was named HCAC Coach of the Year. Fulks's squad dominated the regular season competition this year, finishing undefeated in the regular season for the third consecutive season (25-0, 18-0 HCAC) and out-scoring opponents 73.3-41.6 while having the no. 1 scoring defense in the NCAA. Fulks's program finished as the only program men or women in the NCAA or NAIA to finish the 2023 year undefeated.

Under Fulks, the Pioneers were voted 1st in the 2023-2024 Preseason WBCA Coaches Poll, and finished the regular season at 2nd in the rankings. 



HCAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dasia Thornton was named the HCAC Player of the Year after putting together a dominant 2023-2024 regular season. She finished the season second in the HCAC in scoring (14.8 ppg), first in rebounds (209 total, 8.4 rpg), first in field goal percentage (143-242 FGs, 59%), and in blocks (38). She earned 9 double-doubles this season.



HCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
For the second consecutive year, Kennedi Stacy was named the HCAC Defensive Player of the Year. Stacy finished the 2023-2024 regular season first on the team 44 steals while finishing second with 74 assists. She had a season high 7 steals in the win over Earlham to start 2024 and had a season high 23 points in the win over Maryville in November.



HCAC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS 
Dasia Thornton - HCAC Player of the Year
Kennedi Stacy - HCAC Defensive Player of the Year
Sadie Wurth - HCAC Second Team 
Laken Ball - HCAC Second Team
Sydney Wright - HCAC Second Team

HCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Dasia Thornton - December 4th, 2023
Kennedi Stacy - February 19th, 2024


TRANSY STATS 'N STREAKS

• Transy has the longest winning streak in NCAA in any sport or division at 64 games
• Transy has reached the NCAA Final Four for the 2nd straight season
• Transy has finished the regular season unbeaten for the 3rd consecutive season 
• Transy has won 30 games in back to back seasons
• Juli Fulks has reached 400 career wins

                                        WBCA TOP 25

Rank	School (Record)	Total Points	First-Place Votes	Last Week's Rank
1	NYU (25-0)	248	8	1
2	Transylvania (27-0)	242	2	2
3	Rhode Island College (27-0)	230	0	3
4	Christopher Newport (26-1)	219	0	4
5	Scranton (25-2)	203	0	4
6	Wartburg (25-2)	195	0	6
7	Gustavus Adolphus (25-2)	189	0	8
8	Hardin-Simmons (24-3)	167	0	10
9	Washington and Lee (26-2)	166	0	11
10	Hope (24-3)	148	0	7
11	Catholic (25-2)	142	0	9
12	DeSales (25-2)	139	0	14
13	Bowdoin (25-2)	129	0	16
14	Smith (25-3)	124	0	15
15	Johns Hopkins (24-3)	103	0	12
16	UW-Whitewater (22-4)	102	0	13
17	Carroll, WI (23-4)	69	0	22
18	Webster (27-0)	66	0	21
19	Loras (23-4)	61	0	17
20	Illinois Wesleyan (22-5)	57	0	18
21	Gettysburg (24-3)	52	0	24
22	Vassar (25-2)	49	0	23
23	Millikin (22-5)	42	0	19
24	UMass-Dartmouth (23-4)	34	0	20
25	UW-Oshkosh (22-5)	23	0	25

Dropped out: None.

Others receiving votes:  SUNY New Paltz (24-3) 14; Bates (22-5) 11; Emory (19-6) 9; Baldwin-Wallace (20-6) 4; Millsaps (24-4) 4; Springfield (22-5) 4; Mary Hardin-Baylor (21-6) 2; UW-Stout (21-7) 2; DePauw (21-7) 1.

The WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll Committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 10 NCAA Division III regions. The committee for the 2023-24 season: Samantha Crough, Regis (MA); Drew Gaeng, Hendrix; Karin Harvey, Montclair State; Melissa Kolbe, Wittenberg; Casey Kushiyama, Puget Sound; Jen McCormick, Illinois College; Bobbi Morgan, Ursinus; Mia Smith, Illinois Wesleyan; Daphne Thompson, SUNY Oneonta; Kelly Thompson, Roger Williams.

 

To keep up with the defending national champions, follow Transy Women's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@TUWBX)