Game 30 - NCAA Sweet Sixteen
No. 2Â Transylvania (29-0, 18-0Â HCAC) vs UW-Stout (24-7, 8-6 WIAC)
Friday, March 8, 2024 | 6 PM | Whitewater, WI. | Kachel Gymnasium in Williams Center
Watch | Live Stats | Tournament Page
THE LONGEST ACTIVE WIN STREAK IN THE NCAA IN ANY SPORT
Transylvania's win streak is now at 62 games after defeating Chatham 61-40 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and Ohio Wesleyan 70-55 in the second round.  The Pioneers have won 93 of their last game 94 games dating back to the 2021-2022 season.
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 - 62
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 - 62
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 - 62
9 - Thomas More - 61
9 - Hope - 61
With Oklahoma Softball losing to Louisiana last Sunday, Transy's 62 is at the top of the list.
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.
ATOP OF THE NCAA
Transy is first in the NCAA in scoring defense, giving up just 42.5 ppg. Transy is one of three teams that remain undefeated this season.Â
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.Â
This year Transy hosted Chatham University, Emory University, and Ohio Wesleyan University in the opening rounds.Â
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 OWU: The no. 2 ranked Pioneers defeated Ohio Wesleyan 70-55 behind Sadie Wurth's career night. She'd finish the game with 25 points and 8 rebounds while three different Pioneers finished the game in double figures.
With the win, Transylvania advances to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in program history, and the third consecutive season.
The win is the 62nd straight for Transylvania, who now holds the third longest win streak in NCAA DIII women's basketball history, the seventh longest in all divisions for women's basketball, and the eighth longest win streak in all of college basketball history.
After a back and forth first couple of minutes, Transy turned a 7-7 tie into a 25-9 lead in a span of five minutes. Sadie Wurth scored 10 of Transy's 18 points in the 18-2 run.
Ohio Wesleyan turned things around quickly in the second quarter as they switched to a full court press. This caused turnovers for the Pioneers and points for the Battling Bishops, as they'd outscore Transy 14-9 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 11 points heading into the second half.
Transy's offense shot 8-12 in the third quarter for 20 points while holding OWU to 16 points for a 61-49 advantage heading into the final quarter. Both teams would match each other with 16 fourth quarter points as the Pioneers would send the Transy faithful home happy with a 15 point victory to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen matchup next weekend against Wisconsin-Stout. Stout defeated Puget sound 61-40 tonight.
Daisia Thornton finished with her fourth consecutive double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kennedi Stacy added 13 points and 3 assists. Laken Ball finished with 10 points and was 2-4 from behind the arc.
Head Coach Juli Fulks earned her 398th coaching win.
THE SWEET SIXTEEN BRACKET
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The No. 2 Pioneers were not selected by the NCAA to host the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games, and instead will be traveling to Whitewater, Wisconsin and the No. 22 ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater Eagles will host.
In the Wisconsin-Whitewater sectional, No. 2 Transylvania, No. 10 Hope, No. 16Â Wisconsin-Whitewater, and R.V. Wisconsin-Stout will battle it out for a trip to the Final Four.
Sweet Sixteen matchups
- Transylvania vs Wisconsin-Stout - Friday, March 8th, 6 PM
- Wisconsin-Whitewater vs Hope College - Friday, March 8th, 8:30 PM.
Elite Eight date/time
- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, March 9th, 8 PM
SCOUTING THE UW-STOUT BLUE DEVILS
Winners of 11 straight heading into Friday's matchup, the Blue Devils are 23-7 with five Top-25 victories this season. They finished the WIAC slate 8-6, good for third place behind UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater.
*Regular Season Champion
#Tournament Champion
Top-25 winsÂ
Dec. 16 - 77-76 win vs #17 Trine
Jan. 3 - 82-53 win vs #25 UW-Stevens Point
Feb. 3 - 69-60 win vs #5 UW-Whitewater
Feb. 21 - 69-59 win vs #8 UW-Whitewater
Feb. 23 - 77-65 win vs #14 UW-Oshkosh
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.  Â
GAME 1Â FULL RECAPÂ |Â BOX SCOREÂ GAME 2Â FULL RECAPÂ |Â 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 1Â FULL RECAPÂ |Â BOX SCOREÂ GAME 2Â FULL RECAPÂ |Â BOX SCORE
LEADING THE NATIONALLY RANKED PIONEERS
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.Â
Awards the Pioneers accrued throughout the 2022-23 season is as follows:Â
-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 398-142.
___________ OF THE YEAR
COACH OF THE YEARÂ
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. Coach Fulks is now 2Â wins away from her 400th career coaching win.
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 HONORSÂ
Dasia Thornton - HCAC Player of the Year
Kennedi Stacy - HCAC Defensive Player of the Year
Sadie Wurth - HCAC Second TeamÂ
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 62Â games
- Transy has reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the 3rd straight season and 4th time in program history
- Transy has finished the regular season unbeaten for the 3rd consecutive seasonÂ
- Transy has won 20 or more games 8 different times in the last 10 seasons
- Juli Fulks is now 2 wins away from 400
                                       Â
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:Â None.
Others receiving votes:Â Â 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.
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To keep up with the defending national champions, follow Transy Women's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@TUWBX)
