Hope tops Washington in sectional opener

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March 10, 2006

BOX SCORE

March 10, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - Hope College improved to 30-1 and advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals following a 92-89 win over Washington University in the Great Lakes/Central Sectional. Hope takes on DePauw in Saturday's national quarterfinals at 7 p.m. The Bears finished the season at 25-3.

The Flying Dutch knocked down 12 of their first 14 shots in jumping out to a 34-15 lead just 8:45 into the game. The Bears battled back with a 15-0 run late in the half to knot the score at 43-43. Hope outscored Washington 12-2 over the final 2:36 and went to the break with a 55-45 lead. The Flying Dutch hit 60.6 percent shooting from the floor over the opening 20 minutes.

Washington took its first lead of the contest at 60-59  with 11:56 left, but Hope eventually pushed the margin back to double digits at 76-66 with 6:43 remaining. The Bears closed to within three on Kelly Manning's three-pointer with 2:36 left, but Hope countered with a three from Jordyn Boles on its next possession to make it 88-82.

Rebecca Parker's jumper with 1:49 remaining closed the Washington deficit to 88-84 and Manning's layup off of Parker's steal cut the gap to 88-86 with 1:18 left. Manning missed a three which would have given the Bears the lead and Bria Ebels pushed the Hope margin to four on a jumper with just 20 seconds left. Boles hit two free throws with nine seconds remaining to make it 92-86 before Sarah Schell nailed a three-pointer with just over a second left.

Bria Ebels led Hope with 27 points followed by Boles with 18, Ellen Wood with 13 and Linda Ebels with 12. Manning led all scorers with 31, while Rebecca Parker added a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. Katie Benson and Danielle Beehler each scored 12.