The Hope College women's basketball team is feeling sweet after moving on to the second weekend of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The nationally-ranked Flying Dutch won at DePauw University (Ind.), 70-55, on Saturday to earn their 14th Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history. 

Hope (No. 10 WBCA/No. 12 D3hoops) will face the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (No. 9 D3hoops/No. 16 WBCA) on Friday, Dec. 8, at a sectional site to be announced on Sunday, March 3. 

It is a rematch of the 2022 national title game that the Flying Dutch won, 75-58, in Pittsburgh. The other matchup will feature the University of Wisconsin-Stout (No. 23 D3hoops) against defending national champion Transylvania University (No. 2 D3hoops and WBCA).

At DePauw, Hope (26-3) overcame the host school and an energized crowd. The Orange and Blue took the lead, 2-1, on a Raven Jemison layup and never looked back en  

"Just a great win on the road in a great environment, against a hall-of-fame coach," head coach Brian Morehouse said of Kris Huffman, who has 721 career wins in 31 seasons  "We just had to hang with them, as tough as they are and as physical as they are on the glass."

It was Hope's first game at DePauw since a 76-60 victory in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Flying Dutch won six road games that postseason en route to the program's second of three national titles.

On Saturday, the Flying Dutch built a 40-24 halftime lead before the Tigers roared back with a 19-point third quarter. DePauw (22-8) trailed, 53-43, heading into the final 10 minutes.

Hope reasserted control by opening the first two minutes of the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run 

"Our defensive consistency after that [10-point score margin] got a lot better," Morehouse said. "I thought we tightened things up on the defensive end, made a couple of adjustments heading into the fourth quarter to try and keep them out of certain parts of the floor more, and it really made a big difference." 

Sophomore Sydney Vis (Byron Center, Michigan / South Christian HS) led the attack for Hope with a game-high 22 points. Vis also nabbed a game-high five steals. 

Junior Olivia Bellows (Lake City, Michigan / Lake City) brought the spark from the bench with 14 points. 

Jemison (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Kentwood) reeled in eight rebounds, and junior Jada Garner (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow) totaled four assists.

DePauw had two in double figures with Ava Hassel picking up 13 points, and Riley Mont adding in 10 points.