VIEWING INFORMATION
The NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship game will be broadcast by the CBS Sports Network (on TV or online). The CBS Sports Network is carried by a number of cable providers, but you may want to make sure that you have access ahead of the game. The game will not be broadcast via NCAA.com or the Hope College YouTube channel.
Channels
AT&T U-Verse (channel 643)
DIRECTV (channel 221)
DISH Network (channel 158)
Spectrum (channel 224)
Xfinity/Comcast (channel 734)
It is also available on a number of subscription-based streaming platforms: AT&T TV, Fubo TV, Hulu Live, and YouTube TV.
Fans also can listen to Hope's radio broadcast on 99.7 and 1450 WHTC and whtc.com.
Hope Women's Basketball Shows Mettle in the Steel City, Advances to National Title Game
-- Story provided by Hope College Athletics --
Tied again after being in control for so long, the Hope College women's basketball team stared into a pressure-packed moment fearlessly.
In the Steel City, the Flying Dutch displayed the mettle needed to keep their championship aspirations alive.
Hope scored the national semifinal's final five points to earn a 57-52 victory against MIAA rival Trine University on Thursday at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
The Flying Dutch (31-1) advanced to face the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for the NCAA Division III women's basketball championship game on Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m. that will be televised on CBS Sports Network and can be heard on the radio and online on 99.7 FM and 1450 WHTC.
NCAA Championship Microsite | Tickets
Watch Hope's Post-Game Press Conference | Watch NCAA Replay | Listen to WHTC Broadcast
"They are a really, really good team. We know even if we get up, they wouldn't just roll over, they would keep fighting," said senior guard Kenedy Schoonveld, who scored a team-high 15 points. "We knew when they would go on runs we just had to stick together. That's been our theme the last couple of weeks, staying tight, staying together. The only people that matter are in this team right now.
"If we continue to play as a unit and trust each other, then we'll be OK. When we get into those moments, we just rely on each other and trust each other."
Trine, MIAA regular-season co-champions with the Flying Dutch this season, tested the Flying Dutch fully.
After trailing 8-0 just 99 seconds into the game and 41-25 midway through the third quarter, the Thunder stormed back. The enders of Hope's 61-game winning streak rumbled on a 26-11 run over the next 10 ½ minutes to pull even. Kayla Wildman's 3-pointer with 3:35 remaining tied the score at 52-52.
Senior guard Sydney Muller (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian HS) answered Wildman's dial up from long range with a driving jumper 22 seconds later. Muller finished with 13 points, one more than teammate Ella McKinney (Haslett, Michigan / Haslett).
Hope then stifled Trine defensively, as the Thunder missed four shots and committed two turnovers over their final five possessions.
Senior center Olivia Voskuil (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian), pictured bottom right, buried a contested jumper in the paint with 26 seconds remaining for a four-point lead. On Trine's next possession, Voskuil stole the ball away by acutely stepping into a passing lane in the paint.
"You've been preparing for this for your whole life - to step up in big moments," Voskuil said. "I think the trust my teammates have in me is really big and allows me to do that."
This will be Hope's fourth national championship game appearance and first since 2010 when the Flying Dutch lost to Washington University in St. Lous at Illinois Wesleyan University.
The Flying Dutch previously won NCAA titles in 2006 under head coach Brian Morehouse and in 1990 under head coach Sue Wise.
Morehouse was joyful and relieved after the fourth intense showdown with Trine (28-4). Hope won three of the meetings, including the final two: the national semifinal and the MIAA Tournament championship game at Trine.
"They've all been tough. They've all kind of been like that. Just when you start to feel good about yourself, you don't," Morehouse said. "Great run by them, great season. I think our league was outstanding this year, and tonight was another showcase of our league being great."
Hope will face a Wisconsin-Whitewater team that defeated Amherst College (Mass.) in Thursday's first national semifinal, 55-51.
Saturday will be the two teams' fifth meeting. The Flying Dutch are 3-1 against Whitewater, including the last meeting, a 78-71 victory in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Thunder Wrap Up Historic Season with 28-4 Record and National Championship Semifinal Appearance
-- Story provided by Trine University Athletics --
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Trine University women's basketball team was defeated by Hope College on Thursday night in the National Championship Seminfinal Round by a score of 57-52. The Thunder will end their season with a 28-4 record, the most wins in a season in school history.
The senior class of Kaylee Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland], Tara Bieniewicz [Chesterfield, Mich. / Dakota], Natalee Kunse [Clare, Mich. / Clare], Rachel Stewart [Pekin, Ind. / Eastern], Kelsy Taylor [Louisville, Ky. / New Albany] and Kayla Wildman [Rockford, Mich. / Rockford] leave a lasting legacy on the program on the national stage as well as a school record for lowest three-point field goal percentage defense (22.1%).
"I'm really proud of our team and how well we battled," head coach Andy Rang said postgame. "That first half looked like two teams that knew each other pretty well."
It was a rough start for the Thunder as Hope went on an 8-0 run on the first four possessions of the game. The Flying Dutch forced two turnovers and a missed shot en route to the scoring spree.
A timeout by head coach Andy Rang swung the momentum just as quickly as Trine scored the next seven points. Kaylee Argyle connected on an and-one and hits a lay-up in traffic as well. Stewart got on the scoreboard for the sixth and seventh points to get to within one, 8-7, with 4:11 to go.
Hope netted the final four points of the period to take a 12-7 lead into the quarter break. The Thunder wrapped up the first with an uncharacteristic six turnovers, five of them live ball turnovers.
"We knew how frustrated we were not scoring in the first quarter," the senior Argyle said in the press conference. "If we can dive deep defensively and make them feel frustrated. When we get those stops, it motivates us and gets our offense going."
Stewart made a pair of field goals in the second quarter to prevent the Thunder from going down double digits, however the first of her makes was to end a scoring drought of almost seven minutes. Sam Underhill [Grand Rapids, Mich. / Northview] and Wildman each scored before the end of the half, as well as a pair of free throws from Kaylee Argyle to give her seven first half points, as Hope maintained a 24-16 advantage at recess.
Trine was held to just 6-for-26 (23.1%) from the field overall and the teams combined for 0-of-15 from long range.
Taylor got in the scoring column early in the third quarter with a lay-up in the paint, but Hope ballooned the lead to 12 before the Thunder called for time with 7:59 to go in the period. Taylor had five points in the quarter alone, all of which coming in the first four minutes. Katie Sloneker [Monroe, Ohio / Monroe] found Taylor on a post-to-post back cut to give Taylor her second field goal of the frame.
The first three-point field goal of the game for either squad came at the 4:51 mark to put Hope up 16, 39-23. Coming out of a timeout, the Flying Dutch took their largest lead of the game 41-23. Alyssa Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland] knocked down a three with 3:21 left in the third, the first of the game.
Stewart was the catalyst for the Trine offense with the final seven points, highlighted by an and-one. Hope led going into the final 10 minutes of action, 47-36.
Bieniewicz scored her first points of the night early in the fourth with a make from distance to make it a single-digit game for the first time since the start of the second stanza. Wildman connected from long range as well a few moments later to get to within four, 48-44.
Stewart commented by saying, "When we saw Tara, our shooter, make her first three and seeing her get hype, I think that's where we started to pick up our energy and get back in to the game."
Underhill came out of the media timeout with five points, including an and-one to make it a one-possession game, 50-47, with 4:20 to go. Wildman, who was credited on the assist to Underhill, converted from deep to dig all the way out of the hole and back to an even 52-all at 3:35 left in the fourth.
"Sometimes I think when teams are down that much, they hang their heads and give up, but I remember I went to the bench and my teammates were like, "There's still 15 minutes left, we got this!"" Wildman mentioned postgame.
The next possession saw Hope reclaim the lead at 54-52 with a jump shot in the paint. The teams saved their timeouts for late in a close game, as both teams stepped up defensively out of the stoppages. On the third however, the Flying Dutch would use the shot clock and score with 26 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game.
A turnover on the other end forced the Thunder to start fouling, but to no avail as Hope hit one more free throw to seal the 57-52 victory and advance to the NCAA DIII National Championship game versus the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Stewart was the leading scorer with 16 points and four blocked shots, as well as tied for the team-lead in rebounds Underhill at six. The bench contributed 35 of the team's 52 total.
