Amherst players celebrate after defeating Washington University in the championship game at the Women's Division III Final Four at Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill., Saturday, March 19, 2011. (AP Photo/The Pantagraph, Carlos T. Miranda)
By JACK McCARTHY
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The challenge was a familiar one for Amherst College in a bid for its first NCAA Division III women's basketball championship – find a way to finally beat Washington-Saint Louis University.
And this time it was finally advantage Amherst as the Lord Jeffs beat the Bears 64-55 Saturday night in the Division III finale at Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center.
Amherst (32-1), ranked second in the nation, finished the season with a 19-game win streak. Washington, which had beaten the Lord Jeffs the last two years in the Division III semifinals, closed at 25-6.
Caroline Stedman scored a game-high 19 points for the Lord Jeffs, while Kim Fiorentino added 10.
Three players scored in double figures for Washington, led by Dani Hoover with 13 points.
Amherst snapped a 39-39 tie and dominated the game's final 7:34, hitting three 3 pointers as the lead ballooned to 57-44 with 3:28 to play.
Washington never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Amherst College
Each team struggled with poor shooting in the game's opening minutes. Amherst shook off shooting woes first and used a 9-0 run to open a 14-5 lead at the 9:03 mark following Jackie Renner's driving layup.
The Lord Jeffs lead hit double digits less then three minutes later when Lem Atanga McCormick's 3-pointer opened a 17-7 lead. But the Jeffs didn't score again for four minutes as the Bears crept back with five free throws and a Brianne Monahan putback to cut the lead to 17-14 with 3:20 left.
Stedman broke the cold spell with a 3-pointer, a fast break layup and a drive off a feed in a 59-second span to push lead back to nine at 24-15 with 1:21 showing in the half.
But Washington's Hoover answered with a jumper and Mohahan hit a baseline 3-pointer to close the gap to 24-20 as halftime neared.
The advantage vanished in the first 90 seconds of the second half. Berger's 3-pointer and a Hoover jumper gave the Bears a 25-24 lead. The Jeffs regained the edge at 27-26 on Stedman's second 3-pointer, but the advantage see-sawed from there with four lead changes and a tie until Amherst took command.
In 2010, Washington snapped Amherst's 31-game winning streak and claimed an 86-75 NCAA semifinal victory at Illinois Wesleyan. In 2009, the Bears beat the Lord Jeffs 65-49 in semifinal play in Holland, Mich. Washington has won five NCAA titles, including four straight between 1998 and 2001. The Bears have also been runner-up three times.
Amherst was playing in its first final and defeating Christopher Newport 69-59 on Friday behind 18 points from Stedman and 14 from Lehman. The Lord Jeffs closed the season as only the fourth Division III team with back-to-back 30-plus win season.
Washington (1999-00), Capital (1994-95) and Southern Maine (2005-06) are the only others. Head coach G.P. Gromacki, meanwhile, wrapped up his 11th season with 20 or more victories. He's never had a losing campaign since starting his career at St. Lawrence University in 1998.
He's the second-winning active coach across all NCAA divisions. His .856 winning percentage entering the finals trailed only Connecticut's Geno Auriemma (.862).In Saturday's third place game, Christopher Newport (30-4) beat host Illinois Wesleyan (27-6) 64-58 behind 23 points from Chelsie Schweers.