Transylvania women beat Christopher Newport for D-III title

DALLAS (AP) — Madison Kellione scored seven of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, Dasia Thornton added 13 points and 10 rebounds to help Transylvania beat top-ranked Christopher Newport 57-52 Saturday to win the NCAA Division III women’s basketball championship, the first national title in program history.

Kennedi Stacy had eight points on 2-of-14 shooting (1 of 7 from 3-point range) but added 11 rebounds and a career-high eight steals for No. 2 Transylvania (33-0).

“We were so excited to be able to do this for Transylvania and the entire community,” Transylvania coach Juli Fulks said.

The Captains (32-1) lost for the first time since the Sweet 16 of the 2022 tournament.

Christopher Newport’s Lauren Fortescue made two free throws to cap a 12-3 run and make it 47-all with two minutes to play. Kellione put the Pioneers back in front when she made two foul shots with 90 seconds remaining and Gabbi San Diego kissed a left-hand layup off the glass but Thornton scored inside and, after San Diego missed a layup attempt, Kellione made two free throws to give Transylvania a four-point lead with 13.5 seconds to go.

Hannah Kaloi had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Christopher Newport and San Diego finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals.

The Pioneers used an tie-breaking 13-0 run — including eight points by Thornton — in the third quarter to take their biggest lead of the game at 36-23 midway through the period.

Kennedy Harris hit a 3-pointer with 7:05 left in the second quarter that made it 20-18 and Transylvania never again trailed.

Christopher Newport won the men’s D-III national championship when Trey Barber made a buzzer-beating layup to beat Mount Union 74-72 in the title game on March 18.

___

More AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25