CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The stage is set for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship final with No. 3 Findlay and No. 5 Hillsdale battling it out for top honors in the Callan Athletic Center.
The top two seeds of the conference tournament bracket went down as No. 2 Walsh and tourney host Cedarville saw their postseason runs come to an end.
Findlay and Hillsdale will play for the championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET streamed live on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
No. 3 Findlay 70, No. 2 Walsh 59
The Cavaliers made a late second-half charge, but it was too little too late for Walsh as Findlay held on down the stretch to advance to Saturday’s title game.
The Oilers sustained their hot shooting, leading by as many as 26 with 6:13 left in the second half. Findlay held the edge wire-to-wire and the combination of Anna Hintz and Haley Horstman was too much to overcome for the Walsh defense.
One day after putting up 100 on Ohio Dominican in the quarterfinals, Findlay shot almost 52 percent from the field in the first half and settled out at over 49 percent from the game.
Only seven three-point baskets were made between both teams, but Hintz and Horstman each made eight field goals and combined for 39 points.
Hintz also pulled in 16 boards. Walsh was paced by Great Midwest Freshman of the Year Mayci Sales as she was one rebound shy of a double-double (12 pts, 9 reb) and Jill Blacksten had 11 while Holly Grober scored 10.
Walsh ended the game on a 13-4 run in the final 4:25.
No. 5 Hillsdale 82, No. 1 Cedarville 64
The Chargers stunned the Cedarville faithful on the Yellow Jackets home floor, racing out to a 21-9 lead after the first quarter.
For the second straight game, Hillsdale dominated the glass after ousting Ursuline in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Chargers held a +14 edge in rebounds while.
Hillsdale beat Cedarville at its own game with proficient shooting numbers. The Chargers shot just under 57 percent from the field in the first half compared to a 29 percent clip as the Yellow Jackets tried to get tracked offensively.
Makenna Ott was 9-of-14 from the field to lead four Chargers in double figures with 20 points. Allie Dittmer carved out a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Allie Dewire, HC’s top scorer vs. Ursuline, had 15.
Jaycie Burger added 13 off the bench and the Chargers sank a total of eight three-point baskets.
Like the Walsh/Findlay outcome, Hillsdale led for almost the whole duration and its largest lead swelled up to 24 points late in the third quarter.