The match-up was a rematch of the 2010 national championship game, which the Bears won 65-59.

Senior Alex Hoover and her sister Dani, a junior, led the team with 16 and 15 points scored, respectively.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, and the No. 12 Bears took a 27-26 lead over the No. 4 Flying Dutch into halftime.

With 10:29 remaining in the game, Dani Hoover connected on a three-pointer to give Wash. U. a 40-37 lead that would grow to as large as 10 points before Hope fought back to lose by four.

The Bears shot 37.5 percent from the floor on the game and 47.4 percent (9 for 19) from three-point range. Hope shot just 28.1 percent from the floor in the game.

Hope standout Carrie Snikkers scored 23 points in the loss, but no other player on the Flying Dutch scored more than six points.

Wash. U. lost to the Flying Dutch on Dec. 29 but has won the past two postseason games against Hope, including the 2010 national championship game.

The Bears will face No. 1 Thomas More College (30-0) on Friday in the third round of the NCAA tournament. Thomas More will host NCAA sectional play, with the University of Chicago facing Greensboro College in the other third-round match-up.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Then graduate student Jaimie McFarlin and senior Zoë Unruh hoist the 2010 Division III national championship trophy after the Bears defeated Hope College in the title game. Wash. U. and Hope could meet for the third time in under a year if each team wins its opening round game of the 2011 Division III NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Friday.

The No. 12 Washington University women’s basketball team will face No. 10 Denison University in the opening round of the 2011 Division III NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament on Friday night in Holland, Mich., as announced Monday by the NCAA Selection Committee.

“I felt like the body of work that these kids have accomplished, the kids deserve it,” head coach Nancy Fahey said. “We value the opportunity and are very excited to practice in March.”

The Bears received an at-large bid to the tournament after finishing the season 20-5 (11-3 University Athletic Association). The Bears finished second in the UAA to conference champion University of Chicago.

Wash. U. will need to play through a tough section of the tournament bracket in order to repeat as national champions. The Bears have been placed in the same opening section as host team No. 4 Hope College, No. 8 DePauw University and Denison.

The Bears have faced Denison (28-0, 14-0 North Coast Athletic Conference) twice in program history, with Wash. U. winning both match-ups.

The lack of familiarity of the Bears with Denison cannot be said of Hope and DePauw. After losing the 2009 national championship game to George Fox University in Holland, Mich., the Bears then defeated Hope in the 2010 national championship game to win their first title in nine years. In a rematch of the title game this season, The Flying Dutch, then ranked No. 2, defeated the then-No. 4 Bears 49-47 in a neutral site game.

The Bears also know the DePauw University Tigers well, as both teams compete in the annual Tip-Off Tournament every year along with Illinois Wesleyan University. The Bears defeated the Tigers 58-56 at DePauw in the consolation game of the tournament this year.

Three of the four teams playing in Holland have won national championships in the last six seasons. Hope won the title in 2006, and DePauw defeated Wash. U. in the 2007 national championship game.

“It’s a very tough bracket….I think it’s going to be a great bracket. Familiarity is great, but at the same time, they’re familiar with us….Hopefully we can take it one game at a time and see what happens.”

Chicago is also in the Bears’ quarter of the draw, and the two teams could meet for the third time this season in the quarterfinal round on March 14.

The University of Rochester has also reached the tournament out of the UAA.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Graduate student Jaimie McFarlin scored 14 points and recorded 15 rebounds to help lead Wash. U. to a national title. With the rebounds, McFarlin eclipsed 1,000 for her career. She leaves Wash. U. with 1,012 rebounds and the record for most games played.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — After a third appearance in the championship game in four years, Jaimie McFarlin and the veteran Washington University women’s basketball team would not be denied.

“Even when I was shooting those last free throws, I was thinking [that] it’s still not over,” McFarlin said. “I just couldn’t believe it until the confetti started falling, and it was real confetti, not the confetti in my dreams. To get to the goals that you set, it feels so good.”

“It was our want for it that got us here,” senior Stacey Niese said.

The No. 6 Bears rallied behind a tenacious defense to control the entire game against No. 4 Hope College, taking the game and the 2010 NCAA Division III national championship 65-59. The title is the fifth in program history and first since 2001.

“Once you are fortunate enough to experience one and then it’s been about 10 years, you realize how hard, how special, how much you must have a little left, how fortunate you are to have that magical chemistry, and you try so hard…Once you separate yourself, you realize how special this is,” head coach Nancy Fahey said.

Junior Alex Hoover scored a career-high 18 points, including making 10 of 11 free-throw attempts. Whenever Wash. U. needed a basket, Hoover answered. She also iced the game with free throws down the stretch.

“She made a ton of clutch plays,” Fahey said. “I know she led us in scoring, but I think you need to pick up where those points actually came. She’s very confident and runs the team, so when she was on the free-throw line, I’ll take that any day.”

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Junior Alex Hoover scored a career-high 18 points and made 10-11 free throws in the win against Hope College.

After being shut out 10-0 by Amherst to start the semifinal game, McFarlin made sure Wash. U. scored on its first possession with a quick jumper. In her final game for the Bears, McFarlin scored 15 points and racked up 15 rebounds, leaving her with 1,012 career rebounds at Wash. U. She was also awarded tournament MVP.

“I think we just came out knowing that you have to do four minutes at a time. If you win the first four minutes, then you go to the next four minutes,” McFarlin said. “Those media timeouts actually helped to make the game into smaller pieces, so I think we did that really well.”

No team led by more than six points in the first half, but Wash. U. rallied behind layups by junior Hannah Cusworth and Hoover to take a 24-20 lead into halftime.

Hope took the offensive in the second half, briefly taking the lead on a basket by junior Carrie Snikkers. But baskets by senior Zoë Unruh, junior Kathryn Berger and Hoover staked Wash. U. to a 39-33 lead that would hold for the remainder of the contest. Hope cut the lead to four with less than a minute to go on a three-pointer by senior Jenny Cowen, but Hoover and McFarlin iced the game from the free-throw line, sending the Wash. U. student section into a round of “We Are the Champions” and bringing Wash. U. the national title.

Despite some rocky possessions, the Bears rallied around a tough defense to control the tempo and remain ahead for most of the game. The Red and Green held the Flying Dutch to just 19.4 percent shooting in the first half and only allowed Hope to shoot just 31.3 percent for the entire game.

“With the turnaround that we talked about, there’s not much that you can do in preparation except what we’ve done in the past, and that was our poise defensively, and they did it,” Fahey said. “They just did a lot of things right at the right time, and I’m really proud of them.”

Snikkers led all scorers with 22 points and also recorded 10 rebounds. Senior Philana Greene also scored 18 points for the Flying Dutch.

“I don’t think that we played a poor game,” said Brian Morehouse, head coach of Hope. “I just think that they played a little bit better than we did. They really made big free throws going down the stretch.”

Every single Hope player attended the news conference to show team unity. While the team was upset about losing, a final motivational speech from Greene brought the entire press room to tears and showed the immense pride each player had for finishing second.

“I’m feeling disappointed but very proud. Not one person quit today, even when we knew it was out of reach. Not one of us quit, and I told them earlier in the locker room how proud I was of them not quitting,” Greene said. “As bad as I wanted to win, I wanted it so much more with these 23 people behind me. The national championship would have been great, but to go away with 23 people next to me and behind me that I love and that I bond with is so much more than a trophy, a ring, a banner or any of that stuff.”

The senior class at Wash. U. leaves with an overall record of 99-21, a national title, and two second-place finishes.

“To end your career on such a high note, I can’t ask for more,” senior Janice Evans said.

Unruh said, “It was a perfect way to end. That’s how we built our season.”

With additional reporting by Johann Qua Hiansen

Albers led the No.4 Washington University volleyball team with a career high 25 kills to a 3-2 come from behind victory over No. 6 Hope College in the NCAA Division III National Semifinal.

Freshman Kelly Pang bumps the ball against Carthage College in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship match. Wash. U. advances to the National Championship match against Juniata College after defeating Hope College 3-2. Pang led the Bears with 15 digs. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

After taking control in the first set with a 25-21 win, the Red and Green struggled against the Flying Dutchmen. Hope set the tone early and maintained their leads in the second set (25-22) and third set (25-15). With Hope up 10-5 in the fourth set, the Bears seemed ready for an early departure.

But two Hope errors and a kill by sophomore Lauren Budde closed the gap to 8-10. Wash. U. continued to fight to knot the score and were stymied until an attack error by Drew Horst and back to back solo blocks by Budde and freshman Drew Hargrave gave the Red and Green a 17-16 advantage.

The Flying Dutchmen and the Bears continued to trade points until the score was knotted at 25. Budde made a kill and a Hope attack error gave new life to the Wash. U. offense as the teams headed to the decisive fifth set. Wash. U. and Hope had faced each other earlier in the season, with the Flying Dutchmen taking a 3-1 win.

Albers took control in the first set with the Bears’ first three kills as the teams traded points. Hope countered and took a 5-3 lead before Wash. U. battled back with a 4-1 run. The Flying Dutchmen took a timeout in an effort to regain the momentum but another attack error gave the Bears an 8-6 advantage.

A service ace by freshman Kelly Pang extended the lead before both teams traded points once more. Wash. U.’s offense stalled and the Flying Dutchmen strung together a four point run to put the score at 13-11.  The Bears used their final timeout and sophomore Kristen Thomas came out with a kill. After a kill from Hope’s Jacie Fielder brought the score to 14-12, the Bears capitalized on a setting error and clinched a spot in the National Championship game.

Pang led the Bears defensively with 15 digs and senior Laura Brazeal chipped in ten. Albers, Budde and Thomas had double digits kills with 25, 19 and 14 respectively. The team could not be reached for comments.

The Bears face No. 1 Juniata College at 7 p.m. (ET) in University Heights, Ohio. Juniata advanced after dispatching No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh In their last meeting, Wash. U. defeated Juniata 3-0 (28-26, 41-39,27-25) on September 18 in the Teri Clemens Invitational.

After Friday’s sweeps of Webster University and Millikin University, the team suffered its first loss of the year to Hope College (25-23, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23) Saturday morning. The Bears rebounded in the afternoon with a quick defeat of Augustana College (25-9, 25-17, 25-18) to finish with a 3-1 record for the tournament.

Click here for full coverage of the 2009 Bear Classic.

Sophomore Kristen Thomas goes up for a block in a match against Millikin University. The Bears won 3-0 on Friday night. (Paul Goedeke | Student Life)

The Washington University volleyball team’s hot start came to a halt on Saturday, as the Bears split a pair of matches en route to a second place finish in the 2009 Bears Classic.

After Friday’s sweeps of Webster University and Millikin University, the team suffered its first loss of the year to Hope College (25-23, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23) Saturday morning. The Bears rebounded in the afternoon with a quick defeat of Augustana College (25-9, 25-17, 25-18) to finish with a 3-1 record for the tournament.

“It’s disappointing at the moment, but I think it’ll be good experience for us to have that loss and to know what we need to do in the future to prevent a loss like that again,” senior captain Laura Brazeal said.

Click here to see a slide show of the 2009 Bears Classic

No. 22 Hope, which entered the game as the tournament’s only other nationally ranked team, took control of the match early by winning the first two sets. Both sets were neck and neck, with the first set being knotted at 23 and the second at 20, but Hope grabbed the final points in both.

The Bears had a much stronger third set, holding on to an early lead and winning 25-18. In the fourth set, the Bears rallied to tie the score once again at 23 after falling behind early. Nevertheless, Hope ended the match by taking the final two points, winning the match at three sets to one.

Sophomore Kristen Thomas led the team with a career-high 19 kills in the match, while freshman Meg Buker had 23 assists.

Head coach Rich Luenemann knew what was wrong with his team in the first match. “We didn’t block well,” Luenemann said. “We need to block much better than we did.”

Back on the court a few hours later, the Bears made short work of Augustana by pulling away quickly in all three sets and keeping the visiting Vikings from putting together any runs. Sophomore Erin Kasson led with 24 kills, while senior captain Erin Albers had a walloping .818 hitting percentage.

The team was happy to rebound after tasting defeat for the first time all year.

“It feels really good,” Brazeal said. “It’s nice to know that we can still bounce back, and I think that’ll help us a lot later in the season.”

Despite losing one of their matches on Saturday, the Bears’ biggest loss of the weekend may have not even been on the scoreboard.

Senior setter Vicki Blood, who has been hampered by a dislocated shoulder since practices began, was limited in the first match and sat out the second match entirely. Blood will remain out indefinitely.

“It was devastating to lose Vicki, who’s probably one of the best setters in Division III,” Luenemann said.

Fortunately, Buker and fellow freshman Marilee Fisher have stepped in for Blood and have performed admirably, though Luenemann said she knows they’re still developing.

“Both are outstanding setters,” Luenemann said. “They have to know how to run things, and they’re both growing into the process of running the offense.”

“It’s definitely a challenge,” Fisher said when asked about the responsibility of replacing someone like Blood. “It’s really intense, but it’s been fun. Meg’s handled it really well, and I think I’ve been all right.”

Fisher and Buker will look to continue improving, while the Bears will seek to improve on their 5-1 record at the WU/Asics Invitational this weekend at the Field House.

The Red and Green face preseason No. 6 Ohio Northern University and No. 13 Pacific Lutheran University on Friday. Ohio Northern ended Washington University’s NCAA tournament run last season. The Bears also face No. 17 Concordia University and No. 15 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday.

With new coach Jim Conlon, formerly of Wartburg University, at the helm, the team cruised to a 4-0 win against Hope College on Saturday, one night after earning a 3-2 win against Calvin College in overtime. With a 2-0 record, the Lady Bears solidified the number nine rank in the latest NSCAA Division III National Rankings and won the Washington University Classic.

On Friday, the women’s soccer season opened at Francis Field against 19th-ranked Calvin College.

Lee Ann Felder, the lone freshman starter, scored the first goal for Wash. U., and she and Rosoff assisted each other on their goals.

“I’m glad that I got the playing time,” Felder said. When asked what was going through her mind when the ball was coming to her, she responded, “I better get to it.”

The contest between the two highly regarded teams could not be resolved in regulation. After falling behind 2-1, junior Caryn Rosoff, the 2007 UAA Player of the Year and the team’s leading scorer, was assisted by senior co-captain Carly Anderson with nine minutes left in the game to force overtime. Rosoff, the UAA Athlete of the Week, then won the game with a second goal.

“I’m just happy for the girls,” Conlon said of his first win as a Bear, also crediting the win to the girls’ spirit.

Saturday’s contest with Hope College, however, was not filled with drama. The soccer team dominated from beginning to end. The Bears created a barrage of good shots, outshooting Hope 30-1, including 16-1 on goal. Sophomore Laura McGinnis, Rosoff and seniors Kristen Hilligoss and Jenny Philip each scored in the win.

“It feels good, nice, to get a goal right away,” Hilligoss said. “It’s good to make an impact.”

While Hilligoss was happy with her performance, she cares more about the success of the team. “Our ultimate goal is the national championship.”

The defense may be lost among the offensive explosion. The defense also stepped up in the game against Hope, allowing only one shot on goal the entire game, which came 22 minutes into the game.

“Tonight was a great team win—great team effort,” Conlon said. He also emphasized how important it was for all 26 players to be contributing.

Now that the team has come out of the gates strong, they look to go 5-0 as they go on a three game road trip to California. The Red and Green will face Chapman University on Thursday before a Friday matchup with the University of Redlands and Sunday’s game against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.