Thomas More is the DIII women's basketball national champion for the first time since 2016 after defeating Bowdoin 81-67 in the 2019 championship game.
Kaela Saner led the team with 20 points as one of five Saints to reach double figures. Abby Kelly shined for Bowdoin in the loss with 27 points of her own.
The win closes out a perfect 32-0 season for Thomas More, who is the national champion for the third time overall. The Saints went 66-0 with consecutive titles in a two-season stretch from 2015-16.
CHAMPIONSHIP 2019: View the interactive bracket | Print bracket | Scoreboard
| DATE/TIME (ET) | ROUND | MATCHUP | STREAMING INFO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, March 15, 5 p.m. | Semifinals | Bowdoin 71, St. Thomas (Minn.) 60 | Stats | Full replay |
| Friday, March 15, 7:30 p.m. | Semifinals | Thomas More 69, Scranton 56 | Stats | Full replay |
| Saturday, March 16, 7:30 p.m. | Championship Game | Thomas More 81, Bowdoin 67 | Stats | Highlights |
Here's how each semifinal team advanced to the finals, setting up Saturday's matchup:
Bowdoin (31-1)
- Defeated Hunter in first round, 93-73
- Defeated Smith in second round, 87-78
- Defeated SUNY New Paltz in third round, 81-50
- Defeated Ithaca in quarterfinals, 87-61
- Defeated St. Thomas (Minn.) in semifinals, 71-60
Thomas More (32-0)
- Defeated St. Vincent in first round, 79-54
- Defeated Trine in second round, 67-59
- Defeated Transylvania in third round, 89-74
- Defeated Washington (Mo.) in quarterfinals, 87-72
- Defeated Scranton in semifinals, 69-56
Amherst won the past two national championships with consecutive perfect seasons. Thomas More achieved the same feat in 2016 and 2017, going a perfect 66-0 with back-to-back titles.
Bowdoin was aiming for its first national title, after finishing runner-up to Amherst last season.
Here is the full championship history for the DIII women's basketball championship:
| YEAR | CHAMPION (RECORD) | COACH | SCORE | RUNNER-UP | SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Amherst (33-0) | GP Gromacki | 65-45 | Bowdoin | Rochester, Minn. |
| 2017 | Amherst (33-0) | GP Gromacki | 52-29 | Tufts | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 2016 | Thomas More (33-0) | Jeff Hans | 63-51 | Tufts | Indianapolis |
| 2015 | Thomas More (33-0) | Jeff Hans | 83-63 | George Fox | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 2014 | FDU-Florham (33-0) | Marc Mitchell | 80-72 | Whitman | Stevens Point, Wis. |
| 2013 | DePauw (35-0) | Kris Huffman | 69-51 | Wisconsin-Whitewater | Holland, Mich. |
| 2012 | Illinois Wesleyan (28-5) | Mia Smith | 57-48 | George Fox | Holland, Mich. |
| 2011 | Amherst (32-1) | GP Gromacki | 64-55 | Washington-St. Louis | Bloomington, Ill. |
| 2010 | Washington-St. Louis (29-2) | Nancy Fahey | 65-59 | Hope | Bloomington, Ill. |
| 2009 | George Fox (32-0) | Scott Rueck | 60-53 | Washington-St. Louis | Holland, Mich. |
| 2008 | Howard Payne (33-0) | Chris Kielsmeier | 68-54 | Messiah | Holland, Mich. |
| 2007 | DePauw (31-3) | Kris Huffman | 55-52 | Washington-St. Louis | Springfield, Mass. |
| 2006 | Hope (33-1) | Brian Morehouse | 69-56 | Southern Maine | Springfield, Mass. |
| 2005 | Milikin (29-2) | Lori Kerans | 70-50 | Randolph-Macon | Norfolk, Va. |
| 2004 | Wilmington (Ohio) (27-6) | Jerry Scheve | 59-53 | Bowdoin | Norfolk, Va. |
| 2003 | Trinity (Texas) (28-5) | Becky Geyer | 60-58 | Eastern Connecticut State | Terre Haute, Ind. |
| 2002 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point | Shirley Egner | 67-65 | St. Lawrence | Terre Haute, Ind. |
| 2001 | Washington-St. Louis (28-2) | Nancy Fahey | 67-45 | Messiah | Danbury, Conn. |
| 2000 | Washington-St. Louis (30-0) | Nancy Fahey | 79-33 | Southern Maine | Danbury, Conn. |
| 1999 | Washington-St. Louis (30-0) | Nancy Fahey | 74-65 | St. Benedict | Danbury, Conn. |
| 1998 | Washington-St. Louis (28-2) | Nancy Fahey | 77-69 | Southern Maine | Gorham, Maine |
| 1997 | New York University (29-1) | Janice Quinn | 72-70 | Wisconsin-Eau Claire | New York City |
| 1996 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh (31-0) | Kathi Bennett | 66-50 | Mount Union | Oshkosh, Wis. |
| 1995 | Capital (33-0) | Dixie Jeffers | 59-55 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | Columbus, Ohio |
| 1994 | Capital (30-1) | Dixie Jeffers | 82-63 | Washington-St. Louis | Eau Claire, Wis. |
| 1993 | Central (Iowa) (24-5) | Gary Boeyink | 71-63 | Capital | Pella, Iowa |
| 1992 | Alma (24-3) | Charlie Goffnet | 79-75 | Moravian | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| 1991 | St. Thomas (Minn.) (29-2) | Ted Riverso | 73-55 | Muskingum | St. Paul, Minn. |
| 1990 | Hope (24-2) | Sue Wise | 65-63 | St. John Fisher | Holland, Mich. |
| 1989 | Elizabethtown (29-2) | Yvonne Kauffman | 66-65 | Cal State Stanislaus | Danville, Ky. |
| 1988 | Concordia-Moorhead (29-2) | Duane Siverson | 65-57 | St. John Fisher | Moorhead, Minn. |
| 1987 | Wiscons-Stevens Point (27-2) | Linda Wunder | 81-74 | Concordia-Moorehead | Scranton, Pa. |
| 1986 | Salem State (29-1) | Tim Shea | 89-85 | Bishop | Salem, Mass. |
| 1985 | Scranton (31-1) | Mike Strong | 68-59 | New Rochelle | DePere, Wis. |
| 1984 | Rust (26-5) | A.J. Stovall | 51-49 | Elizabethtown | Scranton, Pa. |
| 1983 | North Central (Ill.) (26-6) | Wayne Morgan | 83-71 | Elizabethtown | Worcester, Mass. |
| 1982 | Elizabethtown (26-1) | Yvonne Kauffman | 67-66 (ot) | UNC Greensboro | Elizabethtown, Pa. |