HANCOCK, Mich. -- Nationally ranked Hope cruised to its eighth consecutive win of the season on Friday, beating Finlandia 78-46 in the semifinals of the Post Exam Jam.
The Flying Dutch will play Capital (Ohio) for the championship. Tipoff is 3 p.m. Saturday at DeVos Fieldhouse.
Sophomore forward Maura McAfee led a balanced Hope attack with 13 points in 14 minutes of action.
"I thought overall for coming off exam week, I thought we knocked the rust off pretty good, shot the ball decent," Hope head coach Brian Morehouse said after his team improved to 8-0 overall. "Great thing is we got a lot of people playing [Friday], saved our legs hopefully a little bit for [Saturday]. I thought the people we played, played well."
Two other members of the Flying Dutch joined McAfee in double figures -- senior guard Brittany Berry with 11 points in 18 minutes and freshman forward Mandy Traversa with 10 points in 11 minutes.
Two Hope players finished with nine points apiece -- senior guard Megan Kelley and junior forward Rebekah Llorens.
Llorens also grabbed a game-high eight of the Flying Dutch's season-high 62 rebounds.
Capital defeated Robert Morris in Friday's first semifinal 73-65.
Senior forward Jamie Caton topped Capital (5-2) with a game-high 24 points. She shot 8-of-24 from the field and 8-of-15 from the foul line. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Sophomore Kristen Thompson chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds for Capital, while senior guard Cookie Geroski added 11 points for the Crusaders.
Senior forward Marquichea Burns led Robert Morris-Springfield (6-5) with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Robert Morris and Finlandia (2-7) play at 1 p.m. ET Saturday at DeVos Fieldhouse in the consolation game.
Junior Brierra Ruska scored a game-high 17 points for Finlandia.
No. 7 Whitman 80, Corban 57
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- If rust accumulated during Whitman's 12-day hiatus between games, it was mostly decorative.
In any event, it was whisked clean as the Missionaries dispatched Corban 80-57 on the opening night of the Kim Evanger-Raney Memorial Classic on Friday at Sherwood Center.
"I was proud, especially in the second half, that we came out with a desire to pull away," said Heather Johns, who led all scorers with 23 points, plus six assists and a game-high three steals. "I was happy to see us run through our offenses. There were chances for people to go one-on-one and be selfish and score, but we really tried to work on our ball movement."
That selfless approach helped grease the skids on the game's decisive sequence. Johns hit two 3-pointers, and Tiffani Traver, Hailey Mcdonald and Chelsi Brewer splashed one apiece during a 21-2 Whitman run that erupted from the 15:15 mark of the second half. The burst shook Corban for good; the visitors from the NAIA Cascade Collegiate Conference had opened the final half with a spurt of its own, pulling to within two points, 46-44, when Jade Lowery's 3-pointer capped a 12-2 run.
Whitman (6-0) seemed poised to pull away after a 22-11 run to lock out the first half. The real finishing kick came in the second.
It was Whitman's first game since Dec. 1 and just its second home game of the season, but the Missionaries were plucky and sharp. They overcame 39 percent shooting and some unfamiliar, challenging looks from Corban by sharing the ball (with assists on 21 of 28 baskets), protecting the ball (a mere eight turnovers offset by eight steals) and attacking the glass (45 rebounds to Corban's 38).
Traver complemented backcourt mate Johns with 11 points and six assists. Meghan White had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds, and Sarah Anderegg added an unassuming double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, seven on the offensive window.
