By Riley Zayas | Jan. 29, 2026
The postgame scene inside Kresge Gymnasium Wednesday night said all you needed to know. When the final buzzer went off on Albion’s 60-54 overtime upset of No. 9 Hope, a massive celebration broke out. The Britons’ entire bench rushed onto the floor to embrace their five teammates who had put the finishing touches on Albion’s dramatic home win. The students themselves—the “Kresge Krazies”, as they’re called—poured out of the stands to join in the excitement at mid-court, having helped create a truly hostile road atmosphere that didn’t help Hope’s offensive struggles any one bit.
It was indeed a memorable night for an Albion team that has now won four in a row and beaten Hope and Calvin in the same season for the first time since 2003-04.
“I think playing in Kresge for some teams is mental, so it was great to beat them here,” Albion head coach Doreen Carden said postgame in a story on gobrits.com. “I think we’ve grown a ton since day one, and we’re only getting better. I’m happy for our kids.
“I can’t even put it into words.”
But the stats can. Hope shot just 29.9%, its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season, and Albion got six more attempts at the free throw line, where the Britons made seven more FTs than the Flying Dutch. Only two of those came with under 30 seconds left, as the free throw shooting turned out to play a sizable role in the eventual six-point victory. Albion shot 72.7% (16/22), while Hope finished at 56.3% (9/16).
Three of Albion’s five starters—Meghan Trewhella, Ava Guilford, and Payton Baker—played at least 44 minutes while Hope’s Maddie Petroelje and Anna Richards were on the floor for 41 and 39 minutes, respectively. Those big minutes proved immensely important for Albion down the stretch, as each made plays that helped to engineer the upset.
With 58 seconds left in regulation, Trewhella drew a foul and made a pair of free throws, cutting Hope’s lead to one. On Albion next’s trip to the offensive end, Guilford was the one who earned free throws, missing the first, but making the second to tie it up at 52 apiece. She sent the game into OT just moments later, blocking Terin Maynard’s go-ahead layup on Hope’s final possession. In OT, Baker gave Albion a brief lead on a free throw, then grabbed a timely defensive rebound with under 30 seconds left. That came right after Guilford dished an assist to Anna Honnen, who made it a two-possession game with 34 seconds to go.
Albion’s upset was certainly one of the biggest stories of the night, but plenty more happened across the country. Here are five more “big winners” that stood out to me.
No. 3 UW-Oshkosh (at No. 11 UW-Whitewater, 55-43)
In a battle of the WIAC’s two highest-ranked squads, Oshkosh added another feather to its cap, and did so on the road, taking down the Warhawks by double-digits. The last single-digit game involving Oshkosh? Jan. 7, when La Crosse played within seven. No margin of victory has been fewer than 12 since, which is pretty incredible. What else is incredible about Oshkosh? The Titans have played at home just four times this year…in 19 games. They’re 15-0 when playing outside the Kolf Sports Center, and just continue rolling on, looking even stronger than they did a year ago as an eventual Final Four team. A 23-9 third-quarter run was the deciding point last night, as the Titans erased Whitewater’s five-point halftime lead, pulling ahead by nine. Paige Seckar was outstanding yet again with a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double, and so was Sarah Hardwick, who blocked six shots and grabbed 12 boards. The Seckar-Hardwick duo in the post continues to be near-unbeatable.
Gettysburg (at McDaniel, 65-60)
The Bullets gave head coach Nate Davis his 300th career win on the same night they scored a major road win in Centennial Conference play. After some early struggles, Gettysburg is very much trending up, having risen seven spots in NPI (to #32) with the victory over a McDaniel squad that had leading scorer Alaina Beckett back on the floor. Despite trailing by seven at halftime, Gettysburg turned it on in the second half, outscored McDaniel, 19-13, in each of the last two quarters. Olivia Jones stepped up big-time off the bench, with 18 points in 24 minutes, including four of Gettysburg’s last five points. It was a two-point game with 1:02 to go, but a defensive rebound and subsequent jumper from Jones took away McDaniel’s last true opportunity at the win. The Green Terror never again had the ball in a one-possession game, as Jones twice extended the Gettysburg advantage to four in the last 20 seconds. Keep an eye on the Bullets; they’re very much in the at-large bid conversation.
UW-La Crosse (vs UW-River Falls, 78-65)
UWL has now won five in a row in the WIAC, a win streak so difficult to pull off in such a deep league. But the Eagles have done it decisively, and now find themselves in sole possession of second place in the conference title race coming off the 13-point victory. A 20-9 first quarter run set the tone and UWL never let UWRF find a rhythm from 3. The defensive effort, combined with shooting 44.1% from the field and 85.0% at the FT line, stood out in a big way for the Eagles, who are now up to No. 25 in NPI. And there’s room to keep climbing, as UWL gets Whitewater at home coming off a full week of rest next Wednesday (all WIAC teams are off on Saturday).
Cal Lutheran (at Whittier, 58-44)
Out West, the Regals entered the fourth quarter with a 3-point lead but took over in the final 10 minutes, storming past a tough Whittier squad in a 22-9 game-closing run. CLU got 28 points from Kaiya Mack, who shot a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 14 more from Janna Holley. The win is a big one for CLU, in large part because of the implications with it. CMS losing to Pomona-Pitzer on Monday, combined with CLU’s four-game win streak, has pulled the Regals within a single game of the first-place Athenas as the rematch between the two is set for next Wednesday. CLU needed a strong road win to build momentum heading into its most crucial two-game stretch of the regular season, hosting Redlands on Saturday afternoon and CMS next Wednesday night. On top of that, CLU climbed three spots in NPI with last night’s win, and now sits at No. 41 (#22 in the Pool C order, which would make CLU the first team out if the season ended today).
Washington & Lee (vs Roanoke, 69-47)
This isn’t about the win itself so much as yet another NCAA record going down at the hands of Mary Schleusner. A week after setting a new D-III career-rebounding record, W&L’s National Player of the Year candidate claimed the division’s record for career double-doubles, tallying the 84th of her four seasons in Lexington. Schleusner scored 17 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, her third-straight performance of at least 20 boards. The senior forward passed Swarthmore alum Kathryn Stockbower and Randolph-Macon alum Kelly Williams in the record-breaking performance, moving up to No. 9 all-time amongst all NCAA divisions.
Believe it or not, there’s still a few records left on the books for Schleusner to break! She is just nine blocks shy of the ODAC career record (329), set by Eastern Mennonite’s Laurie Miller in 1998. Her 184 career steals are just 14 shy of breaking Bethany Dannelly’s W&L program record of 197. And with 2,193 points in her career, she is 178 shy of Megan Silva’s ODAC record. Averaging 21.6 PPG, Schleusner could become the league’s all-time leading scorer before the NCAA Tournament even begins. (Note: A thank-you to the W&L Sports Information staff for providing many of these notes this season, as Schleusner has pursued and claimed numerous W&L, ODAC, and NCAA records).
What’s on tap for today? Well, due to a postponement yesterday, we’ve got a big-time ODAC duel between Shenandoah and Bridgewater highlighting a relatively light Thursday slate. Bridgewater sits in second place in the ODAC, Shenandoah is in third, and the two are separated by just one game, making this a decisive contest looking ahead at ODAC Tournament seeding. Perhaps even more importantly, both of these teams are currently well inside the at-large bid conversation (which they’ll likely need with W&L as the projected ODAC AQ), with Shenandoah currently No. 6 in Pool C and Bridgewater No. 15, adding pressure to capitalize on this opportunity today. And for Shenandoah especially, even with the upset loss to Randolph last week, there’s still a path to hosting in the national tournament. But to get there, they almost certainly need to win today in the lone meeting of the regular season between these two. Scott Peterson has Bridgewater as a narrow favorite at home, with a 55.2% win probability. Tip-off at 7 p.m. ET on FloCollege for that one.
We’ll also see Hardin-Simmons travel to Mary Hardin-Baylor this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET in an American Southwest Conference showdown. Free livestream for that one on cruathletics.com, as HSU looks to win its 10th straight road game this season.