PITTSBURGH – The road to this year's national championship has been longer than any other. The Amherst College women's basketball team was rolling on a postseason run in 2020, set to host the round of 16 when the tournament was abruptly canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world. The following season was wiped out entirely and while this season has still presented COVID-related disruptions, the final four teams have gathered in Pittsburgh and the NCAA is set to crown a Division III women's basketball champion for the first time since 2019.
The Mammoths (25-3) have reached the national semifinals for the ninth time since head coach
G.P. Gromacki took the helm in 2007 and the first time since winning the national title in 2018. Gromacki, named the D3hoops.com Regional Coach of the Year for the seventh time, has the team among the nation's elite thanks to a characteristically stifling defense that has held opponents to just 49 points per game, seventh-best in all of Division III. Senior forward
Dani Valdez, a First Team All-NESCAC selection, leads the Mammoths in scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) but senior guard
Gabrielle Zaffiro (10.9 ppg) and first-year guard
AnLing Vera (10.3 ppg) are also scoring in double figures as part of a balanced offense. Amherst's roster includes five seniors who are making the deepest postseason foray of their collegiate careers and seven first-years and sophomores playing in their first collegiate season.
The Mammoths will face Wisconsin–Whitewater (27-4) in the semifinals on Thursday (March 17) at 5 p.m. The other semifinal will match conference rivals Hope (30-1) and Trine (28-3) at 7:30 p.m. with the winners facing off for the national championship on Saturday (March 19) at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Wisconsin–Whitewater reached the semifinals after a season in which the Warhawks finished first in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference before falling to Wisconsin–Eau Claire in the conference championship game. Senior center Johanna Taylor earned All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors in the WIAC and sophomore forward Aleah Grundahl joined her on the All-Conference squad. Grundahl is the team's leading scorer with 16.3 points per game while Taylor leads the WIAC with 90 assists this season and ranks among the top 20 nationally with 62 blocked shots. Amherst has faced Wisconsin–Whitewater once before and it was also in the national semifinals in 2013. The Warhawks won that game in overtime, 64-62.
The other semifinal is a rematch of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association final between Hope and Trine. Hope won that game and carries a 14-game winning streak to Pittsburgh. The Flying Dutch boast the best scoring margin in Division III, outscoring opponents by 38.1 points per game, and are led by three-time MIAA MVP Kenedy Schoonveld, who leads the team with 11.2 points per game.
Hope's only defeat this season came at the hands of Trine in a regular-season meeting in January. Trine is the only team of the final quartet that won its sectional on the road, defeating host Transylvania in the quarterfinals. The Thunder have a pair of First-Team All-Conference selections in senior guards Tara Bieniewicz, a prolific three-point shooter who has drained 84 threes to rank fifth in the nation, and Kayla Wildman, who ranks second on the team with 8.8 points per game.
The Mammoths are seeking their fourth national championship after winning the title in 2011, 2017 and 2018. Hope is the only other team in the field that has previously won, claiming titles in 1990 and 2006. Wisconsin–Whitewater was the national runner-up in 2013 and Trine is seeking its first championship game appearance.
