Millikin completed its climb to the top of the Division III women's basketball summit with a convincing 70-50 victory over Randolph-Macon in the championship game March 19 at Virginia Wesleyan.

Millikin, which led only 29-25 at halftime, broke open the close game by outscoring Randolph-Macon 41-25 in the last 20 minutes of the game.

The title is the first for the Big Blue in women's basketball.

"It takes so much luck and a window of opportunity to win a national championship, and I know how difficult it is to win one," said Millikin coach Lori Kerans, whose team finished 29-2. "I tried to mentor this (junior) class like other coaches have mentored national champions. I thought this class with Audrey Minott could contend for a national championship. This is a new mark for our program."

Minott, a 5-5 senior guard, had 15 points and two assists, while juniors Joanna Conner and Lindsey Koehn were major contributors as well. All three were named to the all-tournament team.

Conner, the tournament's most outstanding player, had 14 points and 15 rebounds in the final game, and Koehn finished with eight points and eight boards.

Freshman center Lindsay Ippel scored a game-high 25 points for the Big Blue.

While the offense was in optimum form, Kerans also was pleased with her team's effort on the defensive end. The Big Blue fulfilled their expectations against Randolph-Macon, which saw its 23-game win streak halted.

"We set a goal to hold people to 50 to 55 points," Kerans said. "Randolph-Macon is a very explosive team. We take great pride in the way in which we defend our opponents. It really has to do with the players trusting each other when they switch."

Randolph-Macon made only 25.4 percent (17-for-68) of its field-goal attempts in the game. The Yellow Jackets were led by Megan Silva's 11 points and Emily Crider's 10.

After Millikin grabbed a 49-31 lead with 11:13 to play, Randolph-Macon never climbed closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

This was Kerans' second trip to the finals with Millikin, although the first one came during her playing days in 1985.

"I'm not sure this has sunk in, yet," she said. "My heart is about to burst. I'm not sure that this is the best team at Millikin, but this team carried the torch for all the kids who have been through this program."

Both Millikin and Randolph-Macon posted upset victories to reach the championship game. Millikin edged Southern Maine, 66-60, in one semifinal and Randolph-Macon downed Scranton, 70-65, in the other.

Sectionals

At Gorham, Maine -- Southern Me. 67, Bates 64; Springfield 62, Wesleyan (Conn.) 56; Southern Me. 80, Springfield 69.

At Grand Rapids, Michigan -- Millikin 59, Wis.-Stout 56; Calvin 64, Albion 56; Millikin 63, Calvin 56.

At Scranton, Pennsylvania -- Scranton 64, Messiah 43; Bowdoin 63, William Smith 51; Scranton 49, Bowdoin 43.

At Ashland, Virginia -- George Fox 74, St. Benedict 69; Randolph-Macon 82, Trinity (Texas) 79; Randolph-Macon 63, George Fox 51.

Semifinals

Millikin 66, Southern Me. 60

Millikin: Laura Zimmerman 1-4, 0-0, 5, 2; Lindsey Koehn 6-14, 3-7, 2, 17; Joanna Conner 4-12, 5-8, 9, 13; Audrey Minott 3-5, 4-4, 3, 10; Lindsay Ippel 5-10, 1-7, 10, 11; Christi Blackburn 3-5, 4-4, 3, 13; Angela Vollmer 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 21-48, 16-26, 35 (3 team), 66.

Southern Me.: Dona Cowing 1-5, 1-2, 2, 3; Katie Sibley 0-5, 0-0, 6, 0; Ashley Marble 10-25, 4-7, 16, 27; Katie Frost 0-4, 0-0, 1, 0; Megan Myles 10-19, 4-4, 3, 28; Trish Sylvain 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Shannon Kynoch 1-6, 0-0, 4, 2. TOTALS: 22-64, 9-13, 38 (5 team), 60.

Halftime: Millikin 28, Southern Me. 28; Three-point field goals: Millikin 8-19 (Blackburn 3-5, Koehn 3-7, Minott 2-3, Zimmerman 0-1, Conner 0-3); Southern Me. 7-22 (Myles 4-7, Marble 3-7, Cowing 0-1, Kynoch 0-1, Sibley 0-2, Frost 0-4).

Randolph-Macon 70, Scranton 65

Randolph-Macon: Kristen Morgan 0-4, 0-0, 1, 0; Megan Silva 6-13, 1-4, 3, 14; Salem Shaffer 5-12, 0-0, 7, 13; Emily Crider 6-7, 3-5, 7, 15; Michelle Orton 7-10, 1-2, 7, 15; Megan Senske 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0, Marta Merkel 4-8, 1-4, 3, 11; Sarah Crider 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2; Jannesa Morusma 0-3, 0-0, 6, 0. TOTALS: 29-59, 6-15, 40 (5 team), 70.

Scranton: Taryn Mellody 4-13, 0-0, 3, 9; Erin Healy 1-1, 2-2, 1, 4; Allison Matt 7-15; 0-0, 5, 17; Tara Gemmel 2-9, 4-4, 0, 8; Eileen Webster 5-14, 2-3, 7, 12; Kelly Lewandowski 1-1, 5-6, 5, 7; Kathleen Daly 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Michelle Fabio 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Julie Brophy 2-6, 0-0, 4, 6; Maura Kane 1-3, 0-0, 2, 2. TOTALS: 23-63, 13-15, 36 (8 team), 65.

Halftime: Randolph-Macon 36, Scranton 33. Three-point field goals: Randolph-Macon 6-11 (Shaffer 3-8, Merkel 2-2, Silva 1-1); Scranton 6-16 (Matt 3-6, Brophy 2-4, Mellody 1-5, Fabio 0-1).

Third-place game

Southern Me. 55, Scranton 53

Southern Me.: Donna Cowing 3-9, 1-3, 4, 8; Katie Sibley 2-6, 3-8, 2, 8; Ashley Marble 3-8, 3-4, 3, 9; Katie Frost 1-4, 2-2, 3, 4; Megan Myles 6-14, 2-4, 7, 16; Lindsey Welch 1-1, 0-0, 1, 3; Trish Sylvain 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Danica Martin 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Shannon Kynoch 3-6, 0-0, 3, 7; Lisa Welch 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS: 19-49, 11-21, 17 (1 team), 55.

Scranton: Taryn Mellody 4-10, 2-2, 4, 10; Erin Healy 0-4, 4-4, 7, 4; Allison Matt 4-9, 0-1, 7, 4; Tara Gemmel 5-10, 1-1, 4, 12; Eileen Webster 3-8, 0-2, 5, 6; Kelly Lewandowski 3-8, 2-3, 5, 8; Kathleen Daly 0-0, 0-0, 6, 0; Michelle Fabio 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Julie Brophy 0-2, 2-2, 2, 2; Maura Kane 1-2, 0-0, 6, 2. TOTALS: 20-54, 11-15, 45 (3 team), 53.

Halftime: Southern Me. 34, Scranton 20. Three-point field goals: Southern Me. 6-15 (Myles 2-4, Welch 1-1, Kynoch 1-2, Sibley 1-2, Cowing 1-3, Frost 0-3); Scranton 2-12 (Matt 1-2, Gemmel 1-3, Healy 0-1, Brophy 0-2, Mellody 0-4).

Championship game

Millikin 70, Randolph-Macon 50

Millikin: Laura Zimmerman 4-9, 0-1, 10, 8; Lindsey Koehn 3-9, 0-0, 8, 8; Joanna Conner 6-19, 2-2, 15, 14; Audrey Minott 5-6, 5-6, 4, 15; Lindsay Ippel 9-21, 7-8, 6, 25; Christi Blackburn 0-3, 0-0, 2, 0; Stacey Conrad 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ariel Lamb 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Andrea Riebock 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Heather Miller 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Tracy Kwasny 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Kristin Trotter 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 27-68, 14-17, 53 (8 team), 70.

Randolph-Macon: Kristen Morgan 0-5, 0-0, 4, 0; Megan Silva 3-14, 4-4, 3, 11; Salem Shaffer 2-11, 0-0, 5, 6; Emily Crider 4-11, 2-3, 7, 10; Michelle Orton 2-5, 4-4, 5, 8; Megan Senske 4-5, 0-0, 3, 8; Jenny Carter 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Marta Merkel 1-6, 0-0, 3, 3; Sarah Crider 0-4, 2-2, 3, 2; Jannesa Morusma 1-4, 0-0, 2, 2. TOTALS: 17-67, 12-13, 37 (1 team), 50.

Halftime: Millikin 29, Randolph-Macon 25. Three-point field goals: Millikin 2-10 (Koehn 2-3, Zimmerman 0-1, Conner 0-3, Blackburn 0-3); Randolph-Macon 4-25 (Shaffer 2-9, Merkel 1-4, Silva 1-5, S. Crider 0-1, Carter 0-1, Senske 0-1, Morgan 0-4.