TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

DeVos Fieldhouse, Hope College, Holland, MI

Saturday, March 4

7:30 p.m. Baldwin Wallace vs. Hope. Live Video | Hope Radio | Live Stats | Tickets | Post-Game Press Conference
Note: Doors open at DeVos Fieldhouse at 4:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for general admission and $7 for students with ID and for youth.

GAME NOTES

This is the second all-time meeting between Hope and Wartburg College (Iowa) from the American Rivers Conference. Wartburg defeated the visiting Flying Dutch, 79-49, in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Wartburg shot 55.1% from the field, including 10 3-pointers, and 88.2% from the free-throw line. It remains Hope's largest loss in NCAA Tournament play. 

Hope is one of eight schools with eight teams with men's and women's teams both playing in the round of 32. Hope is joined by Christopher Newport (Va.). Mary Washington (Va.), Scranton (Pa.), St. John Fisher (N.Y.), Tufts (Mass.), Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Flying Dutchmen play at Oshkosh tonight at 8 p.m.

The Flying Dutch have reeled off nine consecutive wins since the 2017 loss to Wartburg, including last night's 82-61 first-round victory against St. Norbert College (Wis.). Six of them came during last season's national championship run. Two of them happened in the 2020 NCAA Tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the tournament before the sectional round tipped off.

Tonight's winner advances to the sectional round weekend at a site to be announced on Sunday night. The Hope-Wartburg winner will face either Christopher Newport (Va. or Elizabethtown (Pa.). The other teams in the sectional will be the winner of the Trinity (Texas) and Hardin-Simmons (Texas) and Skidmore (N.Y.) or Tufts (Mass.).

Hope is ranked sixth in the last Women's Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll. The Flying Dutch were seventh in the NCAA Division III poll.

The Flying Dutch are one of three NCAA Division III teams with three or more national championships. Washington-St. Louis tops Division III with five titles. Amherst (Mass.) and Hope have three championships. Hope was the 2022 national champs after defeating the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 71-58, in the title game on March 19 at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Hope is one of two MIAA teams who have won national titles. Alma College won in 1992, defeating Moravian (Pa.), 79-75, in the title game at Moravian.

This is Hope's 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance. The Flying Dutch are 48-18 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and claimed national titles in 2022, 2006, and 1990. Hope claimed the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's automatic bid after winning the MIAA Tournament last week at DeVos Fieldhouse. Hope shared the regular-season title with Trine University, which received an at-large berth to this year's field and defeated Washington University of St. Louis in the first round.

The Flying Dutch are seeking their 13th sectional appearance in 20 tries, all under head coach Brian Morehouse. Hope advanced past the sectional round in 2022, 2021, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2003 and 2002. The Flying Dutch were national runner-up in 2010. In 1990, Hope won two regional games to move on to the national quarterfinals.

Head coach Brian Morehouse has led Hope to two national championships: 2022 and 2006 and a 26-2 record this season. His record in NCAA Tournament play is 43-17. He is in his 27th season leading the Flying Dutch. Morehouse owns a career record of 685-93 at his alma mater. Brian Morehouse is the fastest basketball coach of an NCAA team to reach 600 wins — at any level or gender. He won his 600th game (in 690 games) on January 25, 2020, with a 76-27 win at Olivet College.

Entering postseason play, the Flying Dutch rank second in NCAA Division III in scoring at 88.3 points per game, trailing only Birmingham Southern's 95.7. Hope opened the season with a then-NCAA record single-game scoring record with a 143-57 win against Geneva College (Pa.) on November 11 at DeVos Fieldhouse. Birmingham Southern, which finished 13-13, surpassed it with a 150-76 win against Mississippi University for Women on December 13.

Entering the NCAA Tournament, Hope tops the nation in field-goal percentage at 48.3 percent and 3-point percentage at 38.8. The Flying Dutch are second in scoring margin at plus-33.4, sixth in 3-pointers made per game at 9.5, and eighth in rebounding margin at plus-12.8.

Entering postseason play, none of Hope's leading scorers are averaging more than 14 points per game. Senior forward and All-MIAA First Team selection Savannah Feenstra tops the Flying Dutch at 13.4 points per game. Two teammates also are scoring in double figures: senior forward and All-MIAA First Team honoree Claire Baguley at 12.7 points per game and senior guard and All-MIAA Second Team selection Ella McKinney at 12.7. McKinney was named to the 2022 NCAA Championships All-Tournament Team after scoring a game-high 21 points off the bench in the title game vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Four Flying Dutch have received College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors: seniors Claire Baguley, Kate Majerus, Ella McKinney, and Meg Morehouse. All four advanced to the Academic All-America ballot.

Assistant coach Courtney Kust was chosen for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association "Thirty Under 30" recognition in 2018. The distinction recognizes 30 up-and-coming women's basketball coaches aged 30 and under at all levels of the game. Kust has been an assistant coach since the 2014-15 season and an assistant athletic director since 2019. Kust played four seasons for four seasons before graduating in 2013.