GAMES 20 & 21

No. 2 Transylvania (19-0, 12-0 HCAC) at Hanover (13-6, 11-1 HCAC)

Wednesday, January 31st,  2024 | 7:00 PM | Hanover, Ind. | Collier Arena

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No. 2 Transylvania (19-0, 12-0 HCAC) at Anderson (9-10, 5-7 HCAC)

Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 | 1:00 PM | Anderson, Ind. | O.C. Lewis Gymnasium

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THE LONGEST ACTIVE WIN STREAK IN THE NCAA
The Pioneers have won 52 straight games going back to November 18th, 2022. After finishing last season 33-0 and national champions, Transylvania was voted first in the preseason WCBA poll, the first time in program history. With DII Ashland University losing in mid-December, the Pioneers now hold the longest active win streak in the NCAA at 52 games after winning their first 10 games this season. With a win tomorrow, Transylvania Transy will tie DIII FDU-Florham's 53 game win streak set between 2013-2015. Transylvania finished the 2023 year as the only undefeated team in the NCAA or NAIA, men or women. Transy has not lost a game since March 12th, 2022.

ATOP OF THE NCAA
Transy is tied for first in in scoring defense, giving up just 41.4 points per game. The Pioneers defense averages 9.8 steals per game. Transy is one of five teams that remain undefeated this season. 

 PAT DEACON CLASSIC CHAMPS
Transylvania Women's Basketball won the Pat Deacon Classic last month after beating Maryville College (72-42), and Wisconsin Lutheran College (54-48). The Pat Deacon Classic saw a dominating first game from the Pioneers as Kennedi Stacy would have 23 points in 19 minutes after going 6-9 on three point shots against Maryville. In the second game against Wisconsin Lutheran, the Pioneers found themselves trailing 10-15 after the first quarter, then led a strong comeback thanks to the efforts of Dasia Thornton with a 25 point and 13 rebound game. Thornton would earn Pat Deacon Classic MVP while Stacy would earn Pat Deacon Classic All-Tournament Team Honors.   
GAME 1 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE GAME 2 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE

GRATZ PARK PRIVATE WEALTH HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Transylvania continued to dominate at home as they defeated Edgewood College 62-46  and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 71-59 to win the Holiday Tournament. Dasia Thornton finished with a game high 22 points in the championship while earning her fourth double-double of the season after grabbing 10 rebounds. Laken Ball was named to the All-Tournament Team and Sadie Wurth was named tournament MVP.
GAME 1 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE GAME 2 FULL RECAP | BOX SCORE

STEPPING UP ON DEFENSE
Transylvania has held their last three opponents to under 27% shooting and under 40 points. The Pioneers have beaten opponents this season by an average of 29.5 points which is third best in the NCAA DIII. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Transylvania moved to 19-0 overall and 12-0 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) after a convincing 46 point victory over Rose-Hulman. The Pioneers scored the second most points in the series history vs. the Fightin' Engineers. It is the 10th straight win over Rose-Hulman. Juli Fulks earned her 388th career coaching win.
BOX SCORE | RECAP

Transy is now 27-13 all time vs. Rose-Hulman

BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Hanover is 13-6 overall and 11-1 in the HCAC. Transy defeated the Panthers earlier this season 54-39

Grace Bezold leads the Panthers and the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game.

Anderson is currently 9-10 overall and 5-7 in the HCAC. Transy defeated the Ravens earlier this season, 74-34.

Izyy Davis leads Anderson in scoring with 8.7 points per game.
HCAC STATS

THE SERIES
Transylvania leads the all time series against Hanover 31-13, having won the last 10 contests. SERIES HISTORY

Transylvania leads the all time series against Anderson 32-5, having won the last 7 contests. SERIES HISTORY

HCAC LEADERS
As a team, Transylvania leads the HCAC in defense (41.8 ppg), assists (341 total , 17.95), FG percentage (43.2), 3-Point FG's made (174 total, 9.2), team offensive rebounds (272 total, 14.3), rebounding margin (9.6), and turnover margin (5.53).

Dasia Thornton leads the HCAC in rebounds, with 166 total and averages 8.7 a game. She also leads in field goal percentage with .571 (113-198) and blocks with 31.

Sadie Wurth leads the HCAC in assists with 88 and averages 4.6 per game.

LEADING THE NATIONALLY RANKED PIONEERS
Juli Fulks enters her tenth season for the 2023-24 season and has created a dynasty as one of the NCAA DIII's best. Fulks has dominated competition since becoming the head coach of Transylvania, winning 211 games in her previous nine seasons. Fulks' teams has won the HCAC regular season championship five times, and the HCAC tournament championship five seasons in a row.

In her first season, Transy earned an at large bid to the NCAA DIII tournament and became the first undefeated team in HCAC regular season history (18-0). They finished the season ranked 13th nationally, the highest in program history to that point.

The Pioneers won their first NCAA tournament game under Fulks in the 2018-2019 season when they defeated Piedmont 77-67.

In the 2021-2022 season, Fulks' squad finished the regular season perfect at 16-0, and then won the HCAC Tournament against Anderson 81-51. The Pioneers hosted the NCAA Regional for the first time ever and reached the elite eight for the first time in program history before losing to Trine University 47-54 to end the season 22-1, a then program best.
Fulks led Transy to a perfect 33-0 last season, winning the first national championship in school history. 

Awards the Pioneers accrued throughout the 2022-23 season is as follows: 

-Madison Kellione - NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner, NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament MVP, Women's Basketball Coaches Association First Team All-American, D3Hoops Second Team All-American, Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 First Team, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team & Co-Player of the Year, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year from a Female Sport.
-Kennedi Stacy - NCAA DIII Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team, Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Third Team, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team & Defensive Player of the Year.
-Daisa Thornton - NCAA DIII Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team, Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Third Team, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team.
-Laken Ball - Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Second & Sportsmanship Team.
-Coach Juli Fulks - Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region 8 Coach of the Year, D3Hoops Co-DIII Coach of the Year, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
-Tom Bolson Academic Team Award: Madison Kellione, McLain Murphy, Emilie Teall.
-RAFY Coaching Staff of the Year.
Juli Fulks' all time record sits at 388-142.

MS. 1000
Transylvania fifth year forward Dasia Thornton achieved a career milestone last month. In the 65 point win over Defiance, Dasia earned her 1,000th career point with her 12th point of the game. She sank a free throw to achieve the accolade. Just a few days prior, she grabbed her 750th career rebound in the win over Wittenberg. 



HCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Dasia Thornton was named HCAC Player of the Week on December 4th, 2023 for her performances in the wins over Wittenberg and Defiance. She averaged 13.5 points and 7 rebounds while earning her 750th rebound and 1000th point. RELEASE

TRANSY STATS 'N STREAKS

• Transy has the longest winning streak in NCAA at 52  games
• Transy has outscored opponents 70.9  to 41.4 this season
• Transy has started 19-0 for the 3rd consecutive season 
• Transy has won 20 or more games 8 different times in the last 10 seasons
• Transy is third in the NCAA in scoring margin (29.5)

UP NEXT
Transy returns home to face Bluffton on February 7th at 7 PM


 NCAA DIII TOP 25 (WBCA)

Rank	School (Record)	Total Points	First-Place Votes	Last Week's Rank
1	NYU (18-0)	248	8	1
2	Transylvania (19-0)	242	2	2
3	Rhode Island College (20-0)	230	0	3
4	Hope (19-1)	211	0	5
5	Gustavus Adolphus (16-1)	198	0	6
6	UW-Whitewater (18-1)	197	0	4
7	Christopher Newport (20-1)	185	0	7
8	Catholic (19-0)	175	0	8
9	Scranton (17-2)	157	0	9
10	Wartburg (18-2)	153	0	10
11	Johns Hopkins (18-1)	149	0	12
12	Hardin-Simmons (17-3)	124	0	14
13	Washington and Lee (18-2)	122	0	16
14	Bowdoin (19-1)	100	0	21
15	Loras (16-2)	95	0	19
16	Emory (15-3)	90	0	13
17	Smith (15-3)	88	0	11
18	DeSales (17-2)	85	0	20
19	Mary Hardin-Baylor (17-2)	74	0	15
20	Illinois Wesleyan (16-4)	63	0	17
21	Millikin (16-4)	61	0	18
22	UMass-Dartmouth (15-4)	56	0	24
23	Bates (18-2)	36	0	RV
24	Vassar (18-1)	30	0	RV
25	Webster (19-0)	23	0	RV

Dropped out: No. 22 Whitman (14-5); No. 23 Baldwin-Wallace (15-4); No. 25 UW-Oshkosh (15-4).

Others receiving votes: Baldwin-Wallace (15-4) 22; Carroll, WI (15-4) 12; Gettysburg (15-3) 11; Messiah (16-3) 7; UW-Oshkosh (15-4) 5; DePauw (15-4) 1.

The WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll Committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 10 NCAA Division III regions. The committee for the 2023-24 season: Samantha Crough, Regis (MA); Drew Gaeng, Hendrix; Karin Harvey, Montclair State; Melissa Kolbe, Wittenberg; Casey Kushiyama, Puget Sound; Jen McCormick, Illinois College; Bobbi Morgan, Ursinus; Mia Smith, Illinois Wesleyan; Daphne Thompson, SUNY Oneonta; Kelly Thompson, Roger Williams.

2023-24 HCAC Women's Basketball Standings
 

SCHOOL	CONF	CPCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	STREAK
Transylvania	12-0	1.000	19-0	1.000	W19
Hanover	11-1	.917	13-6	.684	W5
Mount St. Joseph	9-3	.750	15-4	.789	W1
Franklin	7-5	.583	12-7	.632	W1
Rose-Hulman	7-5	.583	10-9	.526	L1
Anderson	5-7	.417	9-10	.474	L1
Bluffton	4-8	.333	6-13	.316	L1
Manchester	3-9	.250	6-13	.316	W1
Earlham	2-10	.167	4-13	.235	L3
Defiance	0-12	.000	0-19	.000	L19

2023-24 HCAC Players to Watch:
Transylvania

Name	Class	Hometown	Position
Sydney Wright	SR	Cynthiana, Ky.	Guard
Sadie Wurth	JR	Dixon, Ky.	Point Guard
Kennedy Harris	SR	Somerset, Ky.	Guard
Emilie Teall	JR	Lexington, Ky.	Center

 
Returning 2022-23 All-Conference Basketball Athletes to Watch in 2023-24:
 

Transylvania	Kennedi Stacy	SR	Salyersville, Ky.	Guard
	Dasia Thornton	SR	Cincinnati, Ohio	Forward
	Laken Ball	SR	Beckley, W.Va.	Center

STATS AS OF 1/30/2024

Overall Individual Statistics

#	Player	GP	GS	MINUTES		FG			3PT			FT			SCORING		REBOUNDS				PF	AST	TO	STL	BLK
				TOT	AVG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PT	3PTA	3PT%	FTM	FTA	FT%	PTS	AVG	OFF	DEF	TOT	AVG
35	Thornton, Dasia	19	19	510	26.8	113	198	.571	6	20	.300	54	96	.563	286	15.1	50	116	166	8.7	30	37	37	32	31
24	Stacy, Kennedi	19	19	487	25.6	77	187	.412	31	95	.326	31	41	.756	216	11.4	22	65	87	4.6	18	58	49	34	3
15	Wurth, Sadie	19	19	495	26.1	54	125	.432	29	75	.387	21	25	.840	158	8.3	22	42	64	3.4	17	88	26	30	2
32	Ball, Laken	19	19	419	22.1	55	121	.455	22	68	.324	21	29	.724	153	8.1	16	58	74	3.9	26	27	18	19	12
23	Wright, Sydney	19	19	444	23.4	52	103	.505	16	49	.327	20	28	.714	140	7.4	30	49	79	4.2	17	22	18	17	15
44	Teall, Emilie	19	0	250	13.2	29	76	.382	11	33	.333	2	11	.182	71	3.7	14	25	39	2.1	20	19	17	10	16
04	Flinn, Riley	14	0	114	8.1	13	37	.351	9	25	.360	12	18	.667	47	3.4	13	15	28	2.0	4	4	3	4	4
33	Harris, Kennedy	19	0	246	12.9	22	65	.338	19	56	.339	0	0	.000	63	3.3	16	9	25	1.3	6	19	11	5	0
12	Kemelgor, Sierra	16	0	163	10.2	15	45	.333	6	21	.286	8	12	.667	44	2.8	15	12	27	1.7	8	17	13	9	0
11	Bruner, Grace	13	0	88	6.8	12	33	.364	2	11	.182	5	7	.714	31	2.4	15	11	26	2.0	10	9	7	4	0
22	Cornelison, Samantha	18	0	131	7.3	13	38	.342	9	28	.321	2	5	.400	37	2.1	5	10	15	0.8	7	16	9	2	1
21	Murphy, McLain	15	0	82	5.5	9	20	.450	6	15	.400	2	4	.500	26	1.7	1	10	11	0.7	2	4	4	2	0
14	Littlejohn, Aubree	18	0	93	5.2	8	19	.421	5	10	.500	7	8	.875	28	1.6	9	14	23	1.3	4	10	9	11	1
30	Barrett, Raegan	15	0	88	5.9	8	25	.320	2	8	.250	4	5	.800	22	1.5	8	9	17	1.1	13	2	5	1	1
41	Hurdle, Micayla	12	0	42	3.5	5	7	.714	0	0	.000	2	5	.400	12	1.0	6	10	16	1.3	12	2	8	0	0
10	Hall, Keaton	12	0	93	7.8	3	17	.176	1	10	.100	1	6	.167	8	0.7	5	14	19	1.6	8	3	7	5	0
02	Flores, Amara	14	0	55	3.9	0	14	.000	0	7	.000	6	8	.750	6	0.4	3	5	8	0.6	4	4	5	1	0
TM	Team	19	0	0	0.0	0	0	.000	0	0	.000	0	0	.000	0	0.0	22	38	60	3.2	0	0	16	0	0
	Total	19		3800	200.0	488	1130	.432	174	531	.328	198	308	.643	1348	70.95	272	512	784	41.3	206	341	262	186	86
	Opponents	19		3800	200.0	302	1005	.300	68	291	.234	115	170	.676	787	41.42	193	408	601	31.6	297	218	367	122	54

To keep up with the defending national champions, follow Transy Women's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@TUWBX)