The UMES women's basketball team continued its historic march through the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament in Norfolk, Va.
The eighth-seeded Hawks (14-16) toppled top seed and five-time defending champion Hampton on Wednesday and outlasted fourth-seed Norfolk State in Friday's semifinal, 69-64 in overtime.
The win advances UMES to its first league championship against second seed Savannah State, a 62-59 winner over third-seeded North Carolina A&T, today at 3 p.m. The Hawks defeated the Tigers (20-10) during the regular season.
UMES became the first women's team since South Carolina State in 2010 to advance to the conference title game after playing in the first round.
A pair of free throws by Moengaroa Subritzky (21 points) gave the Hawks a 56-53 lead with 37 seconds left in regulation. But Rae Corbo hit both free throws with 26 seconds left, and Kayla Roberts went 1-for-2 at the line with two seconds left to force overtime for the Spartans (14-16).
The teams traded baskets to open the overtime before Alexus Hicks gave UMES the lead for good at 61-58 with a 3-pointer with 3:25 left. Subritzky followed with a layup with 2:11 remaining to give the Hawks a two-possession lead.
A free throw by Subritzky with 27 seconds left put UMES up 68-60.
James Madison 64, Towson 49: The top-seeded Dukes (27-3) opened the game with an 18-4 run and beat the eighth-seeded Tigers (11-21) in a Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinal in Upper Marlboro.
Ciara Webb (Patterson) had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Towson. Brianna Bush had 11 points, and LaTorri Hines-Allen and Dominique Johnson added 10 points for the Tigers.
Precious Hall had a game-high 19 points for James Madison, which had a 33-28 lead at the half.
Salisbury 63, Amherst 58: Anna Hackett scored a game-high 29 points to power the Sea Gulls (28-2) past the Lady Jeffs (25-4) in an NCAA Division III sectional semifinal at Montclair State.
Salisbury was down by eight at halftime before outscoring Amherst 38-25 in the second half.
The Sea Gulls face Montclair State in tonight's sectional final at 6.
Men
Babson 49, Johns Hopkins 47: The host Beavers (29-2) took a two-point lead with 1:35 to play and held on to beat the Blue Jays (25-5) in an NCAA Division III section semifinal.