BOYDS, MD — Saturday morning saw 16 teams turn to four still in the running for a Women’s Division III national title. Battling in Sunday’s semifinals are Endicott, Colorado School of Mines, Colby and MiraCosta College.

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Colby had a cold start, but pulled away with the opening-round win against Wisconsin - Platteville, 14-12. After a few hours' rest, the Mules defeated Nazareth, 31-22, with two tries coming from center Leila Gerry.

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Colby is set to meet MiraCosta in the semifinals. The Spartans showed their dominance with a smooth 27-5 win over Christopher Newport to start Saturday. Prop Heavenly Afaese was close to a hat-trick, scoring two tries and forcing a penalty try. MiraCosta had a tougher bout against Drury in the quarterfinals, but still came away with the victory, 26-15.

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Later in the morning, Endicott defeated Colorado College, 30-7, with wing Colleen Mitchell securing a hat trick. They faced a challenge against Niagara, but ultimately locked in the semifinal spot with a 17-12 victory.

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Mines sealed a semifinal with wins over Loyola and East Stroudsburg to earn a meeting with Endicott on Sunday. In December, the Orediggers defeated Endicott in the Division III XVs final in Houston, putting on an extra special pressure to defeat the Gulls.

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Currently in the lead for tries and points is Molly Cancian of Baldwin Wallace with six and 30, respectively. The leader in conversions is Oredigger Ayana Mejorado with six.

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The DIII national championship will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. All matches can be watched on NCR TV with the $19.99 weekend pass.

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