For the second year in a row, the Bears of Washington University in St. Louis have eliminated the Thunder of Wheaton College (Illinois) from the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. WashU was a 75-57 winner over Wheaton on Friday night in the 2018 championship's first round at DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

The victory moves the Bears, the third-place finisher in the University Athletic Association (UAA) and an at-large selection, to a 19-7 record on the season while the Thunder, second in the CCIW and also an at-large selection, finishes 22-6.

In last year's NCAA tournament, WashU beat Wheaton, 83-74, in the second round. With their most current win on Friday, the Bears are 8-0 all-time against the Thunder and 4-0 in the NCAA tournament.

The win was a dominant one for WashU as they held a double-digit margin over Wheaton for three of four quarters. The nation's sixth-ranked team in field goal percentage in 2018 (46.3%), the Bears shot 50% from the field on Friday to the Thunder's 30.6%.

WashU was led by junior forward Madeline Homoly with 25 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Devin Kyler of Wheaton led the Thunder with 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Bears move onto the 2018 championship's second round and will play the winner of the Hope College-Cornell College matchup.