BLOOMINGTON, Ill.- The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team used a 21-9 first quarter to defeat Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) in its return to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday (March 15). The Titans have now advanced the furthest in the national tournament under head coach Brad Fischer and the deepest since winning the 1996 national championship.
 
The "Elite Eight" appearance was the seventh in program history for the Titans and they reached the "Final Four" for the third time with the win. Oshkosh has won both of its previous semifinal games. The Titans beat Salem State University (Mass.) in 1995 before finishing as the national runners-up. Serving as the host of the final two rounds of the 1996 tournament, UW-Oshkosh defeated New York University in the semifinal before taking down the University of Mount Union (Ohio) in the national championship game to win the only national title in program history.
 
UW-Oshkosh shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from three, and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the line in the win and forced nine turnovers which it converted into 13 points.
 
While the Yellow Jackets out rebounded Oshkosh, 36 to 28, 27 of the Titans points came off the bench and they committed just nine fouls to Baldwin Wallace's 16.
 
Sammi Beyer (So. • Appleton) led the Titans off the bench with 18 points on 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line. Kayce Vaile (Fifth • Greendale) added 14 points and six rebounds while Sarah Hardwick led Oshkosh with seven rebounds with a steal and a block. Kate Huml (Jr. • Janesville) was the third Titan to reach double-digit scoring with 10 points on 4-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.
 
UW-Oshkosh opened the game with five straight points and after the Yellow Jackets made a jump shot at 7:27, Huml converted a pull up shot to kick off a 12-0 run for the Titans. All the other 10 points of the run were scored by Beyer on two layups, a pair of free throws, and two jump shots. Baldwin Wallace cut the deficit to 10 points with 28 seconds to go before Vaile made the score 21-9 headed into the second period with a layup at three seconds.
 
Paige Seckar (Fr. • Oshkosh) and Alex Rondorf (Grad. • West Bend) combined for the first five points of the second quarter, pushing the Titans' lead to a game high 17 points with 6:41 remaining in the half. While the teams traded baskets before heading to the locker rooms, two three-pointers helped the Yellow Jackets pull within 12 points at 33-21 with 49 seconds remaining. Avery Poole (Jr. • Cottage Grove) increased the edge to 14 points with a pair of foul shots at 30 seconds and a missed three-pointer for Baldwin Wallace put the score at 35-21 after 20 minutes of the Elite Eight contest.
 
The Yellow Jackets scored 13 points to Oshkosh's eight in a third quarter that saw just two made field goals. Vaile added six of the Titans' points on a trio of layups while Seckar made two free throws just before the two minute mark. The lead had diminished to 43-34 by the time the third quarter buzzer sounded.
 
Baldwin Wallace cut the deficit to six points with 7:42 to go in the contest and got within three points twice in the fourth quarter, as late as 11 seconds on the clock. The Titans then reached bonus shooting and put the game out of reach with 2-for-2 trips to the line for both Beyer and Vaile, sealing the Elite Eight win and the first trip to the Final Four of the 21st century.
 
The Titans will match up with Smith College (Mass.) (30-2), the 2024 national runner-up in the Final Four on Thursday (March 20) at 6:30 p.m. at the Cregger Center in Salem, Virginia. In Oshkosh's only previous meeting with the Pioneers in the third round of last year's national tournament, Smith won by a two-point, 61-59 score, in Brunswick, Maine. The Pioneers beat Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), 61-50, in the Brunswick Sectional on Friday to advance to Thursday's semifinal game.
 
The other semifinal game will be played at 4:30 p.m. between defending national champion NYU (29-0) and UW-Stout (23-7). The Violets defeated Gettysburg College (Pa.), 76-51, at home on Saturday while the Blue Devils won their first Elite Eight appearance over sectional host University of Scranton (Pa.) by a score of 81-77.
 
For the first time in WIAC history regardless of gender, the conference will be represented by two teams in the NCAA Division III Basketball Championship semifinal round.