Titans To Host First Two Rounds Of NCAA Championship
UW-Oshkosh's relationship with a former conference colleague renews when it hosts UW-Superior in the first round of the 64-team NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Friday (March 4).
Tipoff for the contest between the ex-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) rivals is 7 p.m. in UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Superior will compete in the second of two games on Friday in Oshkosh. The first contest, which is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m., involves Wartburg College (Iowa) and Wisconsin Lutheran College.
The winners of Friday's games will remain in Oshkosh for a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday (March 5). Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites for games on March 11-12. Winners of the four sectionals will then advance to the semifinals on March 19 in Columbus, Ohio. The national championship game is April 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
UW-Oshkosh, one of the more successful programs in NCAA postseason history, earned an automatic berth into this year's tournament after defeating UW-River Falls, 65-64, in the title game of the WIAC Championship held Saturday (Feb. 27) in River Falls.
The Titans (22-5), who placed second to UW-River Falls in this year's WIAC regular-season standings, are making their third straight NCAA postseason appearance and 13th overall. UW-Oshkosh, which owns a 24-11 record during its previous 12 NCAA postseason visits, captured the national title in 1996 and finished second in the country in 1995.
UW-Superior, which joined the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) this season after a 45-year women's membership in the WIAC, will be participating in its first NCAA Championship. The Yellowjackets (24-3) earned an automatic berth into the NCAA postseason by following a UMAC regular-season title with a 58-34 victory over the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in the championship game of the UMAC Tournament held Saturday (Feb. 27).
UW-Superior, which captured the WIAC's regular-season crown in 2015, lost decisions of 66-61 and 75-69 to UW-Oshkosh in the title games of the 2014 and 2015 WIAC Championship, respectively.
Wartburg College (19-7) received an at-large berth into this weekend's action after finishing third in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference during the regular season. The Knights, who recorded a 67-56 home win over UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 29, are appearing in their 10th NCAA Championship, but just their first since 2002.
Wisconsin Lutheran College (20-7) earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship after ousting Aurora University (Ill.), 61-52, in the title game of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament held Saturday. The Warriors, who placed second in the NACC's regular-season standings, are making their sixth straight NCAA postseason appearance and eighth overall.
UW-Oshkosh is the only team of the four that is nationally ranked. The Titans enter this weekend's games ranked 11th in the country by D3hoops.com.
2016 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Bracket
2016 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Selection Show