Titans' 13th NCAA Postseason Expedition Begins At Home
UW-Oshkosh will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship for the second time in three seasons when it welcomes Wartburg College (Iowa) and state rivals UW-Superior and Wisconsin Lutheran College to Kolf Sports Center this weekend.
The Oshkosh Regional begins Friday (March 4) with Wartburg College (19-7) playing Wisconsin Lutheran College (20-7) at 4:30 p.m. The first day concludes with UW-Oshkosh (22-5) hosting former conference rival UW-Superior (24-3) at 7 p.m.
Friday's first-round winners will meet in the Oshkosh Regional championship at 7 p.m. 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 of the 64-team tournament is April 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
The Titans are the only nationally ranked team at the Oshkosh Regional. UW-Oshkosh enters this weekend's games ranked 11th in the country by D3hoops.com.
Three of the four Oshkosh Regional competitors list among the top 20 NCAA Division III leaders in at least one statistical category.
UW-Oshkosh ranks second in the nation in turnovers per game (12.0), 11th in average points allowed (50.4), 19th in 3-point percentage (.352) and 20th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.11).
UW-Superior lists fifth in the country in rebounding margin (+12.3), 10th in field goal percentage (.448) and 17th in average scoring margin (+16.5), while Wartburg College ranks 20th in 3-pointers per contest (7.6).
UW-Oshkosh, which owns a 24-11 record in 12 previous Division III Championship visits, will renew a longstanding rivalry with first-time NCAA postseason participant UW-Superior. The Titans have won 62 of the 68 prior meetings, but five of the Yellowjackets' six wins in the series have come since 2010.
The Titans, seeded second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship, secured an automatic bid into the national field by virtue of their 65-64 victory at top-seeded UW-River Falls on Feb. 27. The victory marked UW-Oshkosh's third consecutive WIAC Championship crown and fourth in program history.
UW-Oshkosh, which finished second to UW-River Falls in this year's WIAC standings with an 11-3 mark, 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, clinched an automatic berth into the national tournament with a 58-34 victory as the top seed over second-seeded University of Northwestern (Minn.) in the championship game of the UMAC Tournament on Feb. 27.
The Yellowjackets, who captured the 2015 WIAC regular-season crown with a 12-4 record, went unbeaten in 16 UMAC contests during their debut season in the new league.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Superior last met in the 2015 WIAC Championship final, where the Titans downed the Yellowjackets, 75-69, in Superior. The teams also squared off in the final game of the 2014 WIAC Championship, which UW-Oshkosh won by a score of 66-61.
UW-Superior has defeated UW-Oshkosh just once in Oshkosh. The Yellowjackets secured a 74-66 decision on Jan. 4, 2012.
UW-Oshkosh is led by All-WIAC first-team honorees Taylor Schmidt and Eliza Campbell.
Schmidt, a junior guard, leads the team and ranks 10th in the WIAC with 11.2 points per game. She also leads her conference in 3-point percentage (.439) while listing fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.811), sixth in the league in assists per game (2.59) and seventh in 3-pointers (36).
Campbell, a sophomore forward, is the Titans' second-leading scorer this season at 9.1 points per game. She has also contributed 35 steals, 28 assists and 21 3-pointers.
UMAC Coach of the Year Don Mulhern's squad is led by league Player of the Year Hailey Kontny.
Kontny, a sophomore guard, ranks fifth in the UMAC by averaging 12.9 points per contest. She also lists third in the UMAC in free throw percentage (.768) and 10th in field goal percentage (.425) while averaging 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Wartburg College received one of 20 at-large berths into this weekend's action after finishing third in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the regular season with a 9-5 mark.
The Knights, seeded third in the IIAC Tournament, lost at home by a 66-60 to sixth-seeded Coe College (Iowa) in the opening round. Wartburg College, which recorded a 67-56 home win over UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 29, is appearing in its 10th NCAA Championship, but the first since 2002.
Wartburg College owns a 9-9 record in its nine previous trips to the NCAA postseason, advancing as far as the sectional finals in 1992, 1993 and 2001.
Leading Wartburg College are All-IIAC first-team member Kailey Kladivo and second-team selection Katie Sommer.
Kladivo, a senior forward, earned her fourth All-IIAC accolade after leading the Knights with 14.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game and a .493 field goal percentage. She ranks fourth in the IIAC in rebounding and sixth in both scoring and field goal percentage.
Sommer, a sophomore guard, paces her conference with 117 assists while listing third in the IIAC in 3-point percentage (.420), seventh in 3-pointers (47) and eighth in steals (39).
Wisconsin Lutheran College, seeded second at the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament, earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship after ousting fourth-seeded Aurora University (Ill.), 61-52, in the title game of held Feb. 27.
The Warriors, who placed second in the NACC's regular-season standings with a 16-4 record, are making their sixth consecutive and eighth overall NCAA postseason appearance.
Wisconsin Lutheran College, which sports a 2-7 record in the national tournament, is led by All-NACC first team honorees Taylor Bahr and Jen Dowden.
Bahr, a senior forward, averages 10.8 points per contest. She ranks second in the NACC in steals (73), eighth in rebounds per game (7.6) and 10th in assists (69).
Dowden, a freshman forward, lists third in the NACC by scoring 15.1 points per game. She also ranks sixth in the league in free throw percentage (.804), seventh in blocks (27) and ninth in field goal percentage (.449).
Wartburg College has won its two previous meetings with Wisconsin Lutheran College. The Knights secured an 80-64 decision when the teams last met on Nov. 17, 2007.
The last time UW-Oshkosh hosted a regional, the Titans earned wins by scores of 71-61 over Saint Mary's (Minn.) in the first round and 72-66 over Washington University (Mo.) in the second before falling to conference rival UW-Whitewater in the third.
Daily ticket prices for the games are $9 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and $5 for students (K-12, College with valid ID card). Children under the age of five are free.
2016 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Bracket