Titans Continue Their NCAA Postseason Journey
Eliza Campbell paced a balanced UW-Oshkosh scoring attack with a game-high 12 points as the Titans defeated two-time national champion DePauw University (Ind.), 64-49, during the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday (March 4) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (26-3), ranked 13th in the country by D3hoops.com, scored the first nine points of the game before 11th-ranked DePauw University (27-3) answered with 12 consecutive points.
The Titans reclaimed the lead for good at 13-12 following a pair of free throws by Kendell Truttman with 1:44 left in the first quarter. UW-Oshkosh increased its advantage to 25-14 early in the second period and led by at least 10 points for the final 27:32 of the game.
UW-Oshkosh advances to play sixth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (March 10) in St. Louis. Washington University (25-2) won its second-round game at home, 83-74, over 24th-ranked Wheaton College (Ill.) (24-5) on Saturday.
The Titans, who won the 1996 national title, are back in the third round of the NCAA postseason for the second time in four seasons and are making their seventh appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.
In Saturday's victory over the Tigers, Campbell connected on 5 of 7 shots from the field, including both of her 3-point attempts, and added six rebounds.
UW-Oshkosh's Taylor Schmidt recorded 10 points, while Emma Melotik had nine points and Morgan Kokta contributed seven points and a game-high five assists. Schmidt, who has started each of the Titans' 118 games over the past four seasons, moved into sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,267 career points.
Alex Richard chipped in six points and led all players with 11 rebounds for the Titans, who also received six points off the bench from Kylie Moe and four each from reserves Olivia Campbell, Madeline Staples and Truttman.
UW-Oshkosh held advantages over DePauw University in field goal (.443 to .346) and 3-point (.350 to .105) percentages as well as rebounds (38-31) and assists (9-5). Both teams committed just eight turnovers, while the Tigers made just two of their 19 shots from 3-point range.
The Titans entered the contest ranked second nationally with 12 turnovers per game and 12th by allowing 49.9 points per contest. UW-Oshkosh has held 22 opponents to less than 56 points this season.
The Tigers, who went into the matchup ranked sixth in the nation with a +12 rebounding advantage per game, handed UW-Oshkosh its first loss this season by a 60-56 score on Dec. 20 in Puerto Rico. DePauw University, the 2007 and 2013 national champion, was limited to its second-lowest scoring output of the season in the rematch on Saturday.
DePauw University missed its first five shots from the floor and committed four turnovers during the first six minutes of the game before cutting its deficit to 9-5 on a three-point play by Emily Budde at the 4:03 mark of the first quarter.
UW-Oshkosh missed six straight field goal attempts during the Tigers' run of 12 points, including five from Budde, over a span of nearly five minutes.
Moe drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the final 79 seconds of the opening period to give UW-Oshkosh a 19-14 lead.
The Titans, who improved their home record to 13-1 this season, drove for layups on four straight possessions early in the second quarter to increase their advantage to 27-14 at the 6:53 mark before Melotik beat the first-half buzzer with a layup for a 38-19 UW-Oshkosh lead at intermission.
UW-Oshkosh shot 48.5 percent (16-33) from the field during the first half, while DePauw University was held to 25 percent (7-28) accuracy from the floor.
DePauw University committed just one turnover in the second half, but the Tigers never got closer than 13 points during the final 20 minutes of the contest.
UW-Oshkosh built its largest lead of 21 points at 64-43 on a layup by Isabella Samuels with 4:31 left in the fourth period.
Budde led DePauw University with 11 points off the bench.
Claire Ryan had 10 points and a team-leading nine rebounds for the Tigers, while Blair Carlin, Maya Howard and Taylor Howard registered eight points each.
DePauw University entered this season with the highest winning percentage of any Division III women's team over the previous five years. The Tigers produced a 139-14 record (.908 winning percentage) from 2012-16.
UW-Oshkosh, making its 14th NCAA postseason appearance, owns a 27-12 record in the national tournament. The Titans won the 1996 title after reaching the national championship game in 1995. UW-Oshkosh also advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in 1994, 1998, 1999 and 2014.
NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Interactive Bracket