Titans, Yellow Jackets Clash In NCAA Sweet Sixteen Contest
The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team opens its third consecutive NCAA Division III Sweet 16 appearance against nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) on Friday (March 11) in Whitewater. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. in sectional host UW-Whitewater's Kachel Gymnasium.
The Whitewater Sectional also features UW-Whitewater playing Smith College (Mass.) in a battle of nationally ranked programs at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Friday's winners then play at 7 p.m. Saturday (March 12) for the right to advance to the Final Four that will be held March 17 and 19 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
UW-Oshkosh (21-6) is the only unranked team at the Whitewater Sectional as Baldwin Wallace University (23-4) is 10th in the D3hoops.com poll, UW-Whitewater (25-4) 12th and Smith College (25-2) 16th.
Baldwin Wallace University, Smith College and UW-Oshkosh were all among the 16 teams still vying for the 2020 national title when the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that also forced the cancellation of the 2021 Division III Championship.
UW-Oshkosh reached the third round of Division III Championship by defeating 18th-ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College, 48-42, in the first round last Friday (March 4) before upsetting fourth-ranked Simpson College (Iowa) by a 64-56 score during the Indianola Regional title game last Saturday (March 5) in Indianola, Iowa. Simpson College had its winning streaks of 23 this season and 21 at home end with the result.
The Titans, who earned one of 20 at-large berths into the 64-team NCAA field, have now won at least one game in each of their past 14 trips to the Division III postseason. UW-Oshkosh, which advanced to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals this season, also recently reached the third round in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Baldwin Wallace University punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 by virtue of winning the Gettysburg (Pa.) Regional with victories of 66-54 over Salisbury University (Md.) in the first round and 66-54 at host and 25th-ranked Gettysburg College last Saturday. The Yellow Jackets earned an automatic berth into this year's tournament with their Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament title.
UW-Whitewater, which garnered an at-large berth into the NCAA postseason, was the WIAC regular season champion and league tournament runner-up. The Warhawks clinched a spot in the Sweet 16 with home victories of 58-34 over Ripon College during last Friday's first round and 72-54 against Illinois Wesleyan University during the Whitewater Regional title game the following day.
Smith College secured its place in the Sweet 16 with home victories of 61-51 versus Framingham State University (Mass.) in the first round and then 76-58 over Brooklyn College (N.Y.) to win the Northampton (Mass.) Regional title. The Pioneers were the Division III Championship automatic qualifiers this year out of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.
UW-Oshkosh, the 1996 national champion and 1995 runner-up, boasts a 33-14 record in 17 NCAA postseason appearances. The Titans are attempting to reach their first Elite Eight since back-to-back trips in 1998 and 1999.
Baldwin Wallace University has an 18-14 mark in its 16th national tournament appearance, reaching as far as the Elite Eight on three occasions (2000, 2001, 2006). Smith College, 6-2 in four Division III Championship trips, is attempting to advance to the quarterfinal round for the first time after also reaching the Sweet 16 in 2020. UW-Whitewater, the 2013 Division III runner-up, has a 29-19 record in 20 NCAA trips that have also included Final Four appearances in 2008 and 2014.
WIAC rivals UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater, which have combined to win each of the past six league regular season championships and eight of the last nine conference postseason titles, have had a litany of highly contested battles over the years but just one in the NCAA tournament.
The Titans have never faced Smith College and have played Baldwin Wallace University once previously, resulting in a 74-59 UW-Oshkosh victory on Dec. 29, 2004, in Rockford, Ill. UW-Whitewater, which won two of its three meetings with UW-Oshkosh this season, defeated the Titans by a 69-57 score during the third round of the 2014 national championship. The home team has been the winner in each contest this season between the Warhawks and UW-Oshkosh.
UW-Oshkosh enters the Sweet 16 averaging 65.3 points and allowing 50.2 per contest under head coach Brad Fischer, who sports a 215-55 record in 10 seasons with the program. He has guided the Titans to the NCAA postseason seven times over the past eight tournaments.
The Titans, who have held 14 opponents to 50 points or fewer on the year, lead the nation with 10.8 turnovers per game.
2022 All-WIAC First Team honorees Leah Porath and Nikki Arneson pace UW-Oshkosh at 14.3 and 12.7 points per contest, respectively. Arneson, who is 22nd on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,040 career points, has made 50 3-pointers at a .424 clip and shoots 47.8% from the field and 80.9% at the free throw line. Porath, a two-time D3hoops.com All-American who ranks fifth in program history with 1,368 career points, averages 6.0 rebounds per game while connecting on 46.0% of her shots from the floor and 41.2% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Eight Titans are averaging more than 15 minutes per game as Jenna Jorgensen is third on the squad with 8.8 points per contest, followed by Julia Silloway at 6.0, Abby Kaiser 5.6, Brooke Freitag 4.7, Kennedy Osterman 4.0 and Ava Douglas 3.8. Kaiser, an All-WIAC Honorable Mention and WIAC All-Defensive Team selection in 2022, has registered 46 steals. Silloway, who joined Kaiser on this year's five-member WIAC All-Defensive Team, has dished out 58 assists. Jorgensen has knocked down 40 3-pointers and shoots 79.5% at the foul line.
Baldwin Wallace University, scoring 67.6 points and yielding 51.1 per game, is led by 2022 All-OAC First Team performer Lilly Edwards, who averages 17.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 53% from the field and 80.6% at the free throw line.
Edwards is the Yellow Jackets' lone double-digit scorer as Megan Hensel is next at 8.3 points per game and Megan Scheibelhut is third on the team at 6.1. Hensel, a 2022 All-OAC Second Team selection, has knocked down 41 3-pointers on a .403 shooting percentage. Scheibelhut received 2022 All-OAC Honorable Mention accolades and averages 4.9 rebounds per contest to go along with 43 blocks this season.
Other Baldwin Wallace University leaders include Izzy Andrews' 49 assists and 25 steals from both Edwards and Hensel for a team that goes 11 players deep in its regular rotation.
UW-Whitewater, winner of 16 of its last 17 home games, is averaging 71.4 points and allowing 54.6 per contest. The Warhawks rank ninth nationally in both steals (381) and average turnover margin (+7.76).
2022 WIAC Co-Player of the Year Aleah Grundahl and league First Team honoree Johanna Taylor pace the Warhawks on both ends of the floor as the duo were also tabbed to the WIAC All-Defensive Team. Grundahl averages 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest while shooting 51.1% from the floor. Taylor adds 8.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game to go along with 58 blocks.
UW-Whitewater's Kacie Carollo was named to the 2022 All-WIAC Honorable Mention Team and chips in 8.0 points per game in addition to draining 43 3-pointers. Rebekah Schumacher, averaging 8.4 points per contest, leads the Warhawks with 49 made 3-pointers.
Smith College, which enters the Sweet 16 on a 10-game winning streak, scores 70.5 points and surrenders 53.5 per game. The Pioneers are fourth in the division with a .461 field goal percentage.
The Pioneers are led by a trio of 2022 All-NEWMAC players in First Team picks Dashelle Gleissner and Katelyn Pickunka, and Second Team honoree Morgan Morrison. Pickunka paces the squad at 11.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest. Gleissner, the NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year, scores 6.7 points per game while collecting 131 assists and 74 steals on the year. Morrison, shooting 62.7% from the floor, averages 10.6 points and 5.7 boards.
Smith College has also received 11.0 points per game from Jessie Ruffner and a team-leading 37 made 3-pointers from Ally Yamada.
Tickets for the Whitewater Sectional will be available starting at 4 p.m. Friday in Kachel Gymnasium. Tickets, which will not be available for presale, are $10 for adults; $7 for students (with valid college ID), seniors and youth; and free for ages 3 and under.
2022 UW-Oshkosh Women's Basketball Whitewater Sectional Media Guide
2022 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Digital Program