UW-Oshkosh Headed To NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four; UW-La Crosse Falls In Sectional Final

**UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh Sports Information contributed to this recap

MADISON, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is headed to the national semifinals of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship after a 73-56 triumph over University of Chicago (Ill.) at Kolf Sports Center on March 14, while UW-La Crosse fell 72-47 to top-ranked New York University in a sectional final contest in New York.

UW-Oshkosh (28-3) is making its second straight Final Four appearance and will play its semifinal contest against Denison University (Ohio) (28-2) on March 19 at the Cregger Center in Salem, Va.

UW-La Crosse completed the 2026 season with a 21-10 record and made its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Elite Eight. The Eagles won the WIAC tournament title for the first time in program history.

Against Chicago (20-8), UW-Oshkosh trailed 17-13 early in the second quarter, but went on a 19-0 scoring run that began with an Avery Poole 3-pointer before UW-Oshkosh took the lead for good at 18-17 on an Abbey Inda layup with 5:21 left in the second period. UW-Oshkosh, which led by as many as 25 points midway through the fourth period, went on to hold Chicago scoreless for a stretch of 7:34 until the Maroons cut their deficit to 32-19 at the 9:38 mark of the third quarter.

The Titans, who improved to 28-2 at home in the NCAA postseason will be making their second straight and fourth overall Final Four trip. UW-Oshkosh, which fell during last year's national semifinals, finished as the 1995 runner-up and the 1996 champion.

Sammi Beyer led three UW-Oshkosh double-digit scorers with 22 points, going 4-for-8 from 3-point range, to go along with three assists. Paige Seckar recorded her eighth double-double of the season and 10th career with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Titans, who also received 12 points from Poole and eight apiece from Sarah Hardwick and Bridget Froehlke. Froehlke went 3-for-3 from the floor, hit both of her 3-point attempts and dished out three assists to tie for the team lead with Beyer, Hardwick and Seckar

Chicago built its largest lead of the night at 9-4 following a 3-pointer at the 6:23 mark of the opening period. The Maroons later held a 17-13 advantage after a layup with 7:12 to go in the second quarter.

Then the Titans took over with their game-changing run as Seckar accounted for seven points during the 19-point spurt, which featured another five points from Beyer, four from Inda and three from Poole.

UW-Oshkosh built its first 20-point cushion at 40-19 following a Beyer 3-pointer with 6:58 left in the third period. Another Beyer long-range jumper provided the Titans their largest lead of the night of 25 points (62-37) at the 5:20 mark of the fourth quarter.

Hardwick, who is tied with Kate Huml for the program record with 122 games played, made her program-record 120th career start to eclipse the previous mark of 119 held by Taylor Schmidt (2014-17).

After the victory over UW-La Crosse, New York University (29-0) has now won 91 consecutive games including the last three NCAA Division III national championships. Their win streak is the second longest all-time in all levels of NCAA basketball.

A put back lay-up by Molly Janke pulled the Eagles to within 11-10 with 2:04 left in the opening period. The Violets would then score six of the final eight points to lead 17-12 at the end of the first quarter.

New York University opened the second quarter on a 15-2 run to extend their lead to 32-14 with 5:15 remaining in the half. The Eagles scored six unanswered, but the Violets scored the final three points of the half to lead 38-20 at halftime.

The Violets took a 47-24 lead on a layup before the Eagles got a layup from Jenna Welsch and Lindsey Knuth, along with a three-point play by Malia Nelson and a free throw from Madisyn Kilboten to cut the Eagles deficit to 47-32 (4:57). Nelson hit a shot on the Eagles final possession of the third quarter to trail 56-38. UW-La Crosse did not get any closer than 18 (63-45) in the second half.

Kilboten and Welsch led the Eagles with 10 points, while Nelson added nine points. Molly Janke had a team-leading 10 rebounds to go along with six points and three assists.

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