The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2025 NCAA Division III tournament at the Kolf Sports Center over the weekend, beating Calvin University (Michigan) 61-52 March 7 and Bethel University (Minnesota) 59-49 March 8.
In the game against the Knights, despite being held off the scoreboard for the entire first quarter, Kayce Vaile managed to lead the team in points with 16.
Vaile said the key to managing the double team defense she faced was to slow the game down.
“It all came down to slowing down and communication,” Vaile said. “I really relied on my teammates to communicate where the double team was coming from.”
The first quarter was all about defense. After Knights forward Hannah Sall made a jumper to put Calvin up 4-2, three minutes went off the clock without a score. UWO guard Sammi Beyer drilled a three to not only break the scoreless drought but also give the Titans the lead for the first time in the game at 5-4. After Beyer responded to a Calvin bucket with a jumper to reclaim the lead at 7-6, both teams again held each other scoreless for the immediate 2:01 that followed. UWO’s Kate Huml broke the scoring drought with a jumper to extend the Titans’ lead at 9-6.
Behind six second chance points from the Knights, Calvin went on a 9-0 run to claim a 15-9 lead. But a 3-pointer by Alex Rondorf got UWO right back in it to end the first quarter down 15-12. Second chance points also were the story for Calvin in the second quarter, with 13 of the Knights’ 17 points coming off of second chance opportunities. But in the quarter, UWO never faced a deficit larger than seven points as UWO was able to go into the half only down 32-29.
The Titans started the third quarter on a 7-2 run to reclaim the lead at 36-34 and held onto the lead for the rest of the game. UWO pulled away with a 14-7 run in the third quarter behind eight points in the quarter from Rondorf to go into the fourth up 43-39. In the fourth, UWO had an answer to nearly every run the Knights had. With 4:36 left in the game, Calvin got the score down to 49-48, but the Titans responded with a 3-pointer from Beyer to get the lead back to a two score game. UWO kept the lead at multiple scores the rest of the quarter and pulled away from Calvin to win by nine points.
Coach Brad Fischer said the Titans were able to flip a switch in the second half.
“We’ve been coming out of halftime pretty strong,” Fischer said. “We talked at halftime about day one habits and I thought we were so much better.”
The Titans shifted their attention to the round-of-32 matchup against Bethel that took place the next day, where the Titans took down the Royals, 59-49 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Beyer and Rondorf led the Titans in the win with 16 and 13 points respectively. Three of Beyer’s field goals came from beyond the 3-point line along with four of Rondorf’s.
Beyer said she was thankful for all her teammates did in the win.
“It’s a testament to my teammates, they’re giving me the ball,” she said. “It is a testament to coach for putting me out there and having full confidence in me.”
It was a back-and-forth start to the first quarter. Neither team held a lead larger than 3 points the entire way. However, with 5:52 left in the quarter in a 4-4 tie, a 3-pointer from Beyer gave the Titans the first lead of the game and UWO never fully relinquished it the rest of the way as the Titans ended the quarter up 20-18.
The second quarter was where most of the damage came for the Titans. UWO, behind two 3-pointers from Rondorf, blew open the game, outscoring the Royals 15-8 in the second quarter to go into the half up 35-26.
Despite a 4-0 start to the second half by the Royals, UWO scored 5 points in the quarter from Avery Poole, and Oshkosh was able to build its largest lead of the night at 45-32. The Royals were only able to cut the gap down to 49-38 to end the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Bethel cut the deficit down to 53-49 with 3:36 left in the game. Similar to the night before, when Calvin University (Michigan) cut the lead down to one, UWO responded with a huge 3-pointer from Rondorf to calm things down. After a great sequence of defensive plays from Sarah Hardwick, the Titans were able to hit the game sealing 3-pointer from Beyer with 1:11 to go to clinch a 59-49 win.
Hardwick finished the game with six defensive rebounds, along with two blocks and two steals.
“Last two minutes was all (Hardwick),” Fischer said. “Regardless of what we did offensively, she was guarding their All American player and her steals gave us 25 seconds off the clock.”
The Titans will head to Bloomington, Illinois, to take on No.4 Illinois Wesleyan University in the Sweet 16 at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
