The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball advanced to the Sweet 16 after taking down Bethel University (Minnesota) 59-49 in the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament Saturday night at the Kolf Sports Center.
Guard Sammi Beyer and forward Alex Rondorf led the Titans, ranked No. 11 in the nation, 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, 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),” coach Brad 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 night.
