OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team defeated Calvin University (Mich.) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship, 61-52, on Friday night (March 7). In the Titans' second consecutive home regional, they reached the second round of the national tournament for the 19th time in their 20 postseason appearances in program history.

Kayce Vaile (Fifth • Greendale) led the Titans with 16 points, going 5-of-13 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line while adding six rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block in 38 minutes. Alex Rondorf (Grad. • West Bend) had 15 points, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also recorded seven rebounds. Sammi Beyer's (So. • Appleton) 12 points came on 4-of-10 from the field with two threes and a pair of foul shots. Sarah Hardwick (Jr. • Green Bay) led the Titans with nine rebounds.

Despite falling behind early, the Titans got their first lead of the game with 6:06 left in the first quarter on a jumper by Beyer. Kate Huml (Jr. • Janesville) extended the lead to 9-6 on a jumper before Calvin reclaimed a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Vaile gave the Titans the lead twice in a back-and-forth start to the quarter. Despite being down 24-31 with 2:13 to play before halftime, the Titans outscored the Knights 5-1 in the final two minutes to make the score 29-32 at halftime.

The Titans started the third quarter strong, leading off with an 11-2 run which included a jumper and a 3-pointer from Rondorf, a layup from Hardwick, and two layups from Vaile. Rondorf made another three with 2:19 remaining in the period to make the score 43-39. Neither team scored in the last two minutes of the quarter.

Calvin closed the gap to just one point at 49-48 with 4:56 remaining in the fourth quarter but a 3-pointer from Beyer gave the Titans the momentum again. The Titans scored their final nine points on free throws while holding the Knights to a pair of layups, winning the game, 61-52.

UW-Oshkosh shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field, 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from three, and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the line on the night. While the lead changed hands nine times and the game was tied four times, 28 of the Titans' points were scored in the paint, 18 came on second chances, 15 were scored off the bench, and 12 were recorded on turnovers.

The Titans return Saturday (March 8) to face off against Bethel University (Minn.) in the second round of the Division III Championship at Kolf Sports Center at 7 p.m. The Royals reached the second round with a 71-65 win over DePauw University (Ind.) in the first game of the regional on Friday. The win is their first in the national tournament since 1996.