OSHKOSH, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's basketball is heading back to the Elite Eight after overcoming a slow start and pulling away for a 64-43 victory over Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) during a battle of nationally ranked teams in the NCAA Division III Championship third round Friday (March 13) in Kolf Sports Center.
 
Oshkosh (27-3), ranked fourth in the nation by D3hoops.com and eighth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, shot just 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) and were outrebounded, 17-5, on the way to trailing, 10-4, after the first quarter. However, the Titans bounced back to go 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) from the floor over the next two periods to build a 44-33 advantage heading into the final stanza.
 
The Titans reclaimed the lead for good at 34-31 following an Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) 3-pointer with 3:40 left in the third quarter. Poole's long-range jumper was part of a decisive 17-2 scoring run that turned a 31-30 deficit midway through the third period into a 47-33 advantage early during the final period. Kate Huml (Janesville/Janesville Craig) capped the five-minute surge with a 3-pointer at the 9:27 mark of the fourth quarter.
 
Oshkosh, which reached the Final Four a year ago, advances to play University of Chicago (Ill.) on Saturday (March 14) in the national quarterfinal round. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Kolf Sports Center. No. 17/20 UChicago (20-7) reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2011 with a 55-52 comeback victory over No. 7/6 Hope College (Mich.) (26-4) on Friday in Kolf Sports Center.
 
The winner of Saturday's quarterfinal will play in the Final Four on Thursday (March 19) in Salem, Va. The Oshkosh Sectional victor is set to face the Washington and Lee University (Va.) Sectional winner. Host No. 3/3 Washington and Lee (31-0) and No. 8/12 Denison University (Ohio) (27-2) face off in Saturday's sectional final.
 
Huml led all players with a season high-tying 16 points in 21 minutes off the Oshkosh bench, shooting 5-for-9 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range, and 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
 
Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) added 13 points for the Titans, who also received nine points apiece from Poole and Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West). Poole matched a season best with five assists. Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy) and Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) paced the squad with eight and six rebounds, respectively, while recording two steals apiece.
 
Oshkosh went 24-for-50 (48 percent) overall from the field, 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range and 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) at the foul line. The Titans closed the rebounding gap to 32-30 in WashU's favor while owning considerable advantages of 10-7 in assists, 9-13 in turnovers, 7-2 in steals and 4-0 in blocks.
 
The Titans, who entered the night leading the entire NCAA at 9.7 turnovers per contest, committed single-digit miscues for the 18th time on the year.
 
WashU was held to its worst scoring total in the 95 games since Oshkosh handed the Bears a 78-42 setback December 29, 2022, at Oshkosh Arena. The Bears shot 35.8 percent (19-53) from the floor, 13.3 percent (2-15) from beyond the 3-point arc and 37.5 percent (3-8) at the free throw line.
 
Lexy Harris was the lone Bear double-digit scorer with 12 points. Sidney Rogers chipped in nine points and three assists for WashU.
 
Neither side scored during the last three minutes of the opening period as the teams combined to go 0-for-9 from the floor during the stretch.
 
The Titans claimed a 13-12 edge during the second quarter after a 6-0 Oshkosh scoring run that featured baskets from Abbey Inda (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove), Huml and Poole on consecutive possessions. Oshkosh later closed out the first half with a 7-1 scoring run that began with an Argall 3-pointer and concluded with a Hardwick layup that created the 22-19 halftime score.
 
The Bears took a pair of one-point leads during the third quarter as back-to-back layups by Jordan Rich and Catherine Goodwin provided WashU edges of 29-28 and 31-30.
 
The Titans answered with 10 points in a row to take the lead to stay. Inda split a pair of free throws to knot the score at 31 before Poole, Huml and Seckar each drilled 3-pointers for a 40-31 cushion with 1:58 left in the third period.
 
WashU snapped its nearly four-minute scoreless drought on Harris' basket in the lane that cut the Bears' deficit to 40-33 with 98 seconds remaining in the third period. But Oshkosh finished the quarter with four Huml free throws to take a 44-33 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
 
Huml went on to account for nine straight Oshkosh points as she hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper early during the fourth period for a 49-35 lead with 8:08 left. The Titans went on to lead by as many as 21 points on two occasions down the stretch. A Mahra Wieman (Sparta/Reedsburg Area) offensive rebound and putback extended the cushion to 62-41 at the 1:41 mark, and a Huml jumper created the final score with 35 ticks to go.
 
Oshkosh, which is hosting a sectional for the second time ever and first since 1994 in Albee Hall, improved to 6-5 against WashU with its third consecutive win in the series. WashU had won four of the teams' five previous NCAA matchups, ousting the Titans from the national tournament in the second round in 2000, third round in 2017, and fourth round in both 1998 and 1999. Oshkosh's other NCAA victory over WashU was during the 2014 second round in Kolf Sports Center.
 
The Titans will be playing UChicago for the second time this season. Oshkosh slipped past the Maroons, 60-58, during both teams' second game of the year November 8 in De Pere.