INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.- UW-Oshkosh was selected to host an NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship four-team regional for the third consecutive season on Monday (March 2).
 
Top-seeded Oshkosh (24-3), which received the first of 21 at-large berths into the 64-team field, will host fourth-seeded Webster University (Mo.) during the opening round at 7:15 p.m. Friday (March 6) in Kolf Sports Center. Webster (19-8) earned an automatic berth into the tournament by winning the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
Friday's first Oshkosh Regional contest features No. 2 seed Wisconsin Lutheran College versus No. 3 seed Saint Mary's University (Minn.) at 4:15 p.m. Wisconsin Lutheran (22-5) clinched an automatic berth into the field after winning the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, while Saint Mary's (20-8) earned the last at-large bid into the tournament.
 
Friday's winners will meet in the regional championship on Saturday (March 7) at 7:15 p.m.
 
Oshkosh is seeded second overall in the Division III Championship, according to the NCAA Power Index, and headlines one side of the national bracket. Webster is ranked 175th in NPI among the 413 Division III women's basketball programs. Wisconsin Lutheran and Saint Mary's are 28th and 39th, respectively, in NPI.
 
The host Titans won the WIAC regular season title outright for the third consecutive season, marking the first program to accomplish the feat since UW-Green Bay clinched the Division II segment of the league from 1980-82. Oshkosh needed an at-large bid into the national tournament after falling, 52-49, to UW-La Crosse in the WIAC Tournament (Presented by Culver's) final.
 
Oshkosh, which reached the Final Four a year ago, sports a 41-18 record in 20 prior NCAA postseason trips. The 41 wins are the most of any WIAC team. The Titans, who have won at least one game during each of their past 17 national tournament appearances dating back to 1994, won the 1996 Division III championship after finishing as the 1995 runners-up. Oshkosh has since advanced to the national quarterfinal round in 1998, 1999 and 2022 ahead of last year's semifinal run.
 
Webster won the SLIAC regular season and postseason championship the secure a spot in the NCAA Championship. The top-seeded Gorloks downed second-seeded Principia College (Mo.), 70-64, in the tournament title contest.
 
Webster is making its ninth NCAA appearance and fourth in the past five years. The Gorloks, who own a 2-8 record in the national tournament, were ousted by Oshkosh during the 2024 first round in Kolf Sports Center. Webster picked up both of its Division III Championship wins when it reached the third round in 2002.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran also clinched both of its conference regular season and tournament titles to earn a place in the field, winning the NACC by one game over St. Norbert College and then the tournament crown, 48-29, again over St. Norbert.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran is 3-13 in 13 NCAA postseason trips. Making their third straight Division III Championship appearance, the Warriors are seeking their first victory since defeating Illinois Wesleyan University during the 2019 opening round. Oshkosh eliminated Wisconsin Lutheran during the first round in 2022.
 
Saint Mary's eked in as the final at-large team after a tense wait since losing, 71-62, at top-seeded Concordia College (Minn.) during the semifinal round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoffs. The Cardinals tied for fourth in the MIAC regular season standings.
 
Saint Mary's is back in the NCAA postseason for the fourth time and first since falling to Oshkosh during the 2014 opening round. The Cardinals, whose only other appearances were in 1985 and 1986, are 2-3 in the national tournament.
 
Oshkosh enters the national tournament leading the entire NCAA, regardless of division, by committing just 9.5 turnovers per contest while ranking second in Division III in scoring defense (45.6) and eighth with a 1.25 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Webster, which gets an average of 28.9 points per game off the bench, is 10th nationally in turnovers forced at 26.4 per contest and 12th with an 8.5 average turnover margin.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran is riding a 14-game winning streak since its last setback on January 14 at St. Norbert. The Warriors' .435 field goal percentage ranks 14th in the nation while their +9.4 average rebounding margin lists 21st.
 
Saint Mary's is the MIAC's second highest scoring team at 70.1 points per contest, which is the best of any of the four programs at the Oshkosh Regional.