OSHKOSH, Wis.- Nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh created separation in the second quarter and held on for a 65-56 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran College during the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday (March 7) in Kolf Sports Center.
 
Oshkosh (26-3), ranked fourth in the country by D3hoops.com and eighth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, shot 9-for-14 from the field during the second period en route to outscoring the Warriors, 22-14, in the stanza.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran (24-6) pulled within 49-47 with 1:38 to go in the third quarter, but the Titans responded with the next seven points to up their cushion to 56-47 at the 9:43 to go in the game, and the Warriors never got closer than six the rest of the way.
 
Oshkosh advances to play Friday, March 13 against No. 15/17 Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) in a third-round matchup. Gametimes and venues are to be announced, although the Titans are expected to host as the No. 2 team in the NCAA Power Index, and all three other advancing teams for the upcoming sectionals in UW-Oshkosh's quadrant are within 500 miles of Oshkosh.
 
Friday's other Sweet 16 game in Oshkosh's quadrant will be No. 6/7 Hope College (Mich.) versus No. 17/20 University of Chicago (Ill.).
 
Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West), the WIAC Player of the Year, led Oshkosh with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Seckar went 7-for-11 from the floor and 7-for-7 at the free throw line.
 
Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) added 15 points for the Titans, who also received 11 points from Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove), and seven points and seven rebounds from Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy). Hardwick and Kate Huml (Janesville/Janesville Craig), who chipped in two points, moved atop the program's record book with 120 career games played.
 
Oshkosh shot 44.4 percent (24-54) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-21) from 3-point range and 84.6 percent (11-13) at the charity stripe. The Titans held advantages of 32-31 in rebounds, 8-2 in assists and 7-2 in blocks. Both teams committed nine turnovers.
The Titans went into the night leading the entire NCAA regardless of division with 9.7 turnovers per contest and ranked second nationally by limiting opponents to 45.3 points per game and ninth with a 1.21 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran went 21-for-55 (38.2 percent) from the floor, 2-for-9 (22.2 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc and 12-for-13 (92.3 percent) at the free throw line. The Warriors had a 6-5 edge in steals.
 
Margie Stevens paced the Warriors with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor and five rebounds. Madeline Leffel contributed eight points off the Wisconsin Lutheran bench.
 
After being tied at 14 after one period and trailing by as many as four during the second quarter, Oshkosh began its separation with six straight points and never trailed after a Beyer layup provided a 19-18 edge with 7:27 left until intermission.
 
Clinging to a 25-24 lead, the Titans finished the opening half on an 11-4 scoring run that included a Beyer basket and a three-point play from Seckar ahead of back-to-back 3-pointers from Poole and Bridget Froehlke (Wrightstown/Wrightstown) for a 36-24 advantage with 99 seconds until halftime.
 
Oshkosh went on to build its largest lead of the night of 13 points at 45-32 on an Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) 3-pointer at the 6:45 mark of the third quarter. However, Wisconsin Lutheran whittled its deficit to 49-47 just over five minutes later.
 
The Titans closed out the third period with consecutive baskets by Beyer and Seckar for a 53-47 cushion and maintained at least a two-possession advantage for the remainder of the contest.
 
Oshkosh improved to 10-0 against Wisconsin Lutheran since 1975. The Titans also eliminated the Warriors from the national tournament during the first round in both 2000 and 2022.
 
The Titans, who have won at least one game during each of their past 18 NCAA postseason trips, is on to the Sweet 16 for the 13th time and eighth occasion since 2014. Oshkosh, which improved to 25-2 at home during the Division III Championship, reached the Final Four a year ago.