| Paige Seckar kept the UW-Whitwater defense on its heels in UW-Oshkosh’s WIAC-opening win over the Warhawks. Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information |
The calendar switched to 2026 earlier this week, but Saturday felt a lot like 2025, as No. 3 UW-Oshkosh defeated No. 10 UW-Whitewater and Gustavus Adolphus defeated No. 19 Bethel. Plus, #9 Hope sent his large crowd home happy with a win over Calvin and Anderson did something for the first time in over a dozen years.
No. No. 3 UW-Oshkosh got WIAC play started on the right foot as the Titans dropped No. 10 UW-Whitewater 71-63 in the teams’ conference opener.
The Titans opened the second quarter on a 15-3 run, with 11 points from Paige Seckar, and led 56-42 at halftime. The Warhawks got within two possessions a few times in the fourth quarter, but a 7-0 burst by Oshkosh, capped by Sarah Hardwick’s layup, put the game out of reach.
Seckar finished with 20 points, giving her 10 double-digit scoring performances in 12 games, all Titan wins. Renee Rittmeyer had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Warhawks (10-2, 0-1 WIAC), who travel to UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday night.
The Pointers lost their opener at UW-Eau Claire 74-71, while the Blugolds pushed their win streak to 10 in a row. UW-Eau Claire (11-1, 1-0 WIAC) is off to its best start since 2008, when the Blugolds won their first 12 to finish 24-6.
No. No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan used a suffocating defense to defeat No. 14 Carroll, 85-52, in the first of two scheduled meetings between the CCIW contenders. The Titans scored 35 points off 27 Carroll turnovers and attempted 22 more field goals than the Pioneers.
No. 5 Johns Hopkins completed another impressive week by handing William Paterson its first loss, falling to the Pioneers 64-43. The Blue Jays trailed 20-17 after one period, but defeated William Paterson 21-2 in the second. Johns Hopkins (10-0) outscored the Pioneers by 22 points and outscored them by 20 in the paint.
No. 9 Hope sent the large home crowd home happy by defeating rival Calvin 67-56 in front of 2,409 fans at the DeVos Fieldhouse. Terin Maynard had 13 points in 20 minutes and Leah Richards went 10-for-10 from the foul line for the Flying Dutch (11-1, 4-0 MIAA), who have defeated the Knights in 20 of their last 21 meetings. Calvin (7-5, 2-1) played without All-American Anna Fernandez and lost Hannah Sall three minutes into the match.
DePauw held on with No. 11 John Carroll before a 6-0 run pushed the Blue Streaks past the Tigers, 83-76. Leading by one, John Carroll got six free throws and made them all to seal the tene win and drop DePauw to 7-6, 0-2 in the conference.
The other two ranked NCAC teams won handily. Abby Cooch dropped 21 points, and No. 20 Denison drilled Kenyon, 85-54, while No. 16 Ohio Wesleyan rode an 18-point, 20-rebound performance past Oberlin.
Gustavus Adolphus showed it is still a force in the MIAC race by knocking off No. 19 Bethel, 78-68. The Gusties took the lead with an 18-0 run in the first half and the Royals never recovered. Kaitlyn Schaefer led Gustavus (6-5, 2-2 MIAC) with 23 points, while Bethel trailed Concordia-Moorhead (68-41 winners over St. Scholastica) and St. Mary’s (60-38 winners over Macalester).
No. 15 Amherst returned to Massachusetts from its trip to the West Coast and held off Emerson, 78-69, in overtime. Laura Mendell scored 24 points in 44 minutes for the Mammoths, who gave 19 points to All-American Bri Frongillo, but on 24 shots in 50 minutes.
The most exciting finish of the day came in Indiana, where Victoria Detraz’s three-point play in the final minute of double overtime sent Anderson past Transylvania, 66-65. Sydney Sierota had 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and six steals for the Ravens (6-6, 2-3 HCAC), who defeated the Pioneers for the first time since December 2011. The loss was just Transylvania’s second conference loss in five seasons.
Skidmore also no longer skids after beating Tufts 67-63, ending its six-game losing streak. Sara Hastie scored 16 points off the bench for the Thoroughbreds, including a late 3-pointer that put Skidmore ahead by four points. Skidmore heads to No. 1 New York University for a matinee match Monday in Manhattan.
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