And then there were four...
NYU, UW-Stout, UW-Oshkosh, and Smith each punched their tickets to Salem in an exceptional Elite Eight Saturday, setting up a strong Final Four field
The “Road to Salem” has reached its final destination. Four teams remain standing, soon to be heading to western Virginia for the biggest weekend of the season. Everyone else is back at home. And the storylines of any memorable tournament are certainly present. The Cinderella run? UW-Stout is in the Final Four for the first time and did it as a 6-seed in a tough road environment. The favorites who keep rising to the moment? NYU, the defending national champs, have won 60 straight, as the target on the backs of the Violets only gets bigger. How about a perennial power out of the northeast who seemingly continues to overachieve? That would be the Pioneers of Smith College. How about an ultra-disciplined team in the midst of breakthrough tournament run? UW-Oshkosh fits that description.
The 2025 Final Four was finalized last night in a memorable evening of D-III women’s hoops. From Scranton to Gettysburg and Brunswick to Bloomington, we saw high-level basketball, the intensity that only the Elite Eight can bring, and the jubilation of a triumph and the heartbreak of such a difficult defeat.
For the first time since 2001, none of the four sectional hosts advanced to the Final Four. In two cases, the top remaining seed in the quadrant was on the road—one due to geography, one due to men’s/women’s hosting priority. But the point remains that these sectionals were stacked with talent, and the fact that just one of the four No. 1 seeds will make the trek to Salem is evidence of that. NYU is a No. 1 seed (#2 overall seed in the tournament), but UW-Oshkosh and Smith are both No. 3 seeds. As mentioned, UW-Stout is a No. 6 seed. The depth across the country only continues to get better.
And with that being said, the power of the WIAC is being showcased at the same time. For the first time in the league’s basketball history (men’s and women’s), the WIAC will compose 50% of the Final Four. Five teams from the WIAC qualified for this year’s tournament, with four winning in the opening round. Three reached the Sweet 16, and the WIAC’s two Elite Eight representatives are now bound for Salem. Against non-WIAC opponents, the league’s five teams went a combined 9-1 in this postseason. There’s no denying the strength of that league, where it seems from top to bottom, every team in the conference is capable of winning at a high level. If you’re looking for a D-III version of the SEC, you’ll find it in the state of Wisconsin.
So with the field set, here’s a look back on Saturday evening’s action before we turn our focus to the coming week in Salem.
Gettysburg, PA | NYU, 76, Gettysburg, 51
For the second day in a row, the defending national champs entered halftime in a tight spot, leading just 31-27 after closing the second quarter with a four-minute scoring drought. But just as they did in Friday’s win over SUNY Geneseo, the Violets took control in the third quarter and never gave it back, asserting themselves as the nation’s top-ranked team in what was effectively a true road game with a Final Four spot on the line.
Patient and poised, NYU went to work, outscoring Gettysburg, 45-24, over the final two quarters. Offensively, nothing felt rushed as the Violets quickly distanced themselves from the Bullets, opening the third quarter on a 21-8 run. Defensively, they were exceptional on the boards, holding Gettysburg to just 3 offensive rebounds over the final two quarters after the Bullets tallied 7 in the first half. True to form, NYU set the pace, and it culminated with yet another victory, their 29th of the year. For those counting at home, that’s 60 straight wins for NYU, who heads to Salem looking to become the first back-to-back national champion since Amherst in 2018.
Key Player: Caroline Peper was tremendous for the Violets, setting new season-highs for points (29), field goals made (12), rebounds (6), and minutes (39). Perhaps one of the more underrated players nationally this season, Peper was a matchup problem for Gettysburg all night, shooting 12-of-25 and accounting for 4 of NYU’s 5 made 3s.
Notable stat: NYU put pressure on Gettysburg’s ballhandlers through all four quarters, leading to 17 steals and 25 points off turnovers. Comparatively, Gettysburg had just 3 steals, marking the 26th time this season in which NYU has recorded more steals than its opponent.
Scranton, PA | UW-Stout, 81, Scranton, 77
Scranton did all it could to prevent the upset on its home floor, coming back from a four-point deficit to tie the score at 77 apiece with 2:02 left. But UW-Stout, who had led 43-37 at the half, refused to back down, even in a true road environment and facing the tournament’s No. 3 overall seed. With the shot clock ticking down on perhaps the game’s most crucial possession, Amanda Giesen lofted a floater with 32 seconds left as the buzzer sounded, putting Stout back in front. Then the Blue Devils forced a turnover, and Raegan Sorensen, who had 33 points on the night, swished her first free throw. Her second was off the mark to the left, but Giesen, exemplifying the what-ever-it-takes mentality Stout prides itself on, dove on top of the loose ball, retaining possession. Another quick foul from Scranton sent Sorensen to the line again, where she iced the monumental victory with another free throw, and etched this 2024-25 squad into the record books yet again.
In their first-ever Elite Eight appearance, Stout booked the program’s first trip to the Final Four, yet another magical moment for a senior class that has taken the program to new heights. In a contest that saw Scranton open by making 6 of its first 9 3-point attempts against Stout’s zone, the Blue Devils made the necessary defensive adjustments, and clamped down on the Lady Royals’ stellar offense, which ranked No. 2 nationally in offensive efficiency. While Scranton shot 57.7% from the field, they also turned the ball over 18 times, with Stout tallying 10 steals, and scoring 18 points off turnovers to the Lady Royals’ nine. A +10 turnover differential is how you win games in March, even when your opponent goes 10-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Key Player: Senior guard Raegan Sorensen was tremendous for Stout, relentless on the dribble-drive and constantly getting to the rim. It challenged Scranton’s defense time and time again, as Sorensen went 12-of-19 on field goal attempts, in addition to an 8-of-13 mark at the free throw line. Her 33 points put her within 14 points of becoming Stout’s all-time leading scorer.
Notable stat: For as much as you can talk about offense in this one (and there was plenty of it from both sides), you cannot overlook the role turnovers played in the outcome. Scranton’s late turnover down 2 with 12 seconds left proved costly, and just the same, Stout turning the ball over just eight times gave the Blue Devils eight more shots than Scranton, something that comes into a play in a tight game like this. This season, Stout is 16-0 in games in which they win the turnover margin, and 5-0 in games where they turn it over nine times or fewer.
Brunswick, ME | Smith, 61, Gustavus Adolphus, 50
Yet again, Lynn Hersey and Smith defied the odds. The Pioneers, who pushed NYU in last season’s national title game, returned just two starters, brought back just 40.2% of their scoring and only 43.4% of their rebounding. By all accounts, there was some rebuilding to do in Northhampton. But evidently, Smith doesn’t rebuild; they reload. On Saturday night in Brunswick, Maine, one night after knocking off the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed—Bowdoin—on its home floor, Smith kept its special season going in a complete team effort. Four players scored in double figures, three had at least five rebounds, and the Pioneers used their signature defense to shut down the Gusties’ scoring attack in the game’s final stages.
The senior-laden Gusties were held to their lowest point total of the season, as Smith’s disciplined defense allowed just six points over the final 10 minutes. Gustavus made just 1 of its final 9 field goal attempts, closing the contest on a scoring drought that lasted the final 3:58. Smith has now advanced to the Final Four for the third-straight season, the longest streak since Amherst accomplished the same feat from 2016-2018.
Key Player: Ally Landau was terrific for Smith, playing all 40 minutes, her fifth-straight 30+ minute game. She led the Pioneers with 22 points and 9 rebounds, shooting 7-of-15 from the field and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe.
Notable stat: Smith’s 3-point defense continues to stand out, as the Pioneers held Gustavus Adolphus to a 1-of-9 mark from beyond the arc on Saturday, their only 3 coming with 8:43 left in the third quarter. It was the third time this season Smith held an opponent to 1 or zero 3s, and the ninth instance in which an opponent shot 15% or below from 3-point range.
Bloomington, IL | UW-Oshkosh, 60, Baldwin Wallace, 53
There had been a series of difficult breaks in UW-Oshkosh’ quest for a return trip to the Final Four since winning it all in 1996. There were the 12-point losses in the Sweet 16 in 2014 and 2017. The 2020 tournament that was never completed after the Titans advanced to the Sweet 16. The six-point Elite Eight loss to conference rival UW-Whitewater in 2022. And of course last year’s two-point loss in the Sweet 16 to eventual national-runner up Smith on a neutral court in Brunswick, Maine.
On Saturday night, the Titans broke through.
After making a statement against Illinois Wesleyan on Friday night in a 20-point win, Oshkosh opened Saturday’s sectional final in similarly head-turning fashion. The Titans held nothing back on either end of the floor in a 17-2 first-quarter run, building a 35-21 advantage by halftime. But Baldwin Wallace didn’t roll over easily. In fact, the Yellow Jackets, aiming to preserve a 29-game win streak, battled all the way back, even getting it to a one-possession game with 11 seconds left. The Titans maintained their poise, however, a trademark of this cohesive group, and converted on all four free throws down the stretch. They sealed their win at the charity stripe, but truthfully, had the edge all game long. In a wire-to-wire win, Oshkosh is finally heading back to the final weekend of the tournament for the first time in 29 years.
Key Player: Sammi Beyer, the transfer from St. Thomas (MN), provided yet another remarkable performance off the bench, with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting. She was a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line, and had 10 of Oshkosh’s first 21 points, all of which came the span of 2:34 in the opening quarter.
Notable Stat: One of the largest differentials came in points off turnovers, despite neither side turning it over more than nine times. Oshkosh simply capitalized on far more of its opportunities off takeaways, scoring 13 points from Baldwin Wallace’s nine TOs to BW’s 2 points off the Titans’ 4. It marked the ninth straight NCAA Tournament game in which Oshkosh recorded more points off turnovers than its opponent, a streak that dates back to an opening round win over Washington & Lee in the 2023 tournament. Oshkosh has also held each of its last six tournament opponents to single-digit points off turnover totals.