Junior center Lexy Harris led the team in points in the loss to Oshkosh. (Alex Dering | Contributing Photographer)

In the 2024-25 season, the WashU women’s basketball team’s year ended with an unceremonious defeat to the University of Chicago. In the 2025-26 campaign, however, the Bears exceeded preseason expectations and returned to the NCAA Tournament. 

After winning their first tournament games since 2019 in the first two rounds, the Bears were eliminated by the regional top-seeded University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh 64-43 on March 13. While the Bears failed to win the national title, simply qualifying for and advancing in the tournament was a success for WashU. 

“I love this team,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “From my first year to this year, they committed to changing the culture. They worked on it through the summer, through Zoom calls, team building, and mental toughness. They met the moment.” 

Throughout the contest, both teams played a largely defensive game. The Bears got off to an early lead with a slow Oshkosh start. The Bears, who led the University Athletic Association (UAA) in defensive rebounds, limited the Titans to just 4 points and a 13% shooting percentage in the first 10 minutes of play. By halftime, however, Oshkosh flipped the script, doubling the Bears’ point total and burying the shots that it failed to hit in the first quarter. The Titans had a 22-19 lead at the break.

“In the first half, we played a really good defensive game,” senior forward Jordan Rich said in a press conference after the game. “Especially in the first quarter, we held the floor. Our approach at halftime was to try and get back the lead, but every time we were scoring, they were coming right back in.” 

Oshkosh took command of the game in the second half. WashU took a brief lead midway through the third quarter, but the Titans outscored the Bears 11-2 in the last five minutes of the quarter to solidify their advantage. The top-rated defensive squad in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), the Titans held WashU to 10 points in the final quarter. The Bears fell behind Oshkosh by 20 points, and the Titans pulled off a 64-43 win. WashU’s 43 points were its lowest mark of the season, far below its average of 70 points per game. 

In the Elite Eight, Oshkosh defeated WashU’s conference rival, Chicago, to advance to the Final Four. 

“Oshkosh is a very, very good team,” Stone said. “They’re really solid, and they made it hard for us to score.” 

The Bears’ leading scorer, junior center Lexy Harris, recorded 12 points despite playing just 17 minutes in the loss. Junior forward Amelia Rosin led the team in rebounds with 8, and junior guard Sidney Rogers scored 9 points. 

With a roster primarily constructed of juniors, the Bears are poised to come back stronger next season. Harris, Rogers, Rosin, and junior guards Alyssa Hughes, Sydney Starks, and Catherine Goodwin will return next year, and WashU will look for an increase in production from sophomores like guard Ava Blagojevich. 

Rich, the team’s lone senior, graduates after playing in nearly every game all four years of her career.

“I just know that the next six [seniors] are going to step up in different ways and fill whatever I left,” Rich said. “But there will be six people working with very different personalities, and I know that they will succeed in whatever roles they’re in.”

The Bears won 21 games this season, their most in a single season since their Elite Eight run in 2019. They recorded key wins over ranked opponents such as Chicago, Emory University, and No. 13 Ohio Wesleyan University in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Harris averaged 18.9 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game, despite playing just 23.9 minutes per game on average. She was named to the D3Hoops.com All-Region XIII team and a finalist for the Jostens Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding Division III basketball player in the nation. Rogers and Hughes also averaged double-digit points per game throughout the season.

“We know our capabilities now that we’ve made it this far,” Harris said. “So I think that next year, we’re not only going to make it back to the Sweet 16, but we’re going to advance past this [round].”