The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team came within two points of advancing to its first national championship game in 29 years, but the Titans missed a potential game-winning shot at the horn to fall 49-47 to Smith College (Massachusetts) March 20 at the Division III Final Four in Salem, Virginia.

“If we play one more quarter, that score probably changes four more times,” UWO head coach Brad Fischer said. “We got to the last two minutes and had to dig it out again. Now that it’s happened the exact same way twice [after losing to Smith last year too], it just feels like we’re really well matched and it’s a chess match back and forth.”

The Titans (27-5) trailed by as many as 8 points in the program’s first Final Four appearance since UWO won the national championship in 1996, but Oshkosh came storming back in the fourth quarter thanks to a 9-point period from sophomore guard Sammi Beyer. Beyer put the Titans in front with a jumper from the elbow with 6:17 remaining in the final quarter and nailed another jumper 20 seconds later to give Oshkosh a 3-point lead.

Smith (31-3) responded with a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Jane Loo and a pair of jumpers from Hannah Martin to claim a 4-point advantage with two minutes to go. Beyer knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Pioneers’ lead down to one, and the two teams traded points with 12 seconds left. UWO sent Martin to the line for two free throws to seal the game for the Pioneers, but Martin went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to set up a potential game-winning shot to send Oshkosh to the national title game.

UWO inbounded the ball and found the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s top 3-point shooter in Alex Rondorf, but she hurled up a shot that clanged off the front rim as the buzzer sounded to send Smith to the final game of the tournament.

Fischer, in his 13th season at the helm of the Titans, said he felt really good about the 3-point looks the Titans had.

“I would take Alex taking that shot 100 times out of 100, same with Sammi and the two before when Avery was open on her 3-pointer,” he said. “We kind of looked at each other like, ‘well, they’re not letting us get inside, and we’ve just got to knock one down.’ Unfortunately, we didn’t knock enough down.”

Fischer said that the Titans didn’t lose just because of bad shooting.

“We both defended each other hard, and they made an extra shot, and unfortunately for us, that’s how last year ended, too,” he said. “But there’s not a lot of teams in the country that I would be okay losing to because they are just really well coached and disciplined. They’re an East Coast version of us, and that’s as much respect as I can give them. I just thought it was a great game, and I’m proud of my team.”

Beyer led the Titans with 15 points off 6-for-11 shooting while freshman forward Paige Seckar finished with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting. All-WIAC Honorable Mention selection Kate Huml scored 8 points for UWO while senior forward Kayce Vaile, a three-time First Team All-WIAC member, scored 2 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Beyer said that her life looked a lot different last year and thanked Fischer for giving her the opportunity to transfer to UWO from D-I St. Thomas University (Minnesota) before the season.

“This group of girls welcomed me with open arms right away,” she said. “I just couldn’t be more grateful to wear Oshkosh across my chest and to play for such a great culture and to have such a great community around me and everything. I feel an immense amount of gratitude and thankfulness that I got to be here and just to have this experience and play alongside the girls and play for an amazing coach and sit right next to me, and that he gave me that opportunity.”

Rondorf said that she took pride in her hustle and effort, something that she could control, even when she wasn’t connecting from the floor.

“My shots weren’t falling today, and I guess I just kind of am able to do whatever I can to help the team,” she said. “Whether that’s getting a loose ball, sacrificing myself, that’s something that I’ve always tried to bring to the table and do whatever I can to help the team.”

Oshkosh finished the contest shooting 34.5% from the field and 9.1% from 3-point range. The Titans, who outscored their opponent 30-20 in the paint, outrebounded the Pioneers 39-30 and forced 11 Smith turnovers.

Martin finished with a game-high 18 points and five rebounds off 6-for-15 shooting for the Pioneers while Loo recorded 13 points and went 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Smith’s Virginia Johnson tallied 8 points while Jazmyn Washington had 2 points and eight rebounds.

The Pioneers shot 35.3% from both the floor and from 3-point land and Smith forced 13 UWO turnovers.

Fischer said that he can’t remember a time when a team shot less than 10% from behind the arc and came within two points of winning the game.

“We didn’t shoot well because Smith is a great defensive team, so that’s where this needs to start,” he said. “I’m just proud of our team. And if there was ever a way for us to lose, I love losing like this, because it’s the Oshkosh way that if you go to 2-for-22 you’re going to give yourself a chance to still win the game, and you shouldn’t, at 2-for-22, be in the game in the Final Four. But I’ve got a bunch of fighters that scratch and claw and are willing to defend and willing to get down and dirty.”

Smith opened the game with back-to-back baskets from Martin and held onto a 4-point lead until Rondorf hit a 3-pointer to pull UWO within one. The two teams traded baskets for most of the first quarter until Loo converted on a 3-pointer to put the Pioneers on top 11-7. Seckar connected on a jumper in the paint with 90 seconds left, but Johnson responded with a 3-pointer 58 seconds later to give Smith a 14-9 advantage at the break.

Martin began the second quarter with a triple to put the Pioneers up by 8 points, but four UWO free throws cut Oshkosh’s deficit to 17-13. Loo drilled another 3-pointer for Smith, but the Titans responded with a layup from Sarah Hardwick and UWO embarked on an 8-0 to take a 21-20 lead. Both teams traded layups with 30 seconds left in the period, and Oshkosh went into halftime leading 23-22.

UWO opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run to build a 6-point lead, but Smith’s offense caught fire midway through the period with an 11-4 run to put the Pioneers back up 33-32. Oshkosh scored the final 4 points of the quarter after Rondorf and Seckar both converted on layups to give the Titans a 3-point advantage going into the final 10 minutes of the game. Smith went on to outscore UWO 16-11 in the final frame to advance to its second-straight national championship game where the Pioneers lost to New York University 77-49.

Fischer said that he didn’t think a lot about the Final Four until the team qualified following a 60-53 victory over Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) in the Elite Eight.

“I remember when I got the job, they wanted us to make the conference tournament and then see if we could win the conference someday and maybe get back to an NCAA tournament for the first time in six or seven years,” he said. “So, for me and us going to Sweet 16, I never left seasons going, this wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t the Final Four. Now that we’ve been here, I see why it’s a big deal for people.”

Fischer said he’s had a lot of special groups of players, but this season the team was consistent in practices and meetings every single day.

“The amount of practices that I had to raise the level was so minimal, because they’ve set a standard that they hold themselves to every day,” he said. “… I’m getting old, I get tired, but I never got tired this year. And that was their energy every day.  It was watching Alex in her seventh year with two feet that don’t work well and everything, just getting herself ready to go … every kid on the roster has their story about why this is a big deal for them. I just love that our team cares so much that they don’t need to play to impact our team, and I’m not sure a lot of people have that, so I’m just grateful, and I appreciate what these guys do.”

Although UWO didn’t advance to the national championship game, Fischer said he can’t say enough about the relationship that was developed between the city of Oshkosh and the team.

“Making people care about D-III is not a guarantee,” he said. “They can’t just flip on ESPN to find you, like people got to make effort to try to find your game and figure out who you play.  We had so many people in Oshkosh and Wisconsin that tuned in to see the Titans win 27 times this year. And I’m proud that they changed an already incredible program and turned it into something that has never been.”