The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time since 1996, and the Titans are confident that their success will continue into next season.
UWO head coach Brad Fischer said he remembers when he started coaching for the Titans, the goal for the program was just to make the conference tournament.
“Then [it was to] 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.”
Under Fischer, the Titans have won five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championships, six WIAC tournament championships and have made 10 NCAA tournament appearances in his 13 seasons as the head coach.
Oshkosh guard Avery Poole, in her third year with the team, said she’s proud to see them reach their fullest potential.
“It has been so fun to watch us come together and become the best version of our team that we can,” Poole said.
Poole said it feels surreal to have made it to the Final Four this season – something she has dreamed of since she was young.
Reaching the Final Four this season doesn’t mean the grind stops. Moving into the next season, the team will lose a few of its top players such as forward Kayce Vaile, who led the team in scoring this year with 12.1 points per game. While losing teammates is always a challenge, guard Kate Huml said there are players who fans haven’t gotten to see this season.
“We are losing two or three key players from this year, but are bringing back a few that we missed,” Huml said. “Our team also has so much depth that we have girls capable of playing that didn’t see much court time this season.”
Next season, Huml and Poole are confident that the team will continue to be successful even with the upcoming adjustment.
“I think with all of this hard work, and the help of the coach, we will all come back better and have a fun and successful season,” Poole said.
In order to keep the momentum going, the offseason is vital for success. Huml focuses on resistance training and her shooting nearly every day. She said it’s a reset for her body after playing 30 games in a season and attending hundreds of practices.
Poole trains in her backyard with her dad during the offseason.
“I am looking forward to getting back to working out with him,” she said. “He was my coach growing up and is a huge reason why I have made it as far as I have in basketball.”
Every team has a culture, and helping new players find their place within that culture can be the difference between success and failure. Huml and Poole said that the upperclassmen lead by example.
“It’s difficult to come in as a freshman and understand all our team principles, and [it] can become overwhelming,” Huml said. “By leading and supporting the new players that come in, it can help create a smoother transition.”
Hard work, dedication and trusting the process – a lesson that coach Fischer has instilled in the team – have been the keys to success this season. Huml said that those who show up and put in the work always get rewarded for it.
“Making it to the Final Four for the first time in 30 years is a feeling that’s hard to describe,” Huml said. “It’s so exciting, and it just shows how much work our team and coaches have put in not only during [this] season, but since ours ended last year.”
Although UWO didn’t advance to the national championship game, Fischer said he can’t describe the relationship that has 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 have to make an 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.”
Poole said that the biggest lesson coach Fischer has taught her is even the small things matter.
“We need to work every day at practice if we want to become the best version of our team that we can,” she said. “He teaches us that the work you put in at the beginning of the season gets you to the end of the season. All that matters is that when the NCAA tournament hits, we are the best version of us that we can be.”
