The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team took a bus down to Ames, Iowa for an exhibition match last Tuesday with the Iowa State Cyclones. The match took place at Hilton Coliseum, with the host Cyclones ranked preseason #14 in the nation for Division I women’s basketball. The Titans fell to ISU 84-53.
In the game, ISU jumped out to a quick 10-1 lead and would never really look back, thanks to 18 points combined from standouts like All-American Audi Crooks and All-Big 12 Second Team Addy Brown — and that was just in the first period. For the game, Crooks and Brown combined for 41, Crooks putting up 24 on 8-for-14 shooting. Coach Brad Fischer said he had high praise for the All-American.
“The kid is so strong, and she’s bullying kids from Baylor and Texas, and so for us to give her resistance at times was a win for our team,” Fischer said.
The Titans would put up those 53 points on 35% shooting from the field, accumulating only six team assists and being outrebounded 40-31. They slowed the Cyclone attack down in the second half, only giving up 35 while scoring 25.
The Titans wouldn’t give up, shooting 24 threes in the contest. Only seven of them fell, but with the departure of 1,000-point scorer Kayce Vaile, Fischer said the offense will look a little different.
“I think overall it’s definitely going to look different, Kayce would obviously get deep touches for us,” Fischer said. “I’m not exactly sure who that person is yet, Paige (Seckar) is probably going to play more faced up to the rim, more athletic.”
Leading the way for most stats for the Titans would be Seckar with 13 points, six rebounds and two steals. And after a WIAC Newcomer of the Year campaign, she’ll have high expectations coming into her sophomore year.
“People say that the biggest jump is from freshman to sophomore year, because they know what’s coming,” Fischer said. “I think Paige has had a different mentality… I think she’s gonna be a matchup nightmare for people.”
It certainly won’t be the same Oshkosh team that fans have been accustomed to since the emergence of Vaile, but the program is still the same, continuing to cultivate a strong culture even through the trials and tribulations of the transfer portal, with the Titans not having someone transfer out of the program in Fischer’s entire tenure.
Oshkosh is coming off a Final Four appearance, where the Titans would fall “one shot short” of a National Championship appearance. With the Titans coming into the season as d3hoops.com’s No. 3-ranked team in all of Division III, there is much excitement for another deep run.
“I do know that this group will take what we learned last year,” Fischer said. “When that moment comes, we’ll be a little more ready when we were last year.”
UWO women’s basketball officially starts the season this Friday in De Pere, against Carroll University for the St. Norbert College Nicolet National Bank Tip-Off Tournament. That match will take place at 5 p.m. at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.
