The No. 3 nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team split its two games against No. 21 UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls at Kolf Sports Center over the past week. After suffering its first loss of the season with a 47-43 score to the Pioneers Feb. 4, the Titans rebounded with a 69-43 win against the Falcons Feb. 7.
In UWO’s game vs the Pioneers, forward Paige Seckar led the team with 11 points, going 4-for-11 from inside the arc while going 3-for-6 on the free throw line.
Platteville had 19 second chance points with 24 points in the paint compared to UWO only scoring six second chance points despite having 22 points in the paint. The Titans also had 13 turnovers in the game, with six coming in the fourth quarter. Despite UWO building a 37-30 lead with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter, it was those elements that caused the Titans to lose the lead and the game with Platteville handing the Titans their first loss of the season.
“Our main goal was to get back to who we are as a team,” Seckar said after the loss. “We felt like we lost some of our rhythm on Wednesday night, so to move forward we knew we needed to come together and trust in each other and in our preparation.”
That sentiment also resonated with others on the team.
“We knew we had to get back to playing like ourselves and focusing on the little things,” guard Kate Huml said. “We all knew that game was out of character for us, so the main focus was getting back to who we are.”
In the game against UWRF, the Titans took care of the Falcons to get back in the win column. Guard Sammi Beyer led the team with 13 points by going 6-for-14 from the field and 2-for-6 from 3-point range. The Titans outscored the Falcons in 16-4 in second chance points and 40-16 in points in the paint.
Guard Avery Poole said that going into the game against UWRF, finishing plays was the focus.
“There were a lot of second chance points we gave up and left on the board,” Poole said. “Seeing that and learning from it was a huge focus in practice to finish plays and stay on our misses to put ourselves in the best position possible in the game.”
An accomplishment with the win over the Falcons was that UWO improved to a 20-1 record on the season, which locked the Titans’ 13th straight 20-plus win season with Brad Fischer as the Head Coach. The win made Fischer the coach with the most 20-plus win seasons in a row in the WIAC record, breaking Bo Ryan’s previous record at 12 with UW-Platteville men’s team.
Playing under Coach Fischer is an honor that the players said they are grateful for.
“It’s been a real honor to play under Coach Fischer, and his record is really a testament to all he does for this program,” Seckar said. “His knowledge of the game is really what leads us to having these 20-plus win seasons, and without his prep and hard work, we would not be able to do what we do.”
Poole said she also enjoys playing under Fischer.“(Fischer) puts a ton of time and energy into the success of the team and that is why he is so successful,” Poole said. “It has been an honor playing for this program and the winning culture he’s created.”
The Titans will travel to the Sonnentag Event Center at Eau Claire to take on the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds Feb. 11 with tipoff at 7 p.m. UWO will then return home to Kolf Sports Center Feb. 15 as UWO will host the UW-Stout Blue Devils with a 3 p.m. tipoff. The Titans’ game against the Blue Devils will be streamed live on the WIAC network and on the radio at 90.3 WRST- FM. You can catch the results of the Titans’ game at UW-Eau Claire at uwoshkoshtitans.com.
