For most athletes, one ACL tear is enough to change everything, but for Bridget Froehlke, a senior guard on the UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team, three didn’t stop her. 

The senior from Wrightstown started her collegiate career at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

Froehlke transferred to St. Cloud State University (Minnesota) for the 2021-22 season then transferred to UWO in the midst of the 2022-23 season, tearing her ACL a second time at the end of the year. 

Froehlke said she knew what path was ahead of her after the third ACL tear. 

“I’m going to have to go through a lot of pain physically and a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the whole time,” she said. “It’s going to be a really hard journey to get back, but in the end, I knew it was going to be worth it.”

UWO head coach Brad Fischer said optimism was high during the recovery process for Froehlke. 

“It did get to a point where even though things were not progressing the way we needed, I knew if it was ever going to happen, she was the one that was going to get to the finish line,” Fischer said. 

In the 2023-24 season Froehlke started in 21 out of the 30 games she played. 

Froehlke averaged 10.5 points per game, shooting 37.8% from the field, 37.5% from behind the arc and 86.4% from the free throw line.

This season Froehlke has played in 23 games. She is averaging 3.1 points per game, shooting 33.3% from the field, 32.2% from the three point line and 60% on free throws.

Even though Froehlke’s back on the court this season, she said the recovery process wasn’t a smooth one.

“My first surgery didn’t go quite as planned, so I ended up needing four surgeries to come back,” she said. “I think it took 18 months for me to be cleared to play five-on-five again.”

Teammate Olivia Argall said she was there to support Froehlke every step of the way. 

“The amount of times she woke me up in the summer at 6 a.m. on a weekend just to get a lift in,” she said. “I mean, she’s in the gym constantly shooting, doing rehab and lifting. I mean, she just did the work.” 

Froehlke said her support team came from numerous people around her. 

“My parents did an awesome job supporting me throughout the way,” she said. “They couldn’t have been a better support system.”

Froehlke said she faced challenges leading up to her return to the hardwood. 

“There’s times when you’re doing rehab by yourself and you want to quit, but you know that it’s going to make you stronger to keep pushing through,” she said.

All of the dedication that Froehlke put in now gives this Titans team an added piece after making the final four last season, and now host a sectional round for the first time since 1994. 

“The type of year that we had without her, I think everyone’s really excited for the type of year we can have with her,” Argall said. 

Froehlke knows just what this Titans team is capable of. 

“We know that we can win a national championship if we do all the right things that it takes to get there,” she said. 

For Froehlke, it took a third ACL tear, countless hours of rehab and dedication to get back on the court with her team and family.