The UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team clinched a berth in the Final Four for the second straight season. The Titans did by winning the first Oshkosh Sectional since 1994 by beating Washington University of St. Louis (Missouri), and the University of Chicago Illinois (Illinois). The Titans beat the Bears in the sweet 16 64-43, and 73-56 in the Nov. 8 rematch over the Maroons (Titans won 60-58 in overtime).
Guard Kate Huml led the Titans in the win over the Bears with 16 points. Shooting 5-9 on the night while also making two of her four three-point attempts. Despite falling down in the first quarter 10-4, UWO used a big second half where they outscored the Bears 42-24 to pull away for the win. A big reason the Titans were able to pull away was due to their 33.3% from three which also was a cause from a moment in the third where the Titans hit three straight threes in a row to turn a 31-31 tie to a 40-31 Titan lead.
Coach Brad Fischer knows that finishing strong has been a factor that his team has emphasized after letting a couple games escape. “We haven’t lost many this year, but we’ve played in a couple we’ve let get away and it was just part of the conversation of concentrating on winning possessions, ” he said. “We’ve grown up in understanding how long the game is and (During Wash U) I didn’t see any change with these guys and that’s the part of if we can keep that mentality, we will give ourselves a really good chance any night we play.”
The Titans moved on to Saturday’s game (March. 14) where they faced off against UChicago in the Elite Eight round. Guard Sammi Beyer led the Titans in the win with 22 points. Shooting 8-for-16 on the night with 4-for-8 from three. Another strong ending gave UWO a blowout win, but this time it started earlier in the game. A 19-6 second quarter from the Titans turned what was an 11-11 tie at the end of the first to a 30-17 UWO lead. From there, it was all Titans as UWO cruised to the win.
One of the most notable things about the sectional rounds at Oshkosh was the fans that packed Kolf Sports Center. It is something that the team noticed during the weekend, especially after winning the sectional on the road last year (at Illinois Wesleyan). “It means a lot, for us and especially seeing the support from the community. It was really special tonight to be able to play the last game at Kolf and then to go to (Final Four),” Beyer said.
“We have a lot of support, we do travel pretty well when we go to away games but to have the community and the extra supporters here means a lot and definitely helped us pull out the wins.”
The Titans now shift their attention to the Final Four where they will face Denison University (Ohio) in the semifinal round on Thursday, March. 19. UWO will be hoping to not only avenge its 47-49 loss in the final four last season to Smith College (Massachusetts). But will hope to go one step further and claim their second National Title in program history. If UWO beats Denison, the Titans will face either NYU (New York) or University of Scranton (Pennsylvania) in the National Championship game. The Titans game on Thursday vs the Big Red will start at 4 pm. You can watch the game with a subscription on ESPN + or listen to it at 90.3 WRST FM.
