Titans To Play Basketball Exhibitions Against Division I Badgers, Division II Huskies
The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team begins the 2021-22 season with exhibition contests at NCAA Division I member University of Wisconsin and Division II's Michigan Technological University.
UW-Oshkosh, the reigning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season winner and three-time defending league tournament champion, plays at University of Wisconsin's Kohl Center on Oct. 31 and Michigan Tech's SDC Gymnasium on Nov. 4.
The Titans then remain in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to commence the regular season at Finlandia University on Nov. 5 before conducting their home opener Nov. 8 against Lakeland University in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh concluded its abbreviated 2020-21 season with a 9-2 record versus WIAC programs exclusively. The Titans, who went into the WIAC Championship as the top seed from the East Division, clinched their league record-tying seventh postseason title after winning three tournament home games by an average of 14.7 points per contest.
With its 74-58 victory over UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Championship title game, UW-Oshkosh also secured a league-record 14th regular season banner. The Titans have now won six of the last eight WIAC postseason titles and three of the past five regular season championships.
UW-Oshkosh, which boasts a 194-49 record in nine seasons under head coach Brad Fischer, has advanced past the first round of the Division III Championship in six of the last seven national postseasons, reaching the Sweet 16 during the 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2020 campaigns.
Fischer welcomes back all five starters and the top six scorers, including 2021 D3hoops.com First Team All-American and two-time reigning WIAC Player of the Year Leah Porath, from last year's squad that paced the WIAC with 58 points allowed and 13.7 assists per game, a .455 field goal percentage and a +12.7 scoring margin.
Other starters returning for the Titans are Nikki Arneson, Abby Kaiser, Kennedy Osterman and Julia Silloway. Silloway received All-WIAC First Team honors a year ago while Arneson and Kaiser earned all-league honorable mention.
University of Wisconsin, which hired head coach Marisa Moseley during the offseason, compiled a 5-19 record in 2020-21.
Michigan Tech went 20-2 a year ago and won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. The Huskies reached the Division II Midwest Region semifinals and concluded the season ranked 10th nationally by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association under head coach Sam Clayton.
UW-Oshkosh will be playing an exhibition at a Division I opponent for the fifth time in nine seasons. The Titans traveled to play University of Wisconsin in 2018-19 in addition to games at UW-Green Bay in 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2019-20. The Badgers defeated the Titans, 79-51, during their most recent exhibition Nov. 4, 2018, in Madison.
The Titans have won one of their four previous meetings with Michigan Tech. The Huskies won the most recent matchup with the Titans by a 63-49 score Nov. 24, 1990.
UW-Oshkosh Results vs. University of Wisconsin
67-58 win on Feb. 19, 1977 (Madison)
80-72 loss on Jan. 31, 1978 (Oshkosh)
75-68 loss on March 4, 1978 (Eau Claire)
85-75 loss on Jan. 16, 1979 (Madison)
78-65 loss on March 2, 1979 (Oshkosh)
106-39 loss on Nov. 8, 2009 (Exhibition in Madison)
79-51 loss on Nov. 4, 2018 (Exhibition in Madison)
UW-Oshkosh Results vs. Michigan Tech
101-63 win on Jan. 27, 1979 (Marquette, Mich.)
73-55 loss on Nov. 29, 1985 (Duluth, Minn.)
77-64 loss on Dec. 16, 1989 (Oshkosh)
63-49 loss on Nov. 24, 1990 (Houghton, Mich.)