Titans To Host Eagles In WIAC Semifinal Round
OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team will host UW-La Crosse on Wednesday (Feb. 21) at 7 p.m. for the semifinal round of the WIAC Tournament at the Kolf Sports Center.
The Titans (21-4) are headed to their 12th consecutive conference tournament and hold the No. 1 seed for the fourth time in program history and the first time since the 2018-19 season. They have made appearances in 23 of the 26 league tournaments to date and have won seven tournament titles, tied for most with UW-Stevens Point. UW-Oshkosh sports a 34-15 record in the WIAC postseason. The Titans lead the league in conference tournament wins, championships, and finals appearances. Oshkosh won its first title in the first edition of the event in 1999 and most recently won three-straight from 2019 to 2021.
UW-Stevens Point won its last WIAC Tournament title in 2013 to cap a string of six consecutive championships. UW-Stout and UW-Eau Claire are next with four league tournament titles apiece, followed by UW-Whitewater with three.
The Eagles (13-13) made their seventh-straight and 20th overall appearance in the WIAC Tournament on Monday as they defeated UW-Platteville on Monday by a score of 81-71. La Crosse has not won a tournament title in the 26-year existence of the event.
Top-seeded UW-Oshkosh, which has its last seven regular season games and its last six home contests swept the regular season series against fifth-seeded UW-La Crosse. The Titans defeated the Eagles 68-56 in La Crosse on Jan. 17 and 64-55 in Oshkosh on Feb. 14.
Wednesday's other WIAC Tournament semifinal game features third-seeded UW-Stout (19-7) and second-seeded UW-Whitewater (22-3) in Whitewater at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils advanced to the second round with a 70-54 win over sixth-seeded UW-River Falls (14-12) on Monday in Menomonie.
The Titans, who are ranked 14th in the nation by D3hoops.com, enter the tournament scoring 74.0 points per game and allowing a league-best 49.5 points per game which also sits 12th in the country. They have also forced 18.72 turnovers per game with 10.0 steals, both league bests.
Five Titans are averaging better than five points and 20 minutes per game this year.
Kennedy Osterman (Sr. • Pewaukee) leads UW-Oshkosh's offense with 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while Kayce Vaile (Sr. • Greendale) averages a team-high 8.1 rebounds with 10.5 points per game. Osterman leads the conference with a 39.6 percent clip from three, a 90.0 percent clip from the line and 2.3 steals per game while Vaile is the league leader in rebounds with 8.1 per matchup.
Bridget Froehlke (Jr. • Wrightstown) is scoring 9.8 points per game for UW-Oshkosh, which also receives 6.2 points from Sarah Hardwick (So. • Fond du Lac), and 5.6 points from Kate Huml (So. • Janesville).
The Eagles will come to Oshkosh averaging 69.0 and allowing 66.3 points per game, led by Lauryn Milne's 14.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest. She also shoots a team-high 80.8 percent from three. Milne is joined in double-digit scoring by Kailee Meeker with 13.9 points per game. The league leader in assists is Paige Schumann with 4.6 per game, who adds an additional 6.3 points in each matchup.
The winners of Wednesday's semifinal round games will face off on Friday at 7 p.m. at the highest remaining seed. The winner of the conference tournament receives the WIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Tickets for the matchup can be found here.