Schmidt, Fischer Headline All-WIAC Basketball Awards
Player of the Year Taylor Schmidt, Coach of the Year Brad Fischer and first team selection Eliza Campbell highlight UW-Oshkosh's selections to the 2017 All-WIAC Women's Basketball Team.
Schmidt is the third Titan to collect WIAC Player of the Year honors, joining Wendy Wangerin and Holly Spoo, who received the accolade in 1996 and 1998, respectively.
Schmidt, a senior guard, was named to the league's 10-member first team for the third consecutive season after earning honorable mention status during her freshman campaign in 2014. Schmidt becomes the fourth Titan to be selected to the first team in three straight seasons and the first since Wangerin was a four-time selection from 1993-96.
Fischer received WIAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time and first since his debut season with the Titans in 2013. This year, Fischer has guided UW-Oshkosh to a 24-3 record, including a 13-1 WIAC mark that earned the Titans their first league title since 2006 and the program's first outright championship since 1999.
Campbell, a junior forward, received all-conference first team honors for the second straight year.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's all-league picks were senior guard Morgan Kokta and senior forward Alex Richard, who both were named to the 10-member honorable mention team. Richard earned her third consecutive honorable mention laurel while Kokta received her first all-conference honor.
Kokta and Schmidt were also among five players selected to the WIAC All-Defensive Team.
Schmidt leads UW-Oshkosh with 11.1 points per game this season. She also paces the Titans with 44 steals, 37 3-pointers and a .750 free throw percentage while listing second on the squad with 49 assists. Schmidt ranks fifth in the conference in steals and 3-point baskets, seventh with a .359 3-point percentage and ninth in free throw percentage.
Schmidt has connected on a team-high 83 free throws on 112 attempts this season to lift her school-record career totals to 395 free throws and 505 attempts. Schmidt has been UW-Oshkosh's leading scorer in 10 games this season, including when she poured in a season-high 20 points against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 14.
Schmidt's 1,253 career points rank eighth on the school's all-time scoring list. Her career totals also include a program-high 116 games – all starts – to go along with 306 assists, 278 rebounds, 180 steals and 122 3-pointers.
Fischer owns a 116-26 record during his five seasons at the helm of the Titans. UW-Oshkosh has qualifed for the past four NCAA Division III Championships and compiled at least 20 wins during each of Fischer's five seasons in charge.
Fischer led UW-Oshkosh to WIAC tournament titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Under Fischer's direction, the Titans are one of eight programs to win at least one game at each of the past three NCAA postseason events. UW-Oshkosh, currently ranked 10th in the country by D3hoops.com, has appeared in all 27 national polls over the past two seasons.
Fischer's Titans reached the third round of the NCAA Championship in 2014 and advanced to the second round the past two years.
Campbell has converted a team-leading 109 field goals on 251 attempts. She also ranks second on the squad with 10.7 points and 5.3 points per game as well as .434 field goal and .716 (58-81) free throw percentages. Campbell's field goal percentage ranks seventh in the conference.
Campbell, who has scored in double figures 18 times this season, tallied her third career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 1.
During her career, Campbell is averaging 9.6 points on 44.2 percent shooting from the field to go along with 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals per contest in 85 games, including 45 as a starter.
Richard ranks third on the Titans with 7.4 points per game and leads UW-Oshkosh in field goal percentage, rebounds and blocks. Her .486 (85-175) field goal percentage shooting ranks third in the conference while her 6.1 rebounds per game list seventh and 21 blocks eighth.
Richard scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against Wheaton College (Ill.) on Dec. 10. She has compiled six career double-doubles, including two this season.
Richard and Schmidt share the school record with 116 career games. Richard, who has started each of UW-Oshkosh's 86 games over the past three seasons, is averaging 7.0 points on 44.2 percent shooting from the floor and 5.4 rebounds during her career.
Kokta has dished out a team-leading 57 assists this season while scoring 5.7 points and grabbing 3.5 rebounds per game. Kokta's assist total ranks seventh in the WIAC, and her 35 steals list 10th.
Kokta tallied a season-best 14 points against both UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point. She also pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds against UW-River Falls on Feb. 24.
For her career, Kokta is averaging 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals in 114 games played, including 38 as a starter.
Kokta, Richard and Schmidt have combined to lead UW-Oshkosh to a 96-20 record during their four seasons.
Joining Schmidt and Campbell on this year's All-WIAC First Team were UW-Eau Claire's Anna Graaskamp, UW-La Crosse's Elise DeNoyer and MaKenzie Miller, UW-Stevens Point's Lauren Anklam and Autumn Hennes, UW-River Falls' Taylor Karge, and UW-Whitewater's Malia Smith and Brooke Trewyn.
UW-Oshkosh won this year's WIAC title by three games as runner-up UW-Whitewater owned a 10-4 league record.
Completing the WIAC standings were third-place UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point with 9-5 records, fifth-place UW-Eau Claire at 7-7, sixth-place UW-River Falls and UW-Stout at 3-11, and eighth-place UW-Platteville at 2-12.
UW-Oshkosh will make its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA postseason on Friday (March 3) and 14th overall. UW-Whitewater will join the Titans in this year's Division III Championship after defeating UW-Oshkosh in the WIAC tournament final.
UW-Oshkosh begins NCAA postseason play by hosting Calvin College (Mich.) (22-5) at 7 p.m. Friday in Kolf Sports Center.