UW-Oshkosh Falls In NCAA Women’s Basketball Semifinals

**Release courtesy of UW-Oshkosh Sports Information

SALEM, Va.--University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh fell 82-61 to Denison University (Ohio) in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship at the Cregger Center on March 19.

UW-Oshkosh completed the 2026 campaign with a 28-4 record and won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship outright for the third straight year. The 28 wins are tied for the second most in program history. The 1995 national runner-up team also had 28 victories (28-3). The Titans made their 21st NCAA appearance this year and advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive season – and fourth time overall.

Against Denison (29-2), UW-Oshkosh allowed the most points to an opponent since an 88-85 loss at Loras College (Iowa) on November 16, 2019, a span of 191 games.

UW-Oshkosh graduates eight seniors, including Olivia Argall, Bridget Froehlke, Sarah Hardwick, Mayah Holzhueter, Kate Huml, Mallory Lindsey, Avery Poole and Mahra Wieman, and the group of helped the Titans to a record of 99-23, three WIAC regular-season championships and four NCAA Division III tournaments. The Titans advanced to at least the second round each year, making the third round in 2024 and the semifinal round in 2025 and 2026.

Hardwick and Huml concluded their careers with 123 games played, the most in program history and the second-most in WIAC history. Hardwick has also started in a program-record 121 career contests, including all 114 games dating back to a neutral site contest against Randolph-Macon College (Va.) in Dayton Beach, Fla. on December 19, 2022. Hardwick also ranks fifth in program history with 88 career blocks.

Sammi Beyer led the Titans with 13 points against the Big Red, shooting 6 of 18 from the field and 1 of 4 from 3-point range, while Paige Seckar and Wieman contributed eight points apiece. Wieman also paced UW-Oshkosh with a career-high tying eight rebounds.

Abbey Inda scored seven points, Froehlke and Megan Geason tallied six, Huml added five, and Hardwick and Hope Barington both had four.

UW-Oshkosh shot 35.8 percent (24-67) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-17) from beyond the arc and 81.8 percent (9-11) from the line. Denison went 50 percent from both the field (30-60) and 3-point range (9-18), while going 61.9 percent (13-21) from the charity stripe.

The Big Red led in rebounding (45-32), assists (15-9) and steals (8-6), while the Titans committed nine turnovers to 11. Both teams recorded four blocks.

UW-Oshkosh paced Denison, 36-30, in bench points, however the Big Red led in points in the paint (40-28), points off turnovers (13-10) and fast break points (9-4).

The Big Red scored the first six points of the game and added another 14 for a 20-4 edge. Beyer ended both runs with jumpers. Wieman closed out the first quarter, making a 3-pointer with eight seconds on the clock.

Geason ended an early 4-0 Denison second quarter run and helped the Titans into double-digit scoring at 32-11, however the Big Red outscored UW-Oshkosh, 10-8 leading into halftime for a 42-19 lead. Seckar decreased the deficit to 35-14 at 2:05 after making a second chance layup and two free throws for four consecutive points and Inda converted an and-1 opportunity with 33 seconds left to make the score 40-19 before Denison made a last-second layup.

The Titans outscored Denison, 20-17, in the third quarter, aiding by three runs of four points. Inda followed a Hardwick layup with a jumper at 5:15 in the period to bring the deficit down to 46-30, however UW-Oshkosh never got closer for the remainder of the game.

Beyer and Huml pulled the Titans within 16 points twice in the fourth quarter at 6:23 and 5:52, respectively, however the deficit proved too large for UW-Oshkosh, eventually allowing two free throws with four ticks left that pushed the Big Red's lead past the 20-point mark.

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