DE PERE, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's basketball win its season opener for the fifth year in a row on Friday night (Nov. 7), defeating Carroll University, 62-59, in the St. Norbert College Nicolet National Bank Tip-Off Tournament.
After getting off to an unofficial start to their season with an exhibition at NCAA Division I Iowa State on Tuesday, October 28, the Titans (1-0) 24 points in the paint, 15 points off turnovers, and 30 points off the bench to earn the win over the Pioneers (0-1).
Oshkosh shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field, 30.0 percent (9-of-30) from three, and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the line. Carroll held edges in all three shooting categories by going 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the field, 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from three, and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the line, but turned the ball over 16 times to the Titans' eight.
The Pioneers also led 37-33 in rebounds and 16-15 in assists while Oshkosh paced Carroll 4-1 in blocks and 8-4 in steals.
Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East),
Bridget Froehlke (Wrightstown/Wrightstown), and
Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) were Oshkosh's leading scorers, each recording their first double-digit point contests of the season. Beyer shot 5-of-16 from the field with four threes for 14 points, adding four rebounds (two offensive), three assists, and a steal. Froehlke scored a matching 14 points off the bench in her first game since 2023 on 4-of-8 from three and 2-of-2 from the line. She also registered two assists and stole a team-high three possessions. Poole scored her 10 points on 4-of-13 from the field with a three and a free throw while dishing out an assist of her own.
Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) paced all players with 12 rebounds (one offensive), scored five points, recorded two assists, blocked three shots, and stole the ball twice.
The fourth Titan with at least one steal was
Mahra Wieman (Sparta/Reedsburg Area), who had two on the night while adding eight points, two rebounds, and two assists.
Carroll scored the first points of the game on a layup, but back-to-back threes by Poole and Beyer flipped the lead in Oshkosh's favor at 6-2. After the Pioneers brought the score within a pair of points at 7:48, neither team scored until they tied the score with a jumper at 5:16. Oshkosh held a 15-14 edge with 2:38 left in the first quarter after going 9-8 with a Beyer three, a
Hope Barington (Sobieski/Notre Dame Academy) layup and two Poole layups. Carroll briefly reclaimed the lead on a three, however Froehlke sent the game into the second quarter with the score at 18-17 by sinking a three just before the one minute mark.
The Pioneers went on a 10-0 run to open the second quarter, leading 27-18 with 4:32 on the clock. Poole ended the streak at 3:45 by converting a layup. Carroll added a five-point spurt to lead by a game-high 13 points before Beyer made a jump shot with 25 seconds left in the half to make the score 35-24.
Holding the Pioneers to no more than two points in a row throughout the third quarter, Oshkosh chipped away at the deficit by going on runs of five and seven points. Beyer and
Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy) combined for five points early in the period and the Titans responded to a pair of Carroll free throws with a free throw from
Kate Huml (Janesville/Janesville Craig), two baskets from
Jada Aliesa (Kuwait City, Kuwait/American School of Kuwait), and two free throws from
Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) to again take the lead at 40-39. Carroll outscored Oshkosh, 4-3, in the final two minutes and led by a score of 44-42 through 30 minutes of play.
After the gap reached five points with 7:23 to play, Oshkosh tied the score at 50-50 and 52-52 before taking the lead for the final time at 2:45 when Froehlke sunk her fourth three-pointer. Wieman made the score 59-54 with two free throws and a trio of free throws by Poole and Froehlke helped the Titans fight off four Pioneer points. Carroll put up two last-second threes, neither finding the basket.
The Titans will wrap up the Nicolet National Bank Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday (Nov. 8) with a 1 p.m. game against the University of Chicago (Ill.). The Titans and Maroons have played once dating back to the 1974-75 season. Oshkosh won the contest, 63-55, in Chicago on January 16, 1987.
