OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team advances in its quest for the second national championship in program history on Thursday (March 20) as it returns to the NCAA Division III Final Four for a rematch with Smith College (Mass.), which it faced in last season's Sweet Sixteen.
 
Since joining Division III in 1981-82, UW-Oshkosh has qualified for 20 tournaments, including 12 times under head coach Brad Fischer, and advanced to the semifinal round of the championship twice before. The 1995 squad finished as the national runner-up before winning the national championship within the friendly confines of Kolf Sports Center in 1996.
 
UW-Oshkosh reached the reached the 2025 Final Four with wins over Calvin University (Mich.) and Bethel University (Minn.) at the Oshkosh Regional on March 7-8 and Illinois Wesleyan University and Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio) at the Bloomington, Ill. Sectional on March 14-15.
 
The Titans (27-4), ranked 11th in the nation by D3hoops.com and 13th by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, will open the national semifinal matchup at the Cregger Center in Salem, Va. against No. 8/9 Smith (30-2) at 6:30 p.m. central time.
 
Oshkosh and Smith played for the first time in the programs' histories in the third round of the 2024 Division III Championship in Brunswick, Maine. The teams were tied as late as eight seconds remaining in the game before the Pioneers made a late layup to advance. Smith finished the tournament as the national runner-up, falling to New York University.
 
No. 22/RV UW-Stout (23-7), the only other of the eight Wisconsin-based programs that qualified for the national championship, has reached the Final Four for the first time in program history. The Blue Devils face No. 1/1 NYU (29-0) play in the first semifinal game on Thursday at 4 p.m. central time.
 
The winners of Thursday night's semifinal games play for the 2025 national title on Saturday at 3 p.m. central time.
 
All three of the games in Salem will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+, which requires a subscription to view. An audio feed will be available for UW-Oshkosh contests courtesy of UW-Oshkosh's student radio station, 90.3 WRST-FM, both on local radio and online.
 
UW-Oshkosh enters the Final Four with a Division III-low 10.5 turnovers per game and ranks in the top-25 in three additional categories. The Titans sit 13th with a 34.5 three-point percentage, 13th by allowing 49.7 points per game, and 24th with a 43.5 percent clip from the field.
 
Kayce Vaile (Fifth • Greendale), who was named to her second D3hoops.com All-Region 9 Team on Tuesday (March 18), averages a team best 12.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while leading Oshkosh with a 53 percent clip from the field. The three-time All-WIAC selection also earned a spot on the WIAC All-Defensive Team this season. She has scored in the double-digits in three of the Titans' four national championship games including a 16-point game against Calvin University (Mich.) in the first round.
 
In her first season with the Titans, All-WIAC Sammi Beyer (So. • Appleton) averages 10.8 points in 24 minutes per game off the bench. She is shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from three, and 82.8 percent from the free throw line and records 1.7 assists per contest. Beyer is shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three, and 75 percent from the foul line in the tournament, averaging 14.3 points per game.
 
Paige Seckar (Fr. • Oshkosh), the WIAC Newcomer of the Year and the D3hoops.com Region 9 Co-Rookie of the Year, averages 5.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game. She averages 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in her 17.6 minutes on the court since the beginning of the championship
 
All-WIAC Honorable Mention selections Kate Huml (Jr. • Janesville) and Avery Poole (Jr. • Cottage Grove) have started each of Oshkosh's 31 games this season and average 8.2 and 8.1 points respectively. The guards have a matching 38.1 shooting percentage from the field on the season while Poole holds a higher 35.8 clip from beyond the arc and Huml is shooting a better 77.5 percent from the line.
 
The 2025 WIAC and D3hoops.com Region 9 Coach of the Year, Fischer sports a 287-75 (.793) in 13 seasons at the helm of the Titans headed into his first Final Four. He owns the most wins in program history and ranks fifth in WIAC history. Among the 12 full-length seasons he has coached since being named head coach in 2013, Fischer is one of just two in conference history to mentor 12 consecutive teams to at least 20 wins, joining Bo Ryan who coached the UW-Platteville men's basketball team to at least 20 wins every season from 1988 to 1999.