PLATTEVILLE, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's basketball used a season-high 17 points from Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) and 15 from Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) to defeat UW-Platteville, 56-44, in a battle of the last two teams without a loss in WIAC play in Platteville on Wednesday night (Jan. 14).
 
The contest at Williams Fieldhouse was also a collision between a pair of top 25 teams. The Titans (15-0, 4-0 WIAC) are currently third by D3hoops.com and fourth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, while the Pioneers (13-2, 3-1 WIAC) are ranked 19th and 22nd in the respective polls. The win helped the Titans claim sole possession of first place in the WIAC standings.
 
UW-Oshkosh, one of just seven remaining women's programs in Division III without a loss this season, moved to 77-19 against the Pioneers since 1974-75 with the win, and earned its sixth straight victory and ninth in the last 10 matchups.
 
Oshkosh's unblemished start to the 2025-26 campaign moved into a tie for the fifth best in program history, matching the 2004-05 squad's 15-0 start.
 
Beyer's 17 points came on 7 of 14 from the field, 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and 1-for-1 from the line. She also registered six rebounds and a steal.
 
Seckar shot 5 of 10 from the field, including 1-for-1 from 3, and 4 of 6 at the charity stripe for her 15 points while notching nine rebounds, three blocks and an assist.
 
Hardwick, who also ranks eighth in program history with 64 blocks, moved to third with her 104th career start. She recorded four points, eight rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes on the court.
 
The Titans led the Pioneers in shooting from the field (20-55), both teams shot 5 of 19 from 3-point territory and made 11 shots from the line.
 
Twenty-four of Oshkosh's points came in the paint, 10 came off Platteville's 12 turnovers, eight each were tallied on second chances and from the bench and four were scored on fast breaks.
 
Platteville held a slight 40-38 edge in rebounding and recorded five steals to Oshkosh's two.
 
Beyer got the Titans on the board first after they won the tip and Seckar made one of her first two free throw attempts for an early 3-0 edge. Oshkosh held Platteville to a pair of nonconsecutive layups in the opening period, the second-lowest total allowed this season after holding Linfield University (Ore.) to two points in the second and fourth quarters of its 57-32 win on December 5. Following the Pioneers' second basket, Kate Huml (Janesville/Janesville Craig) made a jump shot and Seckar converted a shot in the paint across the last 60 seconds to extend Oshkosh's lead to 12-4.
 
Oshkosh and Platteville traded the first six baskets of the second quarter, and the Titans furthered the deficit to nine points twice when Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) made a 3-pointer at 7:21 and Hardwick made a layup at 5:20 before the hosts scored nine of the last 11 points of the period including a 7-0 run between 3:39 and 1:47. Huml ended the run with another jumper with 54 seconds remaining in the half, however Platteville made two free throws before the clock expired and the teams headed into halftime with the score at 21-19.

Platteville claimed an early second half lead with a 3 and Beyer responded with five consecutive points across two minutes – an and-1 layup at 9:30 and a jump shot in the lane at 7:29 – that flipped the lead back in Oshkosh's favor at a score of 26-22. The Titans grew the deficit to eight points by the midway mark of the third quarter with three points apiece from Huml and Seckar and earned a 35-27 edge at 3:57 when Beyer made her fifth basket of the night. The lead increased to 39-28 when Beyer sank a 3-pointer and Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) shot 1-for-2 after being fouled. Following two more late-quarter Platteville free throws, Hardwick pushed Oshkosh's lead back to double digits (41-30) by making a layup.
 
The fourth quarter was closely contested and the Titans outscored the Pioneers by a single point (15-14). They used runs of 8-0 and 4-0 to hold off a 9-point run by Platteville across the middle of the period. Seckar, Argall, Beyer and Poole all contributed to the first string of points and Poole and Huml later combined for four free throws that proved to be the final points of the game.
 
The Titans remain on the road for Saturday's 3 p.m. conference matchup with UW-River Falls. Since 1974-75, Oshkosh is 69-27 against the Falcons and has won 18 of the last 20 games dating back to a 65-64 win in River Falls on February 27, 2016.