LA CROSSE, Wis.- Three Titans scored double-digit points on Wednesday night (Jan. 7) as UW-Oshkosh women's basketball outlasted UW-La Crosse, 55-48, at the Eagles' Mitchell Hall.
 
In a game that had 13 lead changes and six tied scores, the Titans (13-0, 2-0 WIAC), ranked third in NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com and fourth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, went 22-for-54 from the field and 9-for-13 from the line, but made just two of 17 attempts from three-point range.
 
La Crosse outrebounded Oshkosh, 36 to 33, while the Titans held a 9-4 edge in assists, 5-1 in blocks, and 10-4 in steals while committing nine turnovers to the Eagles' 13.
 
The Eagles were held to 48 points, their second-lowest total of the season, and shot a season-best 41.7 percent from 3 (5-of-12) but were held to 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from the line. La Crosse's offense recorded 39.2-percent mark (20-of-51) from the field.
 
Thirty-eight of Oshkosh's points were scored in the paint, 13 came off La Crosse turnovers, and nine each were tallied on second chances and off the bench.
 
Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) had a game-high 17 points of 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from the line while pulling down 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. She was also one of two Titans with three assists and one of four with two steals and added a block.
 
Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) shot 6-of-13 from the field with a 3 and two-of-two from the line for a season-high 15 points, adding six rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal.
 
Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy) was Oshkosh's third player with at least 10 points by tallying 12 on 4-of-6 from the field, 1-of-1 from 3-point range, and 3-of-3 from the line. She also recorded five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
 
Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) and Hope Barington (Sobieski/Notre Dame Academy) also registered a pair of steals.
 
With the win, head coach Brad Fischer reached 300 career wins. The 14th-year coach is now 300-76 since 2012-13, good for a winning percentage of .798 which ranks eighth in Division III among active coaches that have coached at least five years and 17th in the NCAA regardless of division affiliation. After securing his 200th win against St. Norbert College in Oshkosh on November 20, 2021, it took Fischer 126 games to win his 300th game.
 
Fischer, the winningest coach in program history, became the fifth women's basketball coach in WIAC history to reach the 300-win mark, joining former coaches Shirley Enger (Stevens Point, 1990-2021) and Mark Thomas (Stout, 1998-2018), and current coaches Keri Carollo (Whitewater, 2003-present) and Tonja Englund (Eau Claire, 2001-present).
 
Fischer has led Oshkosh to five WIAC regular season titles, six WIAC Tournament championships, and 10 national tournament appearances including an appearance in the semifinal round of last season's championship.
 
La Crosse scored first before Seckar and Beyer made back-to-back layups that gave Oshkosh a lead they held onto until an 8-0 run swapped the edge in the Eagles' favor, 15-10, with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Mallory Hoitink (Hartford/Slinger) started a 6-point run for Oshkosh that included a Beyer jump shot and a Hardwick and-1 layup.
 
Barington extended the Titans' lead to 18-15 early in the second quarter, however the lead changed five times across the remaining eight minutes of the quarter as neither team scored more than twice in a row and neither found the basket between 3:04 and 0:51. Seckar cut the deficit to 25-24 by converting a last-second layup before the teams headed to their locker rooms.
 
The Titans used five consecutive points across 1:23 to take a 29-28 lead with 6:42 left in the third quarter. They took another lead at 32-30 when Hardwick and Seckar combined for three points, but the Eagles came back with four points to reclaim the lead once again. Abbey Inda (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) tied the score at 34-34 before Oshkosh went into the final period down, 34-32.
 
Oshkosh outscored La Crosse, 21-12, in the fourth quarter, kicked off by a 7-0 run that featured a Beyer 3, an Inda layup, and a Seckar layup. While La Crosse kept the score within 10 points and got back within one point with 5:23 left on the clock, the Titans used went on additional streaks of four and five points, holding the Eagles for five nonconsecutive baskets.
 
Grace Knupp led the Eagles with 12 points with six field goals on nine attempts inside the arc and Molly Janke recorded a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
The Titans return to Kolf Sports Center on Saturday (Jan. 10) to host UW-Stevens Point (11-2, 0-2 WIAC) at 3 p.m. Holding a 68-47 record against the Pointers since 1974-75, Oshkosh has won each of the last 13 matchups since January 9, 2019, and 24 of 28 under Fischer.