EAU CLAIRE, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's basketball opened the 2026-27 campaign with a convincing 69-41 win over Carroll University in the first day of the UW-Eau Claire Tip-Off Tournament at the Sonnentag Event Center on Saturday (Nov. 7).
By holding the Pioneers (0-1) to 41 points, the Titans (1-0), ranked sixth in NCAA Division III by
D3hoops.com and fourth by the
Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), extended their nonconference winning streak to 26 games and their run of limiting nonconference opponents to less than 60 points to 25 games.
With the season-opening win, Oshkosh has won its opener for six straight years and its first game under new head coach,
Lindsay Bronson.
The Titans scored the first 13 points of the game and led by at least 10 points, pushing their edge to 32 points with less than three minutes to play before Carroll, which is receiving votes in the D3hoops poll and are ranked 24th in the coaches' poll, closed it out with a pair of layups.
Oshkosh shot 40.9 percent (27-66) from the field, 23.8 percent (5-21) from three and 71.4 percent (10-14) from the line. Forty-four of the Titans' points came in the paint, 30 came off the bench and 10 came off the Pioneers' 11 turnovers.
The Titans also led 38-24 in rebounds and 15-8 in assists while Carroll held a 9-8 advantage in steals. Both teams blocked four shots.
Carroll finished the contest shooting 23.3 percent (14-60) from the field, 19 percent (4-21) from beyond the arc and 47.4 percent (9-19) from the line.
Transfer
Emily La Chapell (Appleton, Wis./Appleton East), sister of UW-Oshkosh men's basketball junior Joey La Chapell, led all scorers with 19 points. She shot 9-of-14 from the field and went 1 for 2 from 3-point range while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out an assist.
Oshkosh's second leading scorer was
Olivia Witkowski (Fremont/Weyauwega-Fremont), a transfer from UW-Eau Claire, with 12 points on 2-of-5 from the field and an 8-of-8 day at the line. She also paced the field with 13 rebounds for a double-double.
Returning WBCA honorable mention All-American
Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) was the third Titan to score in the double digits with 11 points on 4-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-7 from three.
Beyer and
Ella Francois (De Pere/West De Pere) both recorded a game-high four assists while
Jada Aliesa (Kuwait City, Kuwait/American School of Kuwait) recorded two blocks and
Mallory Hoitink (Hartford/Slinger) swiped three steals.
La Chapell scored the first points of the game after Hoitink notched her first steal. Following a jumper from Hoitink, La Chapell poured on seven more points and Beyer capped off the 13-point run with a layup before the Pioneers scored their first points.
The Titans outscored Carroll, 5-2, in the last 4:33 of the opening period with two Witkowski free throws and a Francois 3-pointer.
Oshkosh slowly built up its lead in the second quarter, eventually claiming its first 20-point cushion on a
Megan Geason (Franklin/Oak Creek) layup and pushing it to 21 on a Beyer three before settling in at 37-17 entering the half.
Both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter. The Pioneers started with a 4-0 run that decreased the lead to 37-21 and the Titans responded with six points before a pair of 4-point streaks and back-to-back 3-pointers left Oshkosh with a 50-20 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
While holding Carroll to no more than three points in a row until the final three minutes of play, the Titans scored in runs of six, five and six points that increased the deficit to 32 points when Francois made a layup at 3:21.
The Pioneers closed out both teams' season opener with a pair of layups while the Titans missed a pair of layups and a 3-point attempt.
Katie Barger was Carroll's only scorer in double figures, scoring 12 points on 2-of-9 from the field with a three and 7-of-12 from line and reached a double-double with 10 rebounds. She also recorded a game-high four steals.
The Titans wrap up the UW-Eau Claire Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday (Nov. 8), facing Simpson College (Iowa) at 3:30 p.m. Oshkosh is 2-1 against the Storm all time, last winning in Indianola, Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship on March 5, 2022.
