SALEM, Va.- UW-Oshkosh women's basketball made its second consecutive trip to the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Thursday (March 19) and the fourth in program history. Falling, 82-61, to first-time opponent Denison University (Ohio), the Titans finished with a record of 28-4, the second highest wins total in program history, tied with the 28-3 1995 national runner-up team.
 
UW-Oshkosh entered Thursday's contest ranked fourth in Division III by D3hoops.com and eighth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association while the Big Red (29-2) were ranked eighth and 12th, respectively. The Titans allowed the most points to an opponent since an 88-85 loss at Loras College (Iowa) on November 16, 2019, a span of 191 games.
 
UW-Oshkosh graduates eight seniors. Forward Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville), guard Bridget Froehlke (Wrightstown/Wrightstown), forward Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy), forward Mayah Holzhueter (Cambridge/Cambridge), guard Kate Huml (Janesville/Janesville Craig), guard Mallory Lindsey (Mineral Point/Mineral Point), guard Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) and forward Mahra Wieman (Sparta/Reedsburg Area). Together, this group of eight helped Oshkosh to a record of 99-23, three WIAC regular season championships and four NCAA Division III tournaments. The Titans advanced to at least the second round each year, making the third round in 2024 and the semifinal round in 2025 and 2026.
 
Hardwick and Huml concluded their careers with 123 games played, the most in program history and the second-most in WIAC history. Hardwick has also started in a program-record 121 career contests, including all 114 games dating back to a neutral site contest against Randolph-Macon College (Va.) in Dayton Beach, Fla. on December 19, 2022. Hardwick also ranks fifth in program history with 88 career blocks.
 
Junior guard Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) led the Titans with 13 points on Thursday, shooting 6 of 18 from the field and 1 of 4 from 3-point range.
 
Sophomore forward Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) and Wieman were both knocking on the door of double digits with eight points apiece. Wieman also paced Oshkosh with a career-high tying eight rebounds.
 
Freshman guard Abbey Inda (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) scored seven points, Froehlke and freshman forward Megan Geason (Franklin/Oak Creek) tallied six, Huml added five, and Hardwick and junior forward Hope Barington (Sobieski/Notre Dame Academy) both had four.
 
Oshkosh shot 35.8 percent (24-67) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-17) from beyond the arc and 81.8 percent (9-11) from the line. Denison went 50 percent from both the field (30-60) and 3-point range (9-18), while going 61.9 percent (13-21) from the charity stripe.
 
The Big Red led in rebounding (45-32), assists (15-9) and steals (8-6) while the Titans committed nine turnovers to 11. Both teams recorded four blocks.
 
Oshkosh paced Denison, 36-30, in bench points, however the Big Red led in points in the paint (40-28), points off turnovers (13-10) and fast break points (9-4).
 
Abby Cooch and Brooke Toigo led Denison's five double-digit scorers with 13 points each.
 
The Big Red scored the first six points of the game and added another 14 for a 20-4 edge. Beyer ended both runs with jumpers. Wieman closed out the first quarter, making a 3-pointer with eight seconds on the clock.
 
Geason ended an early 4-0 Denison second quarter run and helped the Titans into double-digit scoring at 32-11, however the Big Red outscored Oshkosh, 10-8 leading into halftime for a 42-19 lead. Seckar decreased the deficit to 35-14 at 2:05 after making a second chance layup and two free throws for four consecutive points and Inda converted an and-1 opportunity with 33 seconds left to make the score 40-19 before Denison made a last-second layup.
 
The Titans outscored Denison, 20-17, in the third quarter, aiding by three runs of four points. Inda followed a Hardwick layup with a jumper at 5:15 in the period to bring the deficit down to 46-30, however Oshkosh never got closer for the remainder of the game.
 
Beyer and Huml pulled the Titans within 16 points twice in the fourth quarter at 6:23 and 5:52, respectively, however the deficit proved too large for Oshkosh, eventually allowing two free throws with four ticks left that pushed the Big Red's lead past the 20-point mark.
 
Denison will take on the University of Scranton (Pa.) (32-0) in the national championship game on Saturday (March 21) at 3 p.m. CDT. The Lady Royals ended New York University's Division III-record 91-game winning streak with a 60-52 victory in Thursday's second semifinal matchup.