OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team is off to its best start since the 1998 season. The Titans are a perfect 16-0, but Head Coach Brad Fischer says the team is far from playing its best basketball.
“We’ve talked a lot about how the process is more important than the result,” Fischer said. “When we watch some of these films, I think we see a lot of mistakes that we can fix. I feel like we’ve watched teams kind of max out early in seasons, and our group has done a really good job of continuing to just try to get a little bit better every day.”
Fischer said this is the most focused team he’s coached since taking over the program in 2012. Back then, the Titans were coming off a 7-18 record in 2011.
Since taking over, Fischer has led the Titans to 11 seasons with at least 20 wins.
“When I first got here, it was about making a group believe that they could do that,” Fischer said. “And now it’s about recruiting players that want to uphold it.”
While Fischer recruits players from across the Midwest, he continues to bring in local talent, including Green Bay’s Sarah Hardwick, Oshkosh’s Paige Seckar, and Appleton’s Sammi Beyer. All three players average more than 10 minutes per game.
“It hits harder for me because I’m from 30 minutes away,” Beyer said. “To bring the community, not only of Oshkosh, but Appleton and Neenah together—it’s been great to play with them, and I think it’s just a really special bond.”
The Titans are led by fifth-year forward Kayce Vaile, who averages 12.2 points per game and a conference-leading 8.4 rebounds per game. Vaile says the team has a different level of drive.
“We just have the mindset that every time we step on the floor, it’s 0-0,” Vaile said. “This is a new day, new game, new time to compete, and we just keep going on that trajectory. And it’s given us a lot of success so far.”
The Titans are aiming to replicate the success of their 1996 season, when they finished 31-0 and won the national title.
Fischer said he believes this year’s team has what it takes to reach that level.
“When a game starts and I walk down the bench and I look in the girls’ eyes—whoever’s there—I feel like I can put that girl in the game and she’s ready to go. I’m not sure I’ve had a group, top to bottom, that’s been ready to go every single night like this team has.”
The Titans’ next game is Wednesday, Jan. 22, against UW-Stevens Point.
