Katelyn Kuehl helped UW-Oshkosh reach the WIAC Tournament championship game by totaling seven points, five rebounds and three steals.
Katelyn Kuehl helped UW-Oshkosh reach the WIAC Tournament championship game by totaling seven points, five rebounds and three steals.

Titans Return To WIAC Tournament Championship Game

UW-Oshkosh fashioned a dominant second-half performance and rolled to a 65-36 win over UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals of the WIAC Women's Basketball Tournament held Friday (Feb. 27) in Eau Claire.

The third-seeded Titans outscored the second-seeded Blugolds, 38-12, in the second period while shooting 61.6 percent (16-26) from the field. UW-Eau Claire (16-10) was held to just 22.2 percent (4-18) shooting after intermission.

UW-Oshkosh (21-6) advances to play top seed UW-Superior (19-7) in the championship game on Sunday (March 1) at 2 p.m. in Superior. The winner of Sunday's game earns the WIAC's automatic berth to the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship. The Yellowjackets created a rematch of last year's WIAC Tournament final by defeating fifth seed UW-Stevens Point (14-13), 58-36, in Friday's other semifinal.

Taylor Schmidt led the Titans with 13 points, five assists and four steals. Ashley Neustifter and Madeline Staples added nine points apiece. Alex Richard and Katelyn Kuehl contributed eight and seven points, respectively. Eliza Campbell, Kuehl, Richard, Marissa Selner and Staples all had a game-high five rebounds.

The Titans ended the game shooting 48.1 percent (25-52) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-19) from behind the 3-point line and 75 percent (9-12) from the free throw line. The performance helped UW-Oshkosh record its largest win over UW-Eau Claire since a 29-point margin during the 2004 WIAC Tournament semifinals.

UW-Eau Claire defeated UW-Oshkosh in both regular season meetings by shooting a combined 44.6 percent (45-101) from the field, making 10 of 25 (40 percent) 3-point shots and committing a total of 27 turnovers.

This time, the UW-Oshkosh defense forced 22 turnovers while limiting UW-Eau Claire to 33.3 percent (14-42) shooting from the floor and zero 3-point baskets in seven attempts. The Titans also outrebounded the Blugolds, 37-23, including 20-7 in the second half.

After clinging to a 27-24 advantage at intermission, UW-Oshkosh made 10 of 12 shots to begin the second half and opened up a 49-28 lead with less than 10 minutes left. Neustifter tallied seven of the Titans' first nine points during the 22-4 scoring spurt, which featured baskets by six different players.

UW-Eau Claire went more than 12 minutes without a field goal after Ellen Blacklock's layup cut the Blugold deficit to 43-28 at the 13:25 mark. UW-Oshkosh's defense forced nine straight missed shots from the field and created 10 turnovers until Blacklock broke the drought on a basket that made the score 64-32 with one minute remaining.

UW-Oshkosh built its lead to 51-30 on a layup by Richard with eight minutes to go. The Titan advantage ballooned to 61-30 following five straight points by Staples, including her first career 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring. Maggie Novak's 3-pointer provided UW-Oshkosh's largest lead of 34 points (64-30) with 64 seconds remaining.

The Titans improved to 18-11 overall and 3-2 against UW-Eau Claire in WIAC Tournament play. UW-Oshkosh now sports a conference-best 8-2 record in the semifinal round of the league tournament.

Morgan Kokta's 3-pointer gave UW-Oshkosh the lead for good at 12-9 with 10:58 left in the first half. The Titans scored six unanswered points to take an 18-10 advantage, but UW-Eau Claire closed to within 22-20 on a Teenie Lichtfuss layup with 2:15 left in the opening period. UW-Oshkosh upped its lead to 27-20 with 63 seconds to go before halftime, but the Blugolds tallied the last four points of the period to cut their deficit to 27-24 at intermission.

Blacklock and Courtney Lewis led UW-Eau Claire with 10 points apiece. Lewis added a team-high three rebounds and three steals.

UW-Oshkosh advances to its second straight WIAC Tournament championship game and eighth overall in the 17 years of the event. The Titans have a 2-5 record in the final, including last year's 75-69 victory over UW-Superior in Oshkosh. UW-Oshkosh has won 55 of its last 60 games against UW-Superior.

UW-Superior and UW-Oshkosh split two games during the regular season. The Titans downed the Yellowjackets, 86-52, in Oshkosh on Jan. 3. UW-Superior won, 58-46, at home on Feb. 14.

The Yellowjackets are 10-0 at home this season and unbeaten in three previous WIAC Tournament games in Superior.

Photo courtesy of Bill Hoepner, UW-Eau Claire Learning and Technology Services