Titans Stifle Pioneers
Marissa Selner led all players with 11 points and 10 rebounds, propelling UW-Oshkosh to a 76-45 victory over UW-Platteville in a WIAC women's basketball contest held on Wednesday (Feb. 3) in Platteville.
Selner made 5 of 8 shots from the field in registering her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career.
UW-Oshkosh (17-3, 8-1 WIAC), ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, extended its winning streak to eight games and maintained a one-game lead in the league standings with five contests remaining.
Eliza Campbell added nine points for the Titans. Alex Richard and Taylor Schmidt scored seven points apiece, while Ashley Neustifter rounded out the UW-Oshkosh starting lineup with five points, five rebounds and four assists.
All 17 Titans played and 15 entered the scoring column as UW-Oshkosh received 37 points from its reserves, including six apiece from Lauren Peterson and Madeline Staples.
UW-Oshkosh shot 43.5 percent (30-69) from the floor, including 31.8 percent (7-22) from 3-point range, and held considerable advantages in rebounds (42-36), assists (19-7), turnovers (21-7) and steals (12-2). The Titans went into the game leading the nation in 3-point percentage (.382) and ranked third by committing just 12.4 turnovers per contest.
Selner grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the game's first points with a layup on the Titans' opening possession, and UW-Oshkosh held a lead for the final 39:22.
UW-Platteville cut its deficit to 5-2 on a jumper by Morgan Horstman with just under seven minutes left in the opening quarter, but the Pioneers were held scoreless for the remainder of the period.
UW-Oshkosh scored 12 unanswered points during a stretch of more than seven minutes that spanned the first two quarters. A Selner layup ignited the skein that featured points from six different Titans, including Staples, whose layup gave UW-Oshkosh a 15-2 cushion after one quarter, and Emma Melotik, who hit a basket in the paint to start the second period to extend the Titan lead to 17-2.
The Pioneers made just 1 of 15 shots from the field and committed six turnovers during the first quarter.
UW-Oshkosh's lead ballooned to as many as 20 points on two occasions in the second period. Selner split a pair of free throws for a 25-5 advantage with 7:16 left in the first half, and a layup by Schmidt made the score 27-7 at the 5:37 mark.
UW-Platteville scored seven consecutive points to trim its deficit to 29-18, but a jumper by Melotik and a layup by Staples upped the UW-Oshkosh lead to 33-18 at halftime.
The Pioneers tallied eight of the first 10 points of the third quarter to pull within 35-27, and a jumper by Elisa Bilderback cut the UW-Platteville deficit to 36-29 midway through the period.
The Titans responded with the next 17 points and entered the fourth quarter with a 53-29 lead. The Pioneers missed their final six field goals and committed three turnovers during the last 5:02 of the third period, while UW-Oshkosh hit its last six attempts from the floor and 4 of 6 from the free throw line over the final 4:25 of the stanza.
UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead of at least 21 points for the last 10:39 of the game. The Titans held their largest advantage of 31 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter. Peterson drilled a 3-pointer for a 74-43 lead with 35 seconds left, and Kayla Lorenz provided the final score of the Titans' eighth straight win over the Pioneers on a layup with four seconds to play.
The Titans' 31-point win is the largest by either team in the series since UW-Oshkosh downed the Pioneers, 70-39, on Jan. 19, 2000.
Horstman paced UW-Platteville with nine points and five rebounds, while Bilderback contributed eight points and five boards. Lexis Macomber had a team-leading four assists for the Pioneers, who recorded seven blocks. UW-Platteville entered the game leading the WIAC with 97 blocks.
UW-Oshkosh returns home to face UW-Stout on Saturday (Feb. 6). The Titans defeated the Blue Devils, 65-50, on Jan. 23 in Menomonie.