Titans Secure Fourth Straight 20-Win Season

Alex Richard led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points as UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-Whitewater, 60-57, in a battle of nationally ranked women's basketball teams on Wednesday (Feb. 17) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (20-4, 11-2 WIAC), ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, clinched a first-round bye in next week's WIAC Tournament with the victory.

The Titans travel to 13th-ranked UW-River Falls (20-4, 11-2 WIAC) for the regular-season finale on Saturday (Feb. 20), with the winner securing the conference title and the top seed for the six-team league tournament. The Falcons downed the Titans, 76-69, in the WIAC opener on Jan. 6 in Oshkosh.

Richard made 5 of 14 shots from the floor and added six rebounds as the Titans, who bested the Warhawks by a 79-66 score on Jan. 20, swept the regular-season series from UW-Whitewater for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign.

Morgan Kokta added 11 points and two steals off the UW-Oshkosh bench, while Taylor Schmidt had 10 points and a game-leading four assists. Marissa Selner contributed nine points, a game-high 12 boards and three assists.

Seventeenth-ranked UW-Whitewater (19-5, 8-5 WIAC) had a chance to tie the score at the buzzer, but Reilly Stewart's 3-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired.

Stewart provided the Warhawks with their final lead of the contest at 49-48 on two free throws with 8:49 remaining. Kokta hit a pair of free throws to give UW-Oshkosh the lead for good at 50-49, and a layup by Eliza Campbell extended the Titans' lead to 52-49 with just over five minutes left.

UW-Whitewater pulled within one point on two occasions following baskets from Lisa Palmer, but UW-Oshkosh's Ashley Neustifter hit a 3-pointer for a 57-53 lead with 40 ticks to go. Palmer answered with a layup to trim the Warhawk deficit to 57-55 with 27 seconds to play before Schmidt made two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 23 seconds left.

Stewart converted two free throws to make the score 59-57 with 10 seconds remaining, and Selner split a pair of free throws to provide the final score with eight seconds left.

UW-Oshkosh scored the first nine points of the game, holding UW-Whitewater scoreless until a Malia Smith jumper at the 5:40 mark of the first quarter.

UW-Whitewater rallied to tie the score at 11 after the first period before taking its first lead of the game at 13-11 on a jumper by Abbie Reeves. A three-point play by Smith gave the Warhawks their largest lead of the contest at 21-16 with 4:53 left in the second period.

The Titans responded with a 16-2 scoring run to end the first half and take a 32-23 advantage at intermission. Richard sparked the run with a three-point play, and Isabella Samuels capped the surge with an offensive rebound and basket at the halftime buzzer. The Titans run featured three consecutive 3-pointers, including two by Kokta.

UW-Oshkosh opened its largest lead of 13 points at 38-25 on a layup by Neustifter with 7:05 left in the third period, but UW-Whitewater scored 20 of the last 28 points of the quarter to pull within 46-45 entering the final stanza.

UW-Whitewater's Palmer led all players with a career-high 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the field, including her first 3-pointer of the season during the third period. She paced the Warhawks with nine rebounds.

Brooke Trewyn added nine points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Warhawks, who also received seven points apiece from Smith and Stewart.

UW-Whitewater narrowly outshot UW-Oshkosh, 38.5 percent (20-52) to 38.3 percent (23-60), and held a 38-32 advantage in rebounds. The Warhawks shot 81.3 percent (13-16) from the free throw line and 33.3 percent (4-12) from 3-point range.

UW-Oshkosh, which reached 20 wins for the fourth consecutive season, held advantages in assists (10-8), turnovers (13-8) and steals (6-2).

The Titans converted 5 of 14 (35.7 percent) shots from behind the 3-point arc and 9 of 10 (90 percent) free throws.

UW-Oshkosh has won 56 of its last 59 contests in which it held opponents to 60 points or less. UW-Whitewater entered the game leading the WIAC with 70.8 points per contest.