Titans Seek Third Straight WIAC Postseason Title
UW-Oshkosh strives for a third consecutive WIAC Women's Basketball Championship title when it battles UW-River Falls in a matchup of nationally ranked teams on Saturday (Feb. 27) in River Falls. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. in the Karges Center.
Top-seeded UW-River Falls (22-4) secured a spot in the league tournament final for the first time in program history with a 53-47 decision over fifth-seeded UW-Eau Claire (14-13) on Thursday (Feb. 25). Second-seeded UW-Oshkosh (21-5) punched its ticket with Thursday's 38-21 victory over third-seeded UW-Stevens Point (20-7).
The winner of the WIAC Championship collects the league's automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship that commences next week.
UW-River Falls, ranked 11th in the nation by D3hoops.com, swept the regular-season series over 15th-ranked UW-Oshkosh. The Falcons beat the Titans by scores of 76-69 on Jan. 6 in Oshkosh and 63-56 on Feb. 20 in River Falls after building halftime leads of 44-34 in their first meeting and 34-17 in the second matchup.
UW-Oshkosh enters the WIAC Championship title game leading the league in scoring defense (49.9), scoring margin (+14.7), 3-point percentage (.352), 3-point percentage defense (.264), assists (349), turnover margin (+6), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.12) and 3-pointers (154). The Titans rank second in the country by averaging just 12 turnovers per game.
Taylor Schmidt leads UW-Oshkosh's balanced offense – which has featured a different leading scorer in each of the last four games – with 10.7 points per game, 34 3-pointers and a .803 free throw percentage.
Eliza Campbell contributes 9.2 points per game for the Titans, who also receive 8.7 points per contest from Alex Richard, 6.6 from Marissa Selner and 5.8 from Ashley Neustifter. Selner paces UW-Oshkosh with 6.4 rebounds per game while Neustifter leads the squad with 73 assists and 40 steals.
UW-River Falls, which owns a seven-game winning streak, won this year's WIAC regular-season title for the first time since 1989.
The Falcons' .431 field goal percentage leads the WIAC while their 140 3-pointers and .718 free throw percentage list second.
UW-River Falls has four players averaging more than 10 points per game.
The Falcons' Taylor Karge ranks second in the WIAC at 14.6 points per contest. She is followed on the team by Brynn Liljander with 13.7 points per game, and Kate Theisen and Richell Mehus with 10.4 apiece. Karge also leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per game.
Theisen's .548 field goal percentage leads the WIAC, while Mehus paces the league with 89 assists and 86 steals.
The Titans and Falcons will be meeting for the first time in the 18-year history of the WIAC Championship.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking its fourth WIAC Championship title in program history while UW-River Falls holds a 6-15 record in league postseason games. The Titans won the first WIAC Championship in 1999 before claiming the last two titles.
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Live Stats: https://www.uwrf.edu/UniversityCommunications/Sports/Stats/WBBLive/xlive.htm
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