Titans Overcome Early Double-Digit Deficit To Defeat Pointers
Eliza Campbell matched her season high with 18 points as nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh pulled away for a 62-53 victory over UW-Stevens Point in the WIAC women's basketball opener on Wednesday (Jan. 4) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (11-1, 1-0 WIAC), ranked 13th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, claimed its first lead at 43-41 early in the fourth quarter before going on to score seven consecutive points for a 53-45 advantage with 92 seconds to play.
The Titans, who notched their fifth straight triumph over the Pointers, opened WIAC play with a win for the third time in four seasons.
In a battle of the top two field goal percentage defenses in the league, UW-Oshkosh narrowly outshot UW-Stevens Point, .429 to .404, from the floor.
The Pointers are just the second opponent this season to shoot better than 40 percent from the floor against the Titans, who entered the contest ranked fifth nationally by limiting teams to 29.9 percent. The Pointers were holding teams to 35 percent from the floor.
UW-Oshkosh also went into the game leading the country with 40.5 points allowed per game and ranking second with 11.5 turnovers per contest.
Campbell made 7 of 12 shots from the field and both of her attempts from the free throw line. She also added two rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Alex Richard tallied 14 points, six rebounds and three steals for UW-Oshkosh, and Taylor Schmidt contributed 12 points, a career-best eight rebounds and two assists.
UW-Oshkosh converted 17 of 22 attempts (77.3 percent) at the free throw line while UW-Stevens Point went 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) from the charity stripe. The Titans also held slim advantages in assists (9-6) and steals (7-4). Both teams collected 31 rebounds.
UW-Stevens Point scored the first five points of the game before building leads of 9-2 and 13-6 in the first quarter. UW-Oshkosh was held scoreless during the final 4:37 of the opening period as the Pointers took a 17-6 advantage into the second quarter. The Titans shot just 15.4 percent (2-13) from the floor during the first quarter while the Pointers connected on 47.1 percent (8-17) from the field and owned an 11-6 rebounding edge.
The Pointers held their largest lead of 12 points (20-8) on Mickey Roland's 3-pointer Mickey Roland early in the second quarter. The Titans then scored 16 of the next 21 points to pull within 25-24 with just over four minutes to go before halftime. However, UW-Oshkosh was held scoreless for more than four minutes once again to end the second period. UW-Stevens Point recorded the final points of the half on layup by Autumn Hennes for a 29-24 lead with 2:50 remaining before intermission.
Taylor Dagon made a pair of free throws to cut UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 34-33 midway through the third quarter, but a 3-pointer by Lexi Roland extended the Pointer advantage to 41-35 with three minutes to go in the period. UW-Oshkosh closed out the stanza with four unanswered points on layups from Olivia Campbell and Richard to pull within 41-39 entering the final period.
A jumper by UW-Oshkosh's Morgan Kokta knotted the score at 41, and layup by Richard gave the Titans their first lead at 43-41 with 8:44 left.
UW-Stevens Point's Lauren Anklam knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the Titan lead to 46-45 with 4:49 remaining, but UW-Oshkosh put the game away with seven straight points over the next three minutes. Schmidt began the decisive run by retrieving her own missed shot, getting fouled on her subsequent shot and burying a pair of free throws.
A 3-pointer by Anklam trimmed the UW-Stevens Point deficit to 56-53 with 24 seconds left, but Kokta and Schmidt combined to make all six of their free throws, including four by Schmidt, to secure the victory.
UW-Oshkosh, which shot 11-for-16 from the free throw line and 6-for-9 from the field during the fourth quarter, outscored the Pointers by a 23-12 count in the final period. Schmidt tallied nine points in the period while Kokta recorded all six of her points during the fourth quarter.
Hennes paced UW-Stevens Point (8-4, 0-1 WIAC) with 14 points while Anklam and Roland chipped in 10 apiece. Roland had a team-leading eight rebounds and three assists while Taylor Barrett had nine points, five rebounds and four blocks.
UW-Oshkosh visits UW-Stout on Saturday (Jan. 7).