Titans Host Falcons In WIAC Championship Semifinal
Nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh begins its quest for a fourth straight WIAC Women's Basketball Championship title when its hosts UW-River Falls in the semifinal round of the six-team tournament on Friday (Feb. 24). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (23-2), ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, is the tournament's top seed after securing its record 12th regular season conference championship.
The Titans received a bye in the first round of the WIAC Championship after finishing atop the WIAC standings for the first time since 2006 and claiming their first outright crown since 1999.
Sixth-seeded UW-River Falls (9-17) advanced to the semifinals with a 47-43 victory at third-seeded UW-Stevens Point (17-9) on Wednesday (Feb. 22). The Falcons' 47 points marked the third-fewest for a winning team in WIAC Championship history.
The other WIAC Championship semifinal on Friday will feature second-seeded UW-Whitewater (20-5) hosting fourth-seeded UW-La Crosse (16-10). UW-La Crosse ousted fifth-seeded UW-Eau Claire by a 69-57 score on Wednesday in La Crosse.
The semifinal winners will meet at the higher seed on Sunday (Feb. 26) for the WIAC's automatic berth into the 64-team Division III Championship that begins March 3.
UW-Oshkosh has won its last three meetings with UW-River Falls, including victories of 65-55 on Jan. 21 in River Falls and 73-53 on Feb. 4 in Oshkosh. The Titans also defeated the Falcons, 65-64, in the 2016 WIAC Championship final in River Falls.
Last year's meeting in the championship's title game was the first tournament matchup between the programs since the event debuted in 1999.
The Titans own a 10-0 record at home this season, winning by an average of 14.7 points per game in Kolf Sports Center. However, UW-River Falls has won five of its last 11 games in Oshkosh since 2007, including a 76-69 decision last season en route to the league's regular-season title.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking to become the first top seed to win the WIAC Championship in five years while UW-River Falls is the third sixth-seed to win a game at the league tournament and first since 2010. No sixth-seeded team has ever advanced to the semifinals, and just one top-seeded program has failed to reach the penultimate round.
Top-seeded teams have compiled a 39-6 record at the WIAC Championship and won 12 of the previous 18 league tournaments, including the first nine. UW-Oshkosh has a 9-2 record in the semifinal round while UW-River Falls is 1-5.
The Titans claimed the first league tournament title as the top-seeded team in 1999 and each of the last three as the second seed. The Falcons reached their first final a year ago.
UW-Oshkosh heads into the semifinals ranked second nationally with 11.8 turnovers per game and 10th in the country by limiting opponents to 49.2 points per contest. The Titans have held 19 teams to less than 56 points this season.
UW-Oshkosh also leads the WIAC in scoring margin (+17.0), field goal percentage (.418), 3-point percentage (.347), opponent field goal percentage (.350), turnover margin (+4.72) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.00).
Senior guard Taylor Schmidt and junior forward Eliza Campbell lead the Titans in scoring.
Schmidt averages 11.2 points per contest while also leading the team with 36 3-pointers, 40 steals and 82 free throws on 106 attempts (77.4 percent). The eighth all-time leading scorer in UW-Oshkosh history (1,234 career points) also lists second on the squad with 46 assists.
Campbell adds 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while making a team-best 103 field goals on 230 attempts (44.8 percent).
Completing the UW-Oshkosh starting lineup are senior forward Alex Richard, senior guard Morgan Kokta and junior guard Emma Melotik.
Richard averages 7.6 points and a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.6 percent (81-160) from the floor. Kokta scores 5.5 points per game and leads the team with 52 assists while Melotik chips in 5.2 points per contest with the help of 34 3-point baskets.
Twelve Titans have averaged more than nine minutes of playing time this season, including reserve senior forward Madeline Staples, junior guards Jaimee Pitt and Kendell Truttman, sophomore forward Isabella Samuels, sophomore guard Chloe Pustina, and freshmen guards Olivia Campbell and Kylie Moe.
Moe leads the conference by shooting 52.4 percent (33-63) from beyond the 3-point arc while Staples pulls down 4.1 rebounds per contest, Samuels has a .619 (39-63) field goal percentage and Pitt is making 48.3 percent (14-29) of her attempts from 3-point territory.
UW-River Falls, which ranks eighth in the WIAC by averaging 59.3 points per game, is led by junior forward Taylor Karge's 13 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Sophomore forward Taylor Paulsrud averages 8.4 points per game for the Falcons while senior forward Kate Theisen adds 7.2 points per contest, senior guard Katie Messman 7.0, senior guard Hannah Pignato 6.2 and senior center Ali Clark 5.2. Messman has a team-high 56 assists, 42 steals and 35 3-pointers on 114 attempts (30.7 percent)
UW-Stevens Point leads the league with seven WIAC Championship titles, including six consecutive from 2008-13. UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stout have won four tournaments apiece and UW-Eau Claire three.