Titans Give Falcons First Conference Loss

Eliza Campbell scored 20 points, Melanie Schneider added a career-high 17 off the bench and the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team handed UW-River Falls its first conference loss of the season with a 69-62 decision on Saturday (Jan. 13) in River Falls.

UW-Oshkosh (12-2, 2-2 WIAC), ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, reclaimed the lead for good with a 9-0 scoring run during the third quarter. Trailing 37-31 with 5:21 in the third period, Schneider and Madeline Staples accounted for all nine points during the Titans' decisive run, including a layup by Staples at the 3:57 mark that gave UW-Oshkosh a 38-37 advantage it would not relinquish.

UW-River Falls (12-3, 3-1 WIAC), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped, took its only lead of the game during a run of 14 unanswered points that turned a 31-23 deficit into a 37-31 advantage.

The Falcons trailed, 50-43, entering the final quarter but pulled within three points on four occasions during the last period. UW-Oshkosh's Karsyn Rueth, who matched her season high with 14 points, hit a jumper to increase the Titans' advantage to 58-53 with 3:56 remaining and a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 61-55 at the 2:54 mark.

Clinging to a 61-58 lead with 61 seconds left, UW-Oshkosh got a layup from Campbell for a 63-58 advantage with 35 seconds to go. A four-point play by Brynn Liljander pulled the Falcons within 65-62 with 11 seconds to play before Schneider capped the scoring a second later with a pair of free throws.

UW-Oshkosh, which earned its fifth straight victory over the Falcons, received 37 points off the bench as Schneider and Rueth combined for 31 and Staples chipped in six.

Eliza Campbell scored eight of her 20 points during the fourth quarter, and Olivia Campbell recorded a team-leading five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Titans owned a 38-28 rebounding advantage, including 15-4 on the offensive end. UW-Oshkosh, which shot 8-for-16 (50 percent) from 3-point range, also had edges of 10-5 in assists and 12-10 in turnovers.

UW-River Falls outshot the Titans, 44.7 to 40.7 percent from the floor and 80.0 to 58.6 percent at the free throw line. UW-Oshkosh converted 17 of its season-high 29 attempts at the foul line while the Falcons, who were held to their lowest assist total of the season, shot 16-for-20 at the charity stripe.

UW-Oshkosh went into the game leading the country with 10.2 turnovers per game and a 1.67 assist-to-turnover ratio while listing fourth nationally in scoring margin (+31.1), fifth in scoring defense (45.2), sixth in field goal percentage (.464) and 10th in rebounding margin (+13.7).

Eliza Campbell drained a 3-pointer on the game's opening possession, and a long-range jumper from Emma Melotik, the WIAC leader in 3-point baskets, increased UW-Oshkosh's lead to 8-4 with 6:41 left in the first quarter.

UW-River Falls tied the score at 10, but Rueth buried a 3-pointer with three minutes to play in opening period that gave UW-Oshkosh a 13-10 advantage it would not cede until the third period.

Holding to a 26-23 advantage late in the second quarter, UW-Oshkosh scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer by Chloe Pustina, for a 31-23 lead before the Falcons' Taylor Paulsrud hit a jumper to cut the UW-River Falls deficit to 31-25 at intermission.

Paulsrud's basket with 15 seconds left in the first half began UW-River Falls' string of 14 consecutive points during a span of 5:38 over the middle two periods. Paulsrud tallied all five of her points during the run that included five missed field goals and four turnovers by the Titans.

UW-River Falls' Liljander led all players with 21 points and three assists.

Crystal Pearson had 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds in a reserve role for the Falcons.

UW-Oshkosh returns home to host UW-Platteville on Wednesday (Jan. 17) in Kolf Sports Center.