Titans Post 12th Straight Win Over Pioneers

Eliza Campbell and Isabella Samuels had 12 points and nine rebounds apiece, Chloe Pustina added 10 points and the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team never trailed on the way to defeating UW-Platteville, 65-55, on Wednesday (Jan. 31) in Platteville.

UW-Oshkosh (17-2, 7-2 WIAC), ranked 13th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, claimed the lead for good at 22-20 on a layup from Samuels. The Titans extended their advantage to 32-23 following a free throw by Pustina at the 3:11 mark of the second period and led by at least six points for the remainder of the contest.

The Titans remain tied atop the league standings with 19th-ranked UW-Whitewater (17-3, 7-2 WIAC) with five games remaining.

UW-Oshkosh, which has won 12 straight meetings with the Pioneers, extended its season winning streak to seven games. The Titans won this season's first matchup between the teams, 77-50, on Jan. 17 in Oshkosh.

Melanie Schneider chipped in nine points and four steals off the UW-Oshkosh bench while Titan starters Olivia Campbell and Emma Melotik contributed seven points apiece. Olivia Campbell, who went into the game with a WIAC-best 2.22 assist-to-turnover ratio, registered six rebounds, three assists and four steals.

UW-Oshkosh secured the victory despite deficits in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists and blocks. The Titans owned a 23-10 advantage in turnovers and 15-3 in steals.

UW-Platteville (6-14, 2-7 WIAC), the top rebounding team in the conference at 41 per game, held advantages of 32-29 on the boards, 17-9 in assists and 8-1 in blocks while outshooting the Titans, .469 (23-49) to .382 (26-68) from the field, .357 (5-14) to .190 (4-21) from 3-point range, and .667 (4-6) to .600 (9-15) at the foul line.

The Pioneers, just the third team to outrebound the Titans this season, produced their second-best field goal percentage of the season.

The Titans, who have committed 10 or fewer turnovers 12 times this season, went into Wednesday's contest leading the country with 10.2 turnovers per game and a 1.54 assist-to-turnover ratio while listing fourth nationally with a +27.8 average scoring margin and seventh by allowing 47.1 points per game.

UW-Oshkosh, which has held 17 opponents under 60 points this season, also paced the conference in scoring (74.9), scoring defense (47.1), field goal percentage (.456), average rebounding margin (+11.6), 3-pointers (129), 3-point percentage (.366) and blocks (76).

The Titans scored layups on their first three possessions to take a 6-0 lead 64 seconds into the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Melotik and Pustina increased UW-Oshkosh's advantage to 12-4 with 4:59 left in the opening quarter on the way to an 18-15 edge entering the second period.

The Pioneers tied the score at 18 and again at 20, but Samuels' basket in the lane provided the Titans a 22-20 advantage they would not relinquish. UW-Oshkosh scored seven unanswered points, including three from Pustina, to extend its lead to 32-23 late in the second quarter. Pustina scored all of her 10 points during the first half on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor.

After leading, 35-28, at intermission, UW-Oshkosh built a 51-40 advantage after three quarters and led by as many as 15 points at 57-42 following a layup from Eliza Campbell with 6:13 to play.

UW-Platteville scored nine straight points to cut its deficit to 57-51 with 2:59 left, but the Titans shot 4-for-6 at the free throw line and received layups from Eliza Campbell and Madeline Staples over the final 2:33.

The Pioneers' Allison Prestegaard led all players with 14 points, nine rebounds and six blocks. She shot 7-for-11 from the floor while increasing her WIAC-leading block total to 59 on the season.

UW-Platteville reserve Maiah Domask added 12 points and five rebounds while Rachel Emendorfer amassed a game-high six assists off the Pioneer bench.

UW-Oshkosh has outscored UW-Platteville by an average of 18.6 points per game during its 12-game win streak in the series.

The Titans travel to UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Feb. 3).