Titans To Host Warhawks In Nationally Ranked Skirmish
First place in the WIAC women's basketball standings will be at stake when nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater meet on Wednesday (Feb. 7). The opening tip between the top two offenses and defenses in the conference is set for 7 p.m. in Kolf Sports Center.
Defending league regular season champion UW-Oshkosh (17-3, 7-3 WIAC) enters the game ranked 18th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com while UW-Whitewater (18-3, 8-2), the reigning conference tournament winner, lists 17th in the nation.
UW-Whitewater holds a one-game lead in the conference over UW-Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire (15-6, 7-3 WIAC) and UW-La Crosse (14-7, 7-3) with four contests remaining.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking to avenge a 54-52 loss at UW-Whitewater on Jan. 3. The Warhawks handed the Titans their first loss of the season with a game-winning baseline jump shot at the buzzer.
UW-Whitewater, which owns a 6-2 road record this season, is riding a four-game winning streak since a 66-62 home loss to UW-La Crosse on Jan. 20. UW-Oshkosh won seven games in a row until suffering a 67-62 setback at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Feb. 3). The Titans sport a 5-1 home record this season and an 18-2 mark in Kolf Sports Center over the past two seasons.
The Titans have won four of the last seven meetings between the teams, but UW-Whitewater has claimed the past two matchups, including a 65-56 decision in last year's WIAC Tournament championship game.
UW-Oshkosh, which has featured nine different leading scorers this season, heads into Wednesday's game with a WIAC-best 73.8 points per game and 48.5 points allowed per contest. UW-Whitewater is second in the league by scoring 68.0 points and surrendering 54.6 points per game.
UW-Whitewater is forcing a league-high 20.1 turnovers per game, but UW-Oshkosh leads the country by committing just 10.2 turnovers per contest and ranks second nationally with a 1.47 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Warhawks also pace the conference with 40.4 rebounds per game and by limiting opponents to 25.6 percent shooting from 3-point range. The Titans are the league leaders with a +10.2 average rebounding margin, a .353 rate from beyond the 3-point arc and a .448 field goal percentage.
Senior forward Eliza Campbell leads UW-Oshkosh and ranks fifth in the conference with 12.3 points per game while pacing the team with 5.6 rebounds per contest. Campbell, who has led the Titans in scoring in nine games this season, has scored in double figures 14 times on the year. She ranks as UW-Oshkosh's 15th all-time leading scorer with 1,100 career points.
UW-Oshkosh starters Emma Melotik and Isabella Samuels are scoring 9.6 and 9.5 points per game, respectively, while Melanie Schneider is adding 9.1 per contest in a reserve role.
Melotik, a senior guard, is the WIAC leader with 48 3-pointers. Samuels, a junior forward, is pacing the league with a .639 field goal percentage and ranks second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game.
Rounding out the UW-Oshkosh starting lineup are sophomore guard Olivia Campbell and junior guard Chloe Pustina. Olivia Campbell, who paces the WIAC with a 2.29 assist-to-turnover ratio, is averaging 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game to along with a team-high 3.1 assists and 1.7 steals per contest. Pustina is contributing 3.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Five UW-Oshkosh reserves have averaged more than 10 minutes per game, including senior guard Jaimee Pitt, senior forward Madeline Staples, freshman guard Leah Porath and freshman forward Karsyn Rueth.
Pitt averages 6.3 points per game, Staples 4.8, Porath 4.7 and Rueth 4.5 as the UW-Oshkosh bench is combining to contribute 34 points and 20.4 rebounds per contest.
UW-Whitewater has three seniors among the top 11 scorers in the WIAC.
Senior guard Brooke Trewyn leads the Warhawks and ranks sixth in the conference at 12 points per game. She averages 6.3 rebounds per contest and paces the squad with 51 assists and 46 steals.
Warhawks senior guard Malia Smith, who has made a team-high 30 3-pointers, is adding 10.6 points per game to rank ninth in the league. Senior forward Andrea Meinert is 11th in the conference at 10.3 points per contest and fifth in the league with a team-high .469 field goal percentage.
Completing the UW-Whitewater starters are sophomore guard Camri Conley and junior center Becky Deichl. Conley, who hit the game-winning shot in the Warhawks' victory over UW-Oshkosh earlier this season, is scoring 8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Deichl is chipping in 4.0 points per contest.
Junior forward Olivia Freckmann averages 5.9 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds off the UW-Whitewater bench while sophomore reserve guard Becky Raeder adds 5.7 points per game.
UW-Oshkosh has won a WIAC-leading 12 regular season titles while UW-Whitewater owns seven league championships. Last season the Titans produced a 13-1 conference record to claim their first outright title since 1999. The Warhawks clinched their most recent regular season conference crown in 2014.
Both UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater participated in last year's Division III Championship. The Titans, who advanced to the third round a year ago, won at least one NCAA postseason game for the fourth consecutive season. UW-Whitewater was eliminated in the first round of the 2017 national tournament.
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