Titans Defeat Falcons In WIAC Championship Opener
Eliza Campbell and Melanie Schneider scored 10 points apiece as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team never trailed on the way to a 64-51 victory over UW-River Falls during the first round of the WIAC Championship on Tuesday (Feb. 20) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (20-5), ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, tallied the first 12 points of the game before extending its advantage to 38-11 late in the second period.
UW-River Falls (16-10), seeded sixth for the six-team WIAC Championship, pulled within 51-44 of the third-seeded Titans with 2:37 left, but Campbell was fouled while making an acrobatic layup 12 seconds later. Campbell then completed the three-point play for a 54-44 UW-Oshkosh lead. The Titans, who reached 20 wins for the sixth straight season, preserved the victory by shooting 8-for-10 at the free throw line over the final 76 seconds.
UW-Oshkosh, which improved to 18-4 in WIAC Championship home games, advances to play at second-seeded UW-La Crosse (16-9) in the semifinal round of the league tournament on Thursday (Feb. 22).
The Titans earned their seventh consecutive win over UW-River Falls, including three straight meetings in the WIAC Championship. The Titans, who defeated the Falcons by scores of 69-62 and 68-45 during the regular season, also ousted UW-River Falls from the conference tournament by scores of 56-48 in last year's semifinal round and 65-64 in the 2016 title game.
Campbell added a game-high seven rebounds while leading the Titans in scoring for the 12th time this season, including 11 of the past 16 games.
Schneider recorded her ninth double-figure scoring effort of the season, shooting 8-for-10 at the free throw line, and tallied a game-high three steals.
Emma Melotik and Jaimee Pitt contributed eight points apiece for UW-Oshkosh, which also received seven points and six rebounds from Madeline Staples, seven points from Chloe Pustina, and five points, five rebounds, a game-high five assists and two blocks from Olivia Campbell.
UW-Oshkosh picked up the double-digit win despite shooting a season-low 28.8 percent (15-52) from the field. The Titans converted 28 of 38 free throws – both season highs – and committed just eight turnovers.
The Titans finished with advantages in rebounds (39-36), turnovers (12-8) and steals (8-3) while UW-River Falls had a 13-11 edge in assists and a 10-4 lead in blocks. UW-River Falls shot 36.8 percent (21-57) from the floor and made five of its six attempts from the free throw line as the Falcons committed 29 fouls while UW-Oshkosh was called for 15.
UW-Oshkosh entered the game leading the country with 10.6 turnovers per game while ranking fifth nationally with a 1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Titans were also pacing the conference in scoring (71.6), scoring defense (50.3), field goal percentage (.441) and average rebounding margin (+8.7).
UW-River Falls was limiting opponents to a league-leading .352 field goal percentage while shooting a WIAC-best .344 from 3-point range. The Falcons shot 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc Tuesday.
The Falcons' Taylor Karge led all players with 22 points on 10-for-18 shooting from the floor and four blocks.
Crystal Pearson chipped in 11 points and five rebounds off the UW-River Falls bench while Falcons starter Brynn Liljander had five points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Liljander, who went into the game averaging a WIAC-high 16.3 points per game, was held scoreless until the final 67 seconds of the third quarter.
UW-Oshkosh's 12-0 scoring run to start the game featured a string of five straight baskets, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Eliza Campbell and Emma Melotik. The Titans increased their lead to 21-2 at the 1:02 mark of the first quarter as the Falcons shot just 1-for-13 from the field and committed four turnovers during the opening nine minutes.
A pair of free throws from Schneider gave UW-Oshkosh its largest lead of 27 points at 38-11 with 2:03 remaining in the second period, and the Titans went into intermission with a 38-17 advantage.
Trailing 48-25 with 3:40 left in the third quarter, UW-River Falls scored 17 of the next 19 points, including nine from Karge, to close within 50-42 with 5:57 to play in the game. Liljander hit two free throws that cut the UW-River Falls deficit to 51-44 with 2:37 left before Olivia Campbell threaded a pass to Eliza Campbell, who absorbed a foul, hung in the air to make her layup off the backboard and converted the resulting free throw that gave the Titans a 10-point lead with 2:25 remaining.
Fourth-seeded UW-Eau Claire (18-8) defeated fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point (14-12), 56-53, in Tuesday's other WIAC Championship first round contest in Eau Claire. The Blugolds play at top-seeded UW-Whitewater (22-3) in the semifinal round on Thursday.
The winner of the WIAC Championship, which will be determined Saturday (Feb. 24), gains the league's automatic berth to the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship that begins March 2.
UW-Oshkosh, seeking its fourth WIAC Championship title in five years, owns a 23-12 record in 17 league tournament appearances. The Titans claimed conference tournament championships in 1999, 2014, 2015 and 2016.