Chloe Pustina scored 14 points with six rebounds and four assists against the Thunder.
Chloe Pustina scored 14 points with six rebounds and four assists against the Thunder.

Titans Break Away From Thunder In Second Half

Chloe Pustina tied her career high with 14 points as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team defeated Wheaton College (Ill.), 57-48, on Saturday (Dec. 8) in Wheaton, Ill.

UW-Oshkosh (7-0) remained undefeated after holding Wheaton College (5-3) to its lowest scoring performance since the Thunder tallied 44 points against Carthage College on Feb. 1, 2017.

UW-Oshkosh has now won four of its seven matchups with Wheaton College, with its previous victory being a 65-53 decision over the Thunder on Dec. 10, 2016.

The Titans, who rank 25th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, led Wheaton College, 26-25, at intermission and outscored the Thunder, 31-23, in the second half to hold their sixth consecutive opponent under 49 points.

UW-Oshkosh held the Thunder without a double-figure scorer while the Titans recorded three, including a double-double from Melanie Schneider. Schneider recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Pustina added six rebounds and four assists to her 14-point performance while Erin Vande Zande had a career-high tying 10 points off the Titan bench. Vande Zande made a pair of 3-pointers, the first two of her career.

UW-Oshkosh's Olivia Campbell scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds while leading the Titans with five assists. 

Brooklyn Bull had eight points and two steals for the Titans while Jessie Rabas had three points and two rebounds.

UW-Oshkosh shot 38.9 percent (21-54) from the field, including 34.8 percent (8-23) from the 3-point arc, and 63.6 percent (7-11) at the free throw line.

UW-Oshkosh held the Thunder to its lowest field goal percentage since the 2014-15 season as Wheaton College shot 26.4 percent (14 of 53) from the floor. The Thunder also shot 28.6 percent (4-14) behind the 3-point line and 76.2 percent (16-21) at the free throw stripe.

The Titans outrebounded the Thunder, 42-33, while recording 12 assists to Wheaton College's eight.

The Thunder held the Titans to their lowest scoring performance of the season while owning advantages in turnovers (9-14) and steals (5-4).

UW-Oshkosh and Wheaton College opened the game with five-point scoring runs to create a 5-5 tie with 4:37 left in the first quarter. The teams swapped points the remainder of the period as UW-Oshkosh ended the first quarter with a 12-10 lead.

The Titans exchanged the lead with the Thunder on eight of 13 scoring possessions while getting outscored in the second quarter, 15-14. UW-Oshkosh took a 26-25 lead to intermission following a Schneider free throw with less than a second left in the period.

UW-Oshkosh scored the first eight points of the third quarter and took a 34-25 lead on a basket by Leah Porath with 7:29 left in the period. The Thunder ended its scoreless drought and made the score 34-27 on a layup by Jordan Myroth at the 6:22 mark.

The Titans went on to outscore the Thunder, 19-10, in the third quarter and take a 45-35 lead into the final period.

UW-Oshkosh built its largest lead of 14 points at 57-43 on a 3-pointer by Pustina with 3:12 to go. The Titans went scoreless the rest of the contest as the Thunder went on to tally the final five points of the game.

All five Wheaton College starters scored six-plus points, including Jennifer Berg who led the Thunder with nine points and six rebounds.

The Titans are off until they travel to Miami, Fla., for games on Dec. 17 against Thiel College (Pa.) and Dec. 18 against Eastern University (Pa.).

Written by Ally Gwidt, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information

Photo courtesy of Steve Frommell, D3Photography.com