Titans Begin Florida Trip With Rout Of Tomcats

Nikki Arneson came off the bench and scored a career-high 11 points as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team defeated Thiel College (Pa.), 69-42, on Monday (Dec. 17) in Miami Shores, Fla.

Arneson achieved her scoring value by converting 4 of 6 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 attempts behind the 3-point arc. She also counted two assists, one rebound and one steal during her 16 minutes of action.

A total of 13 Titans scored against the Tomcats (2-7), including Arneson and seven other reserves who combined to give UW-Oshkosh (8-0) a 45-8 advantage in bench points.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, held Thiel College to its lowest scoring performance since the Tomcats tallied 42 points against Thomas More College (Ky.) on Dec. 3, 2016.

The Titans trailed Thiel College, 11-4, before scoring 20 straight points to take a 24-11 lead with six seconds left in the first quarter. The Tomcats' Alivia Sidley banked in a 3-point shot at the horn to cut their deficit to 24-14 at the end of the opening period.  

UW-Oshkosh never trailed the remainder of the contest as the Titans owned scoring advantages in every quarter and held their largest lead of 27 points (69-42) with 10 seconds to play. The Titans have now held their last seven opponents under 49 points.

Erin Vande Zande posted nine points and three rebounds off the UW-Oshkosh bench while reserve Jessie Rabas had five points and a team-leading seven rebounds. Starter Chloe Pustina scored eight points for UW-Oshkosh while also totaling three rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocks.

UW-Oshkosh's Katie Ludwig and Karsyn Rueth both scored seven points while Melanie Schneider scored five points and grabbed five rebounds. Ludwig led the Titans with a career-best six assists and three steals.

The Titans held the Tomcats to just five scorers, including a double-digit performance from Jess Vormelker who led both teams in scoring points with 20.

Both teams totaled 37 rebounds, but UW-Oshkosh owned the advantages in assists (20-8) and turnovers (15-24). The Titans rank 10th in the NCAA Division III with a 1.25 assist-to-turnover ratio.

UW-Oshkosh shot 45.6 percent (26-57) from the field, including 39.3 percent (11-28) behind the 3-point arc, and 50 percent (6-12) at the free throw line. The Titans made nine of their first 10 shots from the field, including all four 3-point attempts.

Thiel College shot 28.8 percent (15-52) from the floor, 41.2 percent (7-17) from the 3-point area and 62.5 percent (5-8) from the free throw stripe.

UW-Oshkosh conclude its brief two-game trip to Miami Shores with Tuesday's (Dec. 18) contest against Eastern University (Pa.).

Written by Ally Gwidt, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information