Titans End Non-Conference Agenda With Win Over Lady Lions

Olivia Campbell scored a season-high 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and recorded a pair of steals as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team defeated Penn State Altoona (Pa.), 86-40, on Saturday (Dec. 29) in Delaware, Ohio.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 19th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, took third place in Ohio Wesleyan University's Bishop Classic/Hoops For Hope Tournament by scoring its most points of the season in Saturday's game.

The Titans (10-1) opened the four-team tournament on Friday (Dec. 28) with a 63-57 loss to fifth-ranked Hope College (Mich.), which went on to win the event with a 73-44 victory over Ohio Wesleyan University in Saturday's championship game.

UW-Oshkosh trailed Penn State Altoona, 7-2, in the opening 2:22 of play, but scored 16 of the next 23 points to take an 18-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Titans blew the game open in the second quarter as they outscored their first-time opponent, 25-1. UW-Oshkosh forced eight turnovers in the period and held the Lady Lions (3-7) without a made field goal in 11 attempts. Campbell paced the Titans during the first two quarters with 11 points and five rebounds.

UW-Oshkosh increased its halftime lead of 43-15 to 64-25 by outscoring Penn State Altoona, 21-10, in the third quarter. The Titans owned a pair of 52-point leads (77-25 and 80-28) during the fourth quarter when it outscored the Lady Lions, 22-15.

Penn State Altoona was held to its lowest scoring performance since counting 35 points against Christopher Newport University (Va.) on Dec. 30, 2015. The Lady Lions entered Saturday's contest averaging 67.2 points.

UW-Oshkosh has held three other opponents under 41 points this season – Ripon College (32) on Nov. 17, Saint Mary's University (Minn.) (36) on Nov. 29 and Finlandia University (Mich.) (27) on Dec. 4.

Nikki Arneson scored 10 points with seven rebounds and Jessie Rabas 10 points with five rebounds as UW-Oshkosh's bench outscored Penn State Altoona, 54-2, while posting a 28-6 advantage in rebounds.

The Titans also received seven points off the bench from Brooke Freitag, Abby Kaiser, Emily Miller and Erin Vande Zande. Freitag also totaled eight assists and four steals and Miller seven rebounds and two steals.

Starter Leah Porath scored nine points with three rebounds and one steal.

The Titans grabbed their first lead of the day on Porath's layup with 53 seconds left in the first quarter, and she added another basket before the end of the period to give UW-Oshkosh a four-point advantage heading into the second quarter.

A Campbell layup at 7:37 of the second quarter helped UW-Oshkosh to its first double-digit lead of the game at 26-15 while a three-pointer and layup from Kaiser gave the Titans a 28-point advantage at halftime.

UW-Oshkosh shot 45.6 percent (31-68) from the field, 26.9 percent (7-25) from 3-point range and 81 percent (17-21) from the free throw line. The Titans converted 8 of 17 shots (47.1 percent) from the field during each of the final three quarters.

Penn State Altoona had shooting percentages of 28.6 (14-49) from the field, 17.6 (3-17) behind the 3-point arc and 50.0 (9-18) at the foul line.

UW-Oshkosh posted advantages over the Lady Lions in turnovers (12-23), assists (18-9) and rebounds (47-30). The Titans scored 31 points off Penn State Altoona turnovers.

Penn State Altoona's Alexis Cannistraci recorded a double-double in the contest by marking 15 points and 11 rebounds. She had eight points and seven rebounds in the first half.

The Lady Lions also obtained 14 points, six rebounds and three assists from Finnley Christine.

UW-Oshkosh's Rabas and Penn State Altoona's Cannistraci were named to the five-member all-tournament team.

UW-Oshkosh, which has now won 30 of its last 32 games played during the months of November and December, opens its 14-game WIAC schedule at UW-Platteville on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

Written by Ally Gwidt, UW-Oshkosh Sports Information