Fourth-Quarter Rally Lifts Pioneers Past Titans

Maiah Domask had a game-high 18 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks to lead the UW-Platteville women's basketball team to a 74-68 win over UW-Oshkosh during the season opener Wednesday (Feb. 3) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh held a 57-50 lead with 8:07 remaining in the game after a Kennedy Osterman layup. However, UW-Platteville responded with seven of the next nine points to reclaim a 60-59 edge with 5:37 to go. Leah Porath provided the Titans their final lead at 66-64 with an offensive rebound and layup at the 1:48 mark, but the Pioneers reclaimed a 67-66 advantage they would not relinquish on Taylor Gilbert's 3-pointer with 84 seconds to go.

Following a pair of UW-Oshkosh turnovers on consecutive possessions, Domask completed a three-point play and made a pair of free throws to extend UW-Platteville's lead to 72-66 with 35 seconds remaining. Domask, who finished the game shooting 7-for-16 from the field and 4 of 4 at the free throw line, accounted for 12 points and seven of the Pioneer's 10 rebounds during the final period.

Gilbert added 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor off the Pioneer bench. Starter Caitlyn Tipton chipped in 13 points for UW-Platteville.

Porath led the Titans with 16 points, including 11 in the second half.

Jenna Jorgensen contributed a career-high 11 points for UW-Oshkosh, which also received 10 points and a team-leading five rebounds from Osterman in her collegiate debut.

Karsyn Rueth had eight points for the Titans while Nikki Arneson and Julia Silloway added seven and six, respectively. UW-Oshkosh starter Abby Kaiser collected four points, a team-best four assists and led all players with four steals.

UW-Platteville shot 51 percent (26-51) from the field, 44.4 percent (4-9) from 3-point range and 78.3 percent (18-23) at the free throw line. The Pioneers owned advantages of 44-27 in rebounds and 4-1 in blocks.

UW-Oshkosh went 26 of 68 (38.2 percent) from the floor, 7-for-25 (28 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc and 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) at the foul line. The Titans, who led the NCAA Division III in 2019-20 with 11.9 turnovers per game, owned edges of 13-10 in assists, 7-18 in turnovers and 10-4 in steals.

Neither team led by more than four points the entire first half as the score was tied at 14 after the first quarter and UW-Oshkosh took a 33-29 advantage into intermission following Porath's three-point play with 28 seconds to go in the second period.

A pair of Porath free throws extended the Titan lead to 42-35 at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter, but the Pioneers knotted the score at 43 less than three minutes later and again at 48 with 1:58 left in the period. Layups from Porath and Jorgensen gave UW-Oshkosh a 52-48 edge entering the final quarter before the Titans matched their largest lead of seven points at 57-50 following Osterman's basket in the lane with 8:07 to play.

UW-Platteville has now won two straight games against UW-Oshkosh since snapping a 15-game losing streak in the series with a 69-65 victory in Oshkosh on Jan. 29, 2020.

UW-Oshkosh, which set Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference records with 220 made 3-pointers and 669 3-point attempts last season, was playing its first game since winning a regional title March 7 and reaching the Division III Sweet 16 before the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to the novel coronavis pandemic. UW-Platteville had not competed since Feb. 22.

The Titans play at UW-Platteville on Friday (Feb. 5).

Postgame Interview (Ricky Nelson) With UW-Oshkosh Head Women's Basketball Coach Brad Fischer

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics