Titans Oust Defending Conference Champion In Overtime

Leah Porath scored each of UW-Oshkosh's first 11 points and finished with a game-high 25 to lift the Titans women's basketball team to a 74-68 overtime victory at UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Feb. 10).

UW-Oshkosh owned a 61-57 lead with 97 seconds remaining in regulation following a pair of Porath free throws, but UW-Whitewater knotted the score at 61 on a Johanna Taylor jump hook with 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Titans then missed a 3-pointer, corralled the offensive rebound and committed a turnover on the ensuing possession. However, UW-Whitewater's Emily Schumacher misfired on a 19-foot jumper at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Porath drained a long, contested fadeaway jumper to tie the game at 63 early in the extra session before Karsyn Rueth provided the Titans the lead for good at 65-63 on a pair of free throws with 3:47 left. Porath's initial overtime basket ended a string of 37 consecutive UW-Oshkosh points via either a 3-pointer or a free throw, spanning from the 4:11 mark of the second period until there was 4:04 left in the game.

A Nikki Arneson layup extended the UW-Oshkosh lead to 67-63, Rueth's 3-pointer upped the cushion to 70-65 and a Porath leaning jumper later gave the Titans a 72-67 advantage with 19 seconds to go.

UW-Oshkosh, the two-time defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion, and reigning league regular season winner UW-Whitewater are now tied atop the WIAC East Division standings with 2-1 records. The Titans, who bounced the Warhawks from last season's WIAC Championship semifinals with an 81-65 victory in Whitewater en route to reaching the NCAA Division III Sweet 16, have won four of the last five meetings between the teams.

Porath, the 2020 WIAC Player of the Year, shot 9-for-16 from the field and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Rueth added 14 points, shooting 4-for-7 from 3-point range while grabbing five rebounds and collecting a game-best four steals off the UW-Oshkosh bench.

Arneson went 9-for-10 at the free throw line and finished with 11 points for the Titans, who also received eight points and seven rebounds from Kennedy Osterman, and six points apiece from Jenna Jorgensen and Abby Kaiser. UW-Oshkosh's Julia Silloway chipped in three points, seven boards and a game-leading six assists.

UW-Oshkosh shot 35.7 percent (20-56) from the field, 29.6 percent (8-27) from beyond the 3-point arc and 73.5 percent (25-34) at the free throw line. The Titans owned a 47-40 rebounding advantage.

UW-Whitewater went 24 of 69 (34.8 percent) from the floor, 3-for-23 (13 percent) from 3-point range and 17 of 23 (73.9 percent) at the foul line. The Warhawks, who entered the night allowing 50 points per game, held advantages of 11-10 in assists, 13-22 in turnovers, 11-9 in steals and 4-2 in blocks.

Aleah Grundahl paced UW-Whitewater with 15 points, a game-high nine rebounds and three steals.

Rebekah Schumacher had nine points for the Warhawks while Taylor, Veronica Kieres and Maggie Trautsch each contributed eight.

Porath made five of her first six field goal attempts, scoring on four layups ahead of a 3-pointer that gave UW-Oshkosh an 11-5 lead midway through the first quarter that ended tied at 18.

Jorgensen drilled a jumper that pulled the Titans within 27-24 with just over four minutes remaining in the second period. UW-Oshkosh proceeded to record its next 37 points in regulation on 22 made free throws and five 3-pointers.

The Titans turned a 37-33 deficit into a 41-37 lead during a span of 90 seconds in the third quarter, but the Warhawks answered with six straight points of their own to reclaim a 43-41 edge late in the period.

UW-Whitewater led by as many as seven points at 51-44 with nine minutes to play in regulation following an 8-1 scoring run. Silloway converted a pair of free throws to cut the UW-Oshkosh deficit to 55-53 with 4:33 left in the fourth quarter. Rueth then followed with a corner 3-pointer for a 56-55 Titan advantage, and Osterman hit a 3-pointer from the opposite corner for a 59-57 UW-Oshkosh edge with 2:07 left in regulation.

UW-Oshkosh hosts UW-Whitewater on Friday (Feb. 12) in Kolf Sports Center.

Photo courtesy of Megan Schetter, UW-Whitewater Athletics