Titans Bounce Back In Fourth Quarter To Defeat Nationally Ranked Blugolds

The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team overcame a fourth-quarter deficit and pulled away for a 63-56 victory over nationally ranked UW-Eau Claire in a crossover matchup of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference division champions Wednesday (Feb. 24) in Kolf Sports Center.

League East Division champion UW-Oshkosh (6-1, 6-1 WIAC) trailed West Division winner UW-Eau Claire (6-1, 6-1), 45-40, entering the final period but rallied to reclaim the lead for good at 49-48 on an Abby Kaiser layup with 5:22 remaining. Kaiser followed with another layup for a 51-48 advantage, and the Titans put the game away on back-to-back 3-pointers from Nikki Arneson in the span of 33 seconds for a 58-51 lead at the 2:00 mark.

UW-Oshkosh, which eked past UW-Eau Claire by a 52-50 score in the 2020 WIAC Championship final, has won 10 of the last 13 meetings between the teams. The Titans extended their winning streak to six games since a setback in the season opener to UW-Platteville.

UW-Eau Claire, ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, had its six-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday's battle that featured the top two scoring offenses and defenses in the WIAC.

Arneson and Karsyn Rueth led UW-Oshkosh with 13 points apiece while Leah Porath added 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Arneson scored seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter. Rueth shot 4-for-11 from 3-point range and collected five rebounds.

Kaiser and Kennedy Osterman both chipped in seven points for the Titans, who also received six points from Jenna Jorgensen. Kaiser and Julia Silloway dished out a team-leading four assists. Osterman registered a game-high three steals. Jorgensen, the WIAC leader with a .564 field goal percentage, went 2-for-4 from beyond the 3-point arc Wednesday.

UW-Oshkosh shot 22 of 52 (42.3 percent) from the field, 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc and 9-for-17 (52.9 percent) at the free throw line. The Titans owned advantages of 14-11 in assists, 9-10 in turnovers and 6-4 in steals.

The Blugolds' Jessie Ruden paced all players with 16 points, going 6-for-16 from the field and recording three assists.

Ellie Clayton and Katie Essen contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, for UW-Eau Claire, which also received a game-best nine rebounds and three blocks from Jade Ganski.

UW-Eau Claire was held to 35.7 percent (20-56) shooting from the floor and 29.6 percent (8-27) from 3-point range while going 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) at the foul line. The Blugolds held edges of 34-32 in rebounds and 5-3 in blocks.

UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a layup and a 3-pointer by Osterman and maintained an advantage until the 4:03 mark of the third quarter. The teams combined to shoot 1-for-15 from 3-point range and 10 of 13 from inside the arc during an opening period in which the Titans outscored the Blugolds, 16-10.

The Titans went on to shoot 6-for-8 from 3-point range during the second quarter, extending their lead to 34-24 following a long-distance jumper from Jorgensen with 42 seconds left in the period before settling for a 34-25 advantage at intermission.

UW-Oshkosh built its largest lead of 11 points at 36-25 on a Porath layup early in the third quarter, but UW-Eau Claire responded with 12 unanswered points over the next five minutes to claim its first advantage at 37-36 on a pair of Clayton free throws with 4:03 to go in the third period. Ruden later buried a 3-pointer that provided the Blugolds with their largest cushion at 45-40 with three seconds to play in the third quarter.

Rueth hit her fourth and final 3-pointer of the game to pull UW-Oshkosh even at 45-45 early in the final quarter before Courtney Crouch drilled a 3-pointer of her own to give the Blugolds their last lead at 48-45.

UW-Oshkosh went into the night ranked first in the conference in scoring defense (57.0), per-game assists (12.67) and steals (11.0), made 3-pointers (48) and average turnover margin (+6.50) while ranking second to UW-Eau Claire in scoring (72.2) and field goal percentage (.445).

UW-Eau Claire entered Wednesday leading the WIAC in scoring (78.8), field goal (.456) and free throw (.854) percentages and blocks per game (5.0). The Blugolds were second in the league by allowing 60.5 points per contest.

UW-Oshkosh concludes the regular season at UW-Eau Claire on Friday (Feb. 26).

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

Karsyn Rueth's UW-Oshkosh Senior Day Video

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics • Senior Day Video by Ashlynn Schreiner, UW-Oshkosh Athletics