Second-Quarter Surge Leads Titans To Rout Of Red Hawks

Brooke Freitag paced 11 UW-Oshkosh scorers with a career high tying 13 points as the nationally ranked Titans cruised to an 87-37 women's basketball victory over Ripon College on Monday (Dec. 20) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (8-2), ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, produced one of its best defensive performances in years, creating 24 Ripon College turnovers and collecting 15 steals while limiting the Red Hawks to 26.2% (11-42) shooting from the field. The 15 steals are the Titans' most since recording 17 in an 86-40 rout over Pennsylvania State University Altoona on Dec. 29, 2018.

Playing for the first time since Dec. 4, the reigning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Titans outscored defending Midwest Conference champion Ripon College, 22-4, during the second quarter, 28-14 in the third period and 20-7 during the fourth to hand the Red Hawks their largest defeat since at least the 2002-03 campaign.

The win was UW-Oshkosh's 11th consecutive at home and 10th straight in the series with Ripon College. The Titans have now held seven of their 10 opponents this season to less than 50 points.

Freitag went 4-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-5 at the free throw line to equal a career scoring best originally established Feb. 19, 2020, against UW-Whitewater. Freitag added three assists and three steals in 18 minutes off the bench.

UW-Oshkosh, which had its best scoring effort of the year, featured four double digit scorers, including Nikki Arneson and Jenna Jorgensen with 12 points apiece and Ava Douglas with 10. Jorgensen, who shot 4-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range, scored in double figures for the first time this season while Douglas also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. Arneson went 5-for-7 from the floor and 1-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc after entering the night ranked third in the nation with a .512 3-point percentage.

Abby Kaiser and Leah Porath had nine points apiece for the Titans, who also received a season high eight points from Julia Magnuson, a career best six points from Allison Forney, four points from Kayce Vaile, and two points apiece from Kennedy Osterman and Julia Silloway. No Titan played more than 20 minutes Monday.

Porath, a 2021 First Team All-American, grabbed a game high eight rebounds and moved into 13th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,147 career points. Kaiser registered a career best six steals.

UW-Oshkosh shot 50.7% (34-67) from the floor, 30.8% (8-26) from 3-point range and 61.1% (11-18) at the foul line. The Titans owned advantages of 38-30 in rebounds, 14-5 in offensive boards, 19-4 in assists, 7-24 in turnovers, 15-2 in steals and 2-1 in blocks. UW-Oshkosh went into Monday ranked second nationally at 10.8 turnovers per game and eighth by allowing just 48.4 points per contest. The Titans' 34 made field goals are their most since also connecting on 34 during a 93-46 win at Finlandia University (Mich.) on Dec. 2, 2017.

Ripon College went 11 of 42 (.262) from the field, 2-for-15 (.133) from beyond the 3-point arc and 13 of 14 (.929) at the free throw line. The Red Hawks, who were held to their lowest scoring output of the year, allowed an opponent to shoot better than 50% from the floor for the first time this season.

Anna Fahrney led the Red Hawks with seven points off the bench.

The Red Hawks led by as many as three points during the first quarter, jumping out to an 8-5 edge at the 6:00 mark before knotting the score at 12 with 2:35 remaining in the first period. However, UW-Oshkosh reclaimed the lead for good at 14-12 following a Douglas layup with 2:07 left during the opening quarter.

Ripon College (4-8) did not make a field goal between the 6:00 mark of the first quarter and the 7:28 mark of the second period, going 0-for-6 from the floor and committing five turnovers during the stretch as UW-Oshkosh built a 26-12 lead. The Red Hawks went on to commit nine turnovers and attempt six field goals during the second period while the Titans committed just one turnover and drained three 3-pointers in the second quarter en route to extending their lead to 39-16 at intermission.

The Red Hawks were then limited to 27.3% (3-11) shooting from the field in the third quarter and 25% (3-12) during the fourth period while UW-Oshkosh went 10 of 15 (.667) from the floor in the third and 9-for-17 (.529) during the fourth.

The Titans went on to lead by at least 11 points for the last 28:25 on the contest and by 30 or more for the final 16:31. UW-Oshkosh owned its largest cushion of 52 points at 87-35 after a Freitag layup with 38 seconds to play.

UW-Oshkosh plays Lawrence University on Tuesday (Dec. 21) in Appleton.