Titans To Host Eagles In Second Round Of WIAC Tournament
Three-time defending champion UW-Oshkosh begins play in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament (presented by Culver's) at home against UW-La Crosse on Monday (Feb. 21). Tipoff for the tournament's second round matchup is set for 7 p.m. in Kolf Sports Center.
Fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh (18-5), which has won 16 consecutive home games and 10 straight league postseason contests, swept the regular season series against fifth-seeded UW-La Crosse (14-11), downing the Eagles, 55-49, Dec. 4 in Kolf Sports Center before earning a 59-57 double overtime victory in La Crosse on Feb. 12.
UW-La Crosse defeated eighth-seeded UW-Platteville (10-15), 57-44, in the first round of the conference tournament on Monday (Feb. 18) in La Crosse.
Last year UW-Oshkosh clinched its league record-tying seventh WIAC Tournament title with a resounding 74-58 home win over UW-Whitewater. The championship was the Titans' sixth in the past eight seasons. UW-Oshkosh has made an unprecedented eight consecutive conference tournament finals appearances.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking to replicate the historic path to its title of two years ago, when the Titans became the first fourth-seeded team to reach the WIAC tournament championship game. UW-Oshkosh went on to secure the 2020 league postseason title with a 52-50 victory at third-seeded UW-Eau Claire after winning at top-seeded UW-Whitewater during the semifinals.
Monday's other WIAC Tournament second round game features third-seeded UW-Eau Claire (18-7) hosting seventh-seeded UW-River Falls (12-12). The Falcons won their first round game by an 82-79 score in double overtime at sixth-seeded UW-Stevens Point (11-11).
The conference tournament continues with the semifinals Wednesday (Feb. 23) as top-seeded UW-Whitewater (22-3) hosts the lowest remaining seed and second-seeded UW-Stout (13-10) welcomes the highest remaining seed. UW-Whitewater is ranked seventh in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com.
The WIAC Tournament final will be contested Friday (Feb. 25). The winner of the tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the Division III Championship that commences March 4.
UW-Oshkosh enters the conference tournament averaging 63.3 points per game and ranked 13th in the country by allowing a league-best 49.6 points per contest. The Titans, who have held 12 opponents under 50 points this season, also pace the nation with 10.7 turnovers per game.
Eight different Titans are averaging better than three points and 15 minutes per game on the year.
Leah Porath leads a balanced UW-Oshkosh offense at 14.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Porath, a 2021 consensus First Team All-American and two-time reigning WIAC Player of the Year, ranks fifth on the program's scoring list with 1,315 career points and has scored at least eight points in each of her past 67 games played.
Nikki Arneson is scoring 12.3 points per game for UW-Oshkosh, which also receives 8.9 points per contest from Jenna Jorgensen, 6.1 from Julia Silloway, 6.0 by Abby Kaiser, 4.7 from Brooke Freitag, 3.8 by Ava Douglas and Kayce Vaile, and 3.4 from Kennedy Osterman.
Arneson is shooting a WIAC-best 43% from 3-point range while leading the team with 43 made 3-pointers. Jorgensen paces the squad with an 80% free throw percentage and 11 blocks, Kaiser has a team-leading .483 field goal percentage and 42 steals, and Silloway has dished out a team-high 44 assists.
UW-La Crosse enters the second round of the league tournament averaging 61.6 points scored and 54.4 points allowed per contest while leading the WIAC with a +5.8 average rebounding margin. The Eagles, who were ousted by UW-Oshkosh in the 2021 conference postseason semifinals, are seeking their first road win in the WIAC Tournament since the event debuted in 1999.
Emma Gamoke is UW-La Crosse's lone double-digit scorer at 11.6 points per game to go along with a team-high 52 made 3-pointers and an .897 free throw percentage.
Kyah Steiner chips in 7.2 points per contest for the Eagles, followed by Paige Schumann at 7.0, Lexie Higgins at 6.3, Carly Coulthart at 5.7, Lauryn Milne at 5.4 and Alana Gilles at 4.9. Steiner is knocking down 3-pointers at a .450 clip and shares the team lead with Higgins at 5.6 rebounds per game. Other team leaders include Schumann with 66 assists and 32 steals, and Coulthart with 17 blocks.
UW-Oshkosh has won three of its previous four WIAC Tournament meetings with UW-La Crosse. The Titans have bookended the 23 prior league tournaments with wins over the Eagles by a 66-49 score during the quarterfinals of the inaugural WIAC Tournament in 1999 and last season in the semifinals. UW-Oshkosh also bested UW-La Crosse, which has never hoisted the conference tournament trophy, in the 2018 semifinals since the Eagles defeated the Titans in the first round in 2011.
UW-Whitewater, the only team to defeat UW-Oshkosh in the conference tournament since 2013, currently leads the league in scoring at 72.7 points per game and trails only the Titans by yielding 54.3 points per contest. The Warhawks, who slipped past UW-Oshkosh in the 2017 and 2018 WIAC Tournament finals, also pace the league this season in average scoring margin (+18.4) as well as per-game rebounds (40.9), offensive boards (15.6), assists (15.0) and steals (13.8).
Aleah Grundahl headlines the Warhawks, averaging 16.6 points to go along with a WIAC-best .511 field goal percentage and 62 steals.
UW-Stout, which averages 68.0 points and surrenders 67.5 per game, is shooting a conference-leading 41.1% from the field this season.
The Blue Devils boast a trio of players averaging more than 11 points per game as Raegan Sorensen and Amanda Giesen score 12.5 per contest and Anna Mutch adds 11.1. Mutch and Giesen both rank second in the conference with 68 assists and a .498 field goal percentage, respectively.
UW-Eau Claire averages 65.9 points and allows 57.2 per game. The Blugolds, who rank second nationally with 157 blocks and 11.2 turnovers per contest, also lead the WIAC in opponent field goal percentage (.345) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.11).
The Blugolds' Jessie Ruden paces the WIAC in scoring at 18.2 points per game in addition to an .820 free throw percentage and 72 made 3-pointers. Jade Ganski is the Division III leader with 91 blocks for UW-Eau Claire.
UW-River Falls, which has made a league-best 201 3-pointers at a WIAC-leading 33.6% clip, averages 64.6 points and yields 67.5 per game. The Falcons' win Monday was their first in the league tournament since 2017.
Five Falcons have connected on at least 23 3-pointers this season, including leading scorer and rebounder Macy Nilsen, who has drilled 47 shots from beyond the arc en route to averaging 14.7 points, 5.7 boards and 1.5 steals on the year. Jenna Zeman has added 12.8 points per game and a team-best 62 assists for UW-River Falls.
UW-Oshkosh sports a 29-13 record in the WIAC postseason. The Titans lead the league in conference tournament wins, championships and finals appearances. UW-Oshkosh, which has advanced to the championship game 13 times in 23 years, and UW-Stevens Point are tied with seven conference tournament titles.
UW-Stevens Point won its last WIAC Tournament title in 2013 to cap a string of six consecutive championships. UW-Stout is next with four league tournament titles, followed by UW-Eau Claire with three and UW-Whitewater two.
Ticket prices for Monday's game are $7 for adults, $4 for senior citizens (62-plus) and $3 for students (K-College). Children ages 5 and under are free.