Porath Chosen As WIAC Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award Winner

UW-Oshkosh senior guard Leah Porath was named the 2022 recipient of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Judy Kruckman Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Award.

Porath is the fifth Titan to earn the honor, joining Kay Mikolajczak in 2004, Megan Wenig in 2013, Eliza Campbell in 2018 and Chloe Pustina in 2019.

Porath, a major in both supply chain management and marketing, owns a 3.67 cumulative grade-point average. She is a four-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and been recognized on UW-Oshkosh's Dean's List twice and the school's academic Honor Roll on seven occasions.

Porath, was who named the WIAC's Player of the Year in 2020 and 2021, recently received all-league First Team accolades for the third consecutive season. The New London High School graduate is the sixth player in program history to make the All-WIAC First Team three times, joining Lisa Kirchenwitz (1988-89, 1991), Amy Wing (1993-95), Wendy Wangerin (1993-96), Taylor Schmidt (2015-17) and Campbell (2016-18).

Porath leads the Titans this season with 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game to go along with a .471 field goal percentage. Porath, a 2021 consensus First Team All-American, ranks second in the conference with a .403 3-point percentage, fifth in scoring, sixth in both rebounding and field goal percentage, and eighth with 1.3 made 3-pointers per contest.

Porath, who ranks fifth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,346 career points, has scored at least eight points in her last 69 games played that have featured 63 double-digit scoring performances. She has season highs of 28 points against Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) on Nov. 12 and 13 rebounds versus Carthage College on Dec. 30. UW-Oshkosh has compiled a 95-28 record and claimed two WIAC regular season and three league tournament championships during Porath's five seasons as a Titan.

Porath's career totals also feature 535 rebounds, 171 assists, 106 made 3-pointers and 95 steals in 111 games, including 81 as a starter.

Off the court, Porath has volunteered with the Oshkosh Celebration of Lights and the Fondy Food Pantry in Fond du Lac. She has served internships with Rhino Tool House and Amcor.

UW-Oshkosh (19-6), which advanced to the WIAC Tournament semifinals, earned one of 20 at-large berths into the NCAA Division III Championship. The Titans, making their third straight and seventh NCAA postseason appearance in the past eight tournaments, play Wisconsin Lutheran College (23-1) in the Indianola Regional opener Friday (March 4) in Indianola, Iowa.

The nominees for this year's WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award also included UW-Eau Claire's Ellie Clayton, UW-River Falls' Jenna Zeman, UW-Stout's Elizabeth Olsem and UW-Whitewater's Johanna Taylor.

The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is named after Judy Kruckman, who served as assistant commissioner for the WIAC from 1996-98. She was also the commissioner of the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1984-96. She was inducted into the WIAC Hall of Fame in 2012.

To be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.50 grade point average. In addition, she must be in her last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years. The award is based on academic achievements, athletics accomplishments and involvement in other campus activities, organizations, and community service projects.