Titans Give 25th-Ranked Pointers A Test

Britta Petersen tallied a game-high 16 points, including the tying basket during a 15-3 run, to lift UW-Stevens Point to a 51-47 victory over the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team on Wednesday (Jan. 6) in Stevens Point.

The Pointers (9-3/2-2 WIAC) trailed 35-30 with 12:37 to play after UW-Oshkosh's Dannielle Bauer (Jr. • Dell Rapids, S.D.) sank a jump shot. Petersen then kicked off the scoring streak with a jump shot of her own before equaling the value at 38 on another bucket with 9:20 to play.

UW-Oshkosh (5-8/0-4 WIAC) didn't lead again as UW-Stevens Point marked the game's next seven points. Cassie Bandow made a jump shot to give the lead to the Pointers, who entered the game ranked 25th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com. Bandow then swished a three-point shot with 5:27 remaining to give UW-Stevens Point a 45-38 advantage.

Heidi Baerenwald (So. • Appleton) pulled the Titans within five points (45-40) on her lay-up at the 4:19 mark, but the Pointers quickly built a 49-40 advantage with just over two minutes to play. UW-Oshkosh saw its three-game winning streak come to an end with the defeat.

UW-Stevens Point started the contest with a 14-6 scoring run, taking an 8-2 advantage just 4:24 into play on a lay-up by Brittni Buechel. Two free throws from Baerenwald cut the Titans' deficit to four points (8-4), but a three-point basket by Ashley Averkamp sparked the Pointers to a 14-6 lead with 11:41 left on the first-half clock.

A three-point basket and a jump shot from Katie Kitzke (Fr. • South Milwaukee) midway through the first period started a 19-2 scoring run for the Titans. The scoring spurt featured a Megan Wenig (Fr. • Oshkosh) lay-up that tied the score at 16 with 6:50 to play before the break.

The Titans scored the next nine points in taking a 25-16 advantage on Shelby Churchill's (Jr. • Sheboygan) lay-up. Churchill was the fifth different UW-Oshkosh player to score during the streak of 11 unanswered points. The Pointers closed the period with the final six points to cut the Titans' lead to 25-22 at intermission.

UW-Oshkosh's Baerenwald tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Kitzke, who scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, pitched in a career-high 16 points.

UW-Stevens Point was paced by the 16 points of Petersen and the 10 points and three assists of Andrea Flease. The Pointers gathered 32 rebounds, led by Ashley Windt's six.

UW-Oshkosh shot 38.1 percent (16-42) from the field, 63.2 percent (12-19) from the free-throw line and 42.9 percent (3-7) beyond the three-point arc. The Titans had 35 rebounds, including six by Churchill.

UW-Stevens Point shot 35.3 percent (18-51) from the field and 72.2 percent (13-18) from the charity stripe. The Pointers made 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) three-point shots.

UW-Oshkosh visits UW-Superior on Saturday (Dec. 9).