Pioneers Protect Home Court In Win Over Titans

UW-Platteville broke open a close game with seven unanswered points during a 54-46 win over the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team on Wednesday (Feb. 3) in Platteville.

An Ashley Winterfeldt (Fr. • Hortonville) tip-in pulled UW-Oshkosh (7-14/2-10 WIAC) within two (42-40) with 5:03 left in the game. Ashley Wolf answered for the Pioneers a short time later, starting the streak at the 4:49 mark with a lay-up.

UW-Platteville (11-9/4-7 WIAC) extended its cushion to 47-40 on a three-point play from Liz Lawinger. The Pioneers later pushed the lead to nine with a pair of free throws by Charity Stotmeister with 3:17 remaining.

Katie Kitzke (Fr. • South Milwaukee) swished a pair of shots from the free-throw stripe to bring the Titans back within seven, but Stacia Nemitz made a long trey for a 52-42 Pioneer advantage with 2:50 to go. UW-Oshkosh finished with just one field goal during the final 8:50 of play.

The Pioneers had the hot hand early on, taking a 6-2 lead with Stotmeister's lay-up at the 15:50 mark. A short time later, Kelsey Myklebust (So. • Wisconsin Dells) swished a jumper, pulling UW-Oshkosh to an 8-6 deficit.

Wolf answered for UW-Platteville on a three-pointer with 13:37 remaining in the opening half, building the cushion back to five (11-6). Soon after, Kitzke drained a long jumper to cut the Pioneers' lead to 11-9.

Michelle Boeder (Jr. • Oshkosh) knotted the game, 11-11, with two free throws at the 11:45 mark of the opening half. The Titans then earned their first lead of the game thanks to Dannielle Bauer (Jr. • Dell Rapids, S.D.), who converted a lay-up.

Brittany Brown put the Pioneers up, 16-15, when her jumper found the bottom of the net. Kaitlyn Pustina extended the cushion to three when she tipped-in her own miss at the 7:56 mark.

Following ties at 18 and 20, UW-Platteville gained a 22-21 lead when Wolf knocked down a jumper. The Titans answered with Megan Wenig (Fr. • Oshkosh), who made a lay-up for the 23-22 halftime advantage.

Stotmeister scored four of the first six points in the second half as UW-Platteville earned a 28-23 lead at the 16:33 mark. Wenig and Kitzke each responded from downtown, while Shelby Churchill (Jr. • Sheboygan) made two free throws for a 31-28 Titan lead.

The teams traded baskets for a stretch, until the Pioneers got a three-point play from Wolf with 9:30 remaining for a 38-36 cushion. Stotmeister then knocked down a jumper at the 8:52 mark for a 40-36 UW-Platteville advantage. After a lay-up from Boeder cut the Pioneers lead in half (40-38), Lawinger pitched in a lay-up with 5:35 to go.

Kitzke led UW-Oshkosh with 10 points to mark her 11th consecutive game in double figures. Wenig tallied eight points and four assists, while Bauer added eight points. The Titans got seven points and a career-high 19 boards from Churchill.

UW-Platteville was led by Stotmeister's 18 points, six rebounds and three assists. In addition, Wolf tallied 15 points and Nemitz scored eight.

UW-Oshkosh posted shooting marks of 36.4 percent (16-44) from the field, 29.4 percent (5-17) from behind the three-point line and 81.8 percent (9-11) from the free-throw stripe. The Titans gathered 41 rebounds and committed 29 turnovers.

UW-Platteville shot 21-of-55 (38.2 percent) from the field and 50 percent (8-16) from the charity stripe. The Pioneers made 4-of-15 from three-point range (26.7 percent) while corralling 24 rebounds and committing 11 turnovers.

The Titans travel to UW-Stout on Saturday (Feb. 6).