Titans Suffer Overtime Loss To Blugolds

Teenie Lichtfuss and Madison Johnson combined for 37 points and 14 rebounds as the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team escaped with a 63-57 overtime victory over league-leading UW-Oshkosh on Saturday (Jan. 17) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh had an opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation, but the Titans missed the front end of a one-and-one attempt from the free throw line with four seconds left and then misfired on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to leave the score tied at 51.

In the extra session, UW-Eau Claire outscored UW-Oshkosh, 12-6, and held the Titans to just 2 of 9 shooting from the field. The Blugolds made five of their six overtime shots to hand UW-Oshkosh just its 13th loss in 72 games.

UW-Oshkosh took a 55-54 lead after two Taylor Schmidt free throws with 3:26 to play, but the Blugolds grabbed the lead for good on a layup by Johnson 19 second later. A layup by Eliza Campbell cut UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 58-57 with 2:20 left before UW-Eau Claire closed the game with layups by Johnson and Lichtfuss and a free throw by Abby Midtlien.

UW-Oshkosh (13-3, 5-2 WIAC) fell into a tie with UW-Eau Claire (10-6, 5-2 WIAC) for second place in the league standings. UW-Superior (11-6, 6-2 WIAC) moved back into first place with a 76-74 win over UW-Stout on Saturday.

Lichtuss made 8 of 14 shots from the field and both free throws to finish the game with 20 points. She also collected six rebounds and assisted on four baskets. Johnson played 32 minutes off the bench and totaled 17 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. She shot 6 of 11 from the field and 3 of 5 from the free throw line.

The Titans made three of their first four 3-point attempts and never trailed in the first half. UW-Oshkosh built leads of 15-6 with 14:01 left in the first half and 17-8 at the 12:27 mark. The Blugolds later used an 11-2 run to tie the score at 19 with 7:22 to play in the opening period.

Jumpers by Marissa Selner and Alex Richard put the Titans back on top, 23-19, and UW-Oshkosh held a 29-25 advantage at halftime.

UW-Oshkosh went up 32-25 after a free throw and a jumper by Ashley Neustifter with 17:47 remaining in the second half. The Blugolds took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Lichtfuss at the 10:48 mark and increased their margin to 40-37 on a layup by Arien Becker midway through the period.

The Titans answered with a 10-2 run over the next four and a half minutes to reclaim a 47-42 advantage with 5:28 to go. However, UW-Eau Claire scored the next seven points to take a 49-47 lead with 3:12 remaining.

A layup by Selner knotted the score at 49 with 2:42 left in the second half, but Lichtfuss answered with a layup on the next Blugold possession. Two free throws by Morgan Kokta tied the score for the sixth and final time at 51 with 2:02 remaining.

UW-Eau Claire missed two free throws at the 1:48 mark before the teams traded turnovers on three consecutive possessions. UW-Oshkosh then secured the rebound after a missed Blugold layup with 10 seconds remaining.

Schmidt led UW-Oshkosh with 12 points. Selner had 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Campbell added 10 points and four rebounds. Neustifter contributed nine points, five rebounds and a game-high three steals.

UW-Oshkosh struggled shooting the basketball as it posted percentages of just 34.9 (22-63) from the field, 14.3 (3-21) from behind the 3-point line and 58.8 (10-17) from the free throw stripe. The Titans ended the contest missing their last 17 3-point shots, including four in overtime.

UW-Eau Claire shot 44.8 percent (26-58) from the field, 30.8 percent (4-13) from 3-point range and 46.7 percent (7-15) from the free throw line.

The game featured just 20 turnovers, with nine belonging to UW-Oshkosh.

UW-Oshkosh, which entered Saturday's game ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, travels to UW-La Crosse on Wednesday (Jan. 21).