Warhawks' Rally Back To Defeat Titans
UW-Whitewater overcame two second-half deficits with long scoring runs to pull out a 68-66 victory over the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team on Wednesday (Feb. 18) in Oshkosh.
Trailing 55-45 with 8:02 to play, the Warhawks scored 11 unanswered points to take a 56-55 lead with 4:40 remaining. UW-Whitewater made 7 of 9 shots from the floor during the run that was capped by a 3-pointer from Reilly Stewart.
UW-Oshkosh reclaimed a 58-56 advantage after a free throw by Katelyn Kuehl and a jumper by Morgan Kokta with 3:27 left. Stewart's two free throws tied the game at 58, but Kuehl responded with a layup on the next possession for the Titans' last lead at 60-58 with 2:46 remaining.
UW-Whitewater then scored seven straight points to take the lead for good. Brooke Trewyn banked in an 18-foot jumper to tie it at 60 before Warhawk Andrea Meinert converted 1 of 2 free throws for a 61-60 score at the 1:40 mark. Following a missed 3-pointer by UW-Oshkosh, a Trewyn layup put UW-Whitewater ahead, 63-60, with 57 seconds to play. Meinert secured a rebound off of a missed layup by the Titans and made two free throws for a 65-60 lead with 37 seconds left.
The Titans got within 66-64 on an Ashley Neustifter jumper with 11 second to go, but UW-Whitewater's Malia Smith made two free throws for a 68-64 advantage with 10 seconds left. UW-Oshkosh's Alicia Tollefson scored the last points of the contest on a layup with two seconds on the clock.
UW-Whitewater (12-12, 7-8 WIAC), which has won five of its last six games against UW-Oshkosh, moved into a three-way tie for fourth place in the WIAC standings. UW-Oshkosh (19-5, 11-4 WIAC) fell to second place with one game remaining. UW-Superior (18-6, 12-3 WIAC) clinched at least a share of the league title with its 67-58 win over UW-Stout on Wednesday.
UW-Oshkosh scored seven consecutive points to take a 13-6 lead with 14:57 remaining in the first half. A free throw by Marissa Selner gave the Titans a 7-6 edge with 16:43 to play in the first period, and UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead until the 4:40 mark of the second half.
The Titans went on an 11-2 run during a six-minute span to build a 24-13 advantage with 6:16 left in the first period. UW-Oshkosh matched its largest lead of 12 points on a layup by Selner that put the Titans up 30-18 with 2:31 to go before halftime. UW-Whitewater then trimmed its deficit to 32-24 at the break on a 3-pointer by Trewyn with 51 seconds to go.
Trewyn scored eight of the Warhawks' first 12 points of the second half, including a layup that pulled UW-Whitewater to within 39-36 with 16:13 remaining. UW-Oshkosh answered with a 10-2 run for a 49-38 lead with 13:48 left and held a 55-45 advantage after two free throws by Kuehl at the 8:02 mark.
Trewyn led all players with 18 points. Meinert added 13 points and 12 rebounds for her second straight double-double. Smith chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
UW-Whitewater, which advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Division III Championship the past two seasons, shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the field, including 61.5 percent (16-26) in the second half.
The Warhawks, who avenged a 72-58 loss to UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 3 in Whitewater, hit 4 of 12 (33.3 percent) shots from 3-point range and 14 of 18 (77.8 percent) free throws. UW-Whitewater also held advantages in rebounds (35-30) and blocks (6-1).
Kuehl paced UW-Oshkosh with 13 points, followed by Alex Richard with 12 and Neustifter with 11. Richard added a team-high seven rebounds while Neustifter led the Titans with five assists.
The Titans, ranked 24th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, ended the game shooting 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field, 22.2 percent (2-9) from behind the 3-point arc and 60.9 percent (14-23) from the foul line. UW-Oshkosh held a 12-14 advantage in turnovers.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its regular season at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Feb. 21). The Blugolds defeated the Titans, 63-57 in overtime, in Oshkosh on Jan. 17.