Titans Host UW-Whitewater In WIAC Tournament Opener
The UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team begins its quest for a second straight WIAC Tournament title with a first-round game against UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Feb. 25) in Kolf Sports Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Titans earned last year's tournament title as the second seed, winning at home by scores of 68-44 over UW-Stevens Point in the semifinal and 75-69 over UW-Superior in the final. It was the second conference postseason crown for the Titans, who won the inaugural event in 1999 with three home victories as the top seed.
Third seed UW-Oshkosh (19-6) and sixth seed UW-Whitewater (13-12) split two regular season games this season, with both winning on the road. The Titans defeated the Warhawks, 72-58, on Dec. 3 while UW-Whitewater handed UW-Oshkosh a 68-66 loss on Feb. 18 in Kolf Sports Center, where the Titans own an 8-2 record this season and a 32-5 mark during the past three years.
In Wednesday's other first-round matchup, fourth seed UW-Platteville (15-10) hosts fifth seed UW-Stevens Point (13-12).
Winners of the first-round contests will travel to either top seed UW-Superior (18-7) or second seed UW-Eau Claire (16-9) on Friday (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m. The Yellowjackets, who won their first WIAC championship during the regular season, will host the lowest remaining seed.
The WIAC Tournament championship game will be held at the highest remaining seed on Sunday (March 1) at 2 p.m. The winner of the league tournament earns the WIAC's automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship that begins on March 6-7.
UW-Oshkosh is unbeaten in four WIAC Tournament meetings with UW-Whitewater. In their last meeting in the conference tournament, UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-Whitewater, 88-73, in the 2005 quarterfinals. The Titans also bounced the Warhawks from the quarterfinals in 2002 and 2003 and the semifinals in 2000. All four prior meetings were in Oshkosh, where the Titans have a 13-3 record in WIAC Tournament play.
The Titans enter Wednesday's matchup leading the conference in scoring defense average (53.7), field goal percentage (.429), steals (246) and turnover margin (+4.6). UW-Whitewater ranks second in the league with 139 3-pointers and a .733 free throw percentage.
The Warhawks are averaging 68.8 points during their season-high four-game winning streak while the Titans are allowing 63.3 per game in three straight losses. UW-Oshkosh has a 13-0 record when holding opponents to 53 points or fewer. UW-Whitewater has a 1-10 mark when scoring 60 points or fewer.
Taylor Schmidt leads UW-Oshkosh with an average of 10.6 points per game. She has had 11 double-digit scoring games this season, including a career-best 24 points against UW-Stout on Jan. 14. Schmidt also has 71 assists and a team-high 42 steals.
Alex Richard has added nine points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Titans. Eliza Campbell chips in 8.7 points and four rebounds per contest from the bench.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's starting five are Katelyn Kuehl with 8.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game; Ashley Neustifter with 7.7 points, three assists and 1.4 steals; and Marissa Selner with 7.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and a team-best .554 field goal percentage.
UW-Whitewater is led by Abbie Reeves's average of 10.5 points per game. Reeves owns a conference-leading 57 3-pointers while adding a .913 rate from the free throw line.
Brooke Trewyn averages 10 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Warhawks, who also receive 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game from Andrea Meinert and 7.4 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds from Lisa Palmer. Kate McKay and Reilly Stewart contribute 5.6 and 5.5 points per game, respectively. Malia Smith paces UW-Whitewater with 50 assists and 28 steals.
UW-Whitewater has never won the conference tournament, but has advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four the last two seasons, placing second in 2013 and third last year.
The Warhawks have a 7-16 record in the WIAC Tournament, including four consecutive runner-up finishes from 2010-13. UW-Whitewater lost at home, 84-63, to UW-Superior in last season's semifinals.
UW-Oshkosh, which sports a 16-11 record in 13 WIAC Tournament appearances, has advanced to the final each of the three times it's been the third seed (2002, 2003 & 2005).
The top seed has won 12 of the 16 WIAC Tournaments, including the first nine. The third seed has gone 25-14 with two titles (UW-Stevens Point in 2008 and 2013). The sixth seeds have combined for a 2-16 all-time record.