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Madeline Staples scored 10 of her career-high 14 points and grabbed four of her five rebounds in the first half.
Madeline Staples scored 10 of her career-high 14 points and grabbed four of her five rebounds in the first half.

Titans Grind Out WIAC Tournament Win Over Warhawks

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Taylor Schmidt scored all but one of her game-high 16 points in the second half as UW-Oshkosh stormed back to claim 66-59 victory over UW-Whitewater in the first round of the WIAC Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday (Feb. 25) in Kolf Sports Center.

The Titans closed the game with a 20-5 scoring run to advance to the conference tournament semifinals and reach the 20-win mark, both for the third consecutive season.

Third seed UW-Oshkosh (20-6) plays at second seed UW-Eau Claire (16-9) on Friday (Feb. 27). Friday's other WIAC Tournament semifinal features top seed UW-Superior (18-7) hosting fifth seed UW-Stevens Point (14-12), which won, 61-55, at fourth seed UW-Platteville (15-11) on Wednesday.

Schmidt went 2-for-3 on 3-pointers and made 8 of 10 free throws for her 12th double-digit scoring effort of the season.

Katelyn Kuehl added 15 points, five steals and two blocks for UW-Oshkosh. Madeline Staples had a career-high 14 points and five rebounds off the Titan bench while reserve Eliza Campbell chipped in with seven points. Marissa Selner led the team with seven rebounds.

UW-Oshkosh shot 32.1 percent (17-53) from the floor and 36.4 percent (4-11) from beyond the 3-point arc. However, the Titans made 28 free throws, the seventh most in WIAC Tournament history, in 37 attempts for a .757 percentage. UW-Oshkosh also held advantages in rebounds (39-31), turnovers (11-17), blocks (5-3) and steals (8-3).

UW-Whitewater (13-13) held its largest lead of eight points at 54-46 with just over eight minutes remaining, but UW-Oshkosh rallied to tie the score at 57 on a jumper by Schmidt at the 2:32 mark and converted 9 of 10 free throws in the last 63 seconds to seal the win.

The Titans, who entered the game with the WIAC's top scoring defense by allowing 53.7 points per contest, limited the Warhawks to 1 of 9 shooting from the floor in the last eight minutes. UW-Whitewater also committed six turnovers during UW-Oshkosh's game-ending surge, which featured nine points by Schmidt and six by Kuehl. The duo also combined to score UW-Oshkosh's last 12 points.

A 3-pointer by Campbell, just her seventh of the season, pulled UW-Oshkosh within 54-50 and Schmidt's second long-range jumper of the half cut the Titan deficit to 57-55 with 4:54 remaining.

UW-Oshkosh made just 6 of 25 (24 percent) field goals in the second half, but connected on 3 of 6 3-pointers and 20 of 26 (76.9 percent) free throws after intermission.

UW-Whitewater opened the game's scoring with a layup by Andrea Meinert and trailed for just 37 seconds during the first period.

UW-Oshkosh held its only lead of the first half at 14-13 on a layup by Alex Richard. The Warhawks reclaimed a 15-14 advantage on a jumper by Abbie Reeves and stretched their lead to 28-20 on a 3-pointer by Maddie Bare with just under five minutes to go in the period.

Reserves Campbell, Morgan Kokta and Staples combined to score 17 of UW-Oshkosh's first 27 points. A three-point play by Staples, her second of the first half, trimmed the Warhawk lead to 28-23. Staples's 10th point of the period brought UW-Oshkosh within 30-27 with 2:26 to go, and a layup by Selner narrowed the UW-Oshkosh deficit to 32-31 at the break.

Reeves led UW-Whitewater with 15 points. Brooke Trewyn added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Warhawks. Jaya Perkins contributed 12 points and five rebounds off the UW-Whitewater bench.

UW-Whitewater, which advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four the last two seasons, shot 42.2 percent (19-45) from the field, 58.3 percent (7-12) from 3-point range and 70 percent (14-20) from the free throw line.

Kuehl scored her 1,000th collegiate point on the first of two free throws at the 9:05 mark of the second half. Kuehl, who ended the game with 1,007 career points, recorded 265 points as a freshman at Wisconsin Lutheran College before transferring to UW-Oshkosh for her last three seasons. She tallied 217 points during her sophomore campaign, 306 last year and has 219 to date in her final season.

UW-Oshkosh is now unbeaten in five WIAC Tournament meetings with UW-Whitewater. The Titans improved to 14-3 at home during their 14 WIAC Tournament appearances.