Titans Throttle Green Knights

Eliza Campbell led all players with 13 points and nine rebounds while Taylor Schmidt added 11 points and three steals as the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team defeated St. Norbert College, 54-32, on Tuesday (Nov. 29) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (4-0), ranked 12th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, scored 18 unanswered points for a 39-16 lead during a nearly 10-minute stretch that spanned the second and third quarters.

The Titans, who entered Tuesday's contest leading the country with 24 points allowed per game, built leads of 13-9 after the first quarter, 32-16 at intermission and 48-25 after three periods.

St. Norbert College (1-2) was held to its lowest scoring output in the 235 games since suffering a 96-29 setback during an exhibition contest against NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin on Nov. 1, 2007. The Green Knights scored their fewest points in a non-exhibition game since at least the 1983-84 campaign (774 games).

UW-Oshkosh's 22-point margin of victory was the program's largest against St. Norbert College since a 74-44 win on Nov. 29, 1995. The teams met for the 33rd time, including the 16th time in the past 17 seasons. The Titans, who defeated St. Norbert College by a 62-48 score last year, sport a 20-13 record against the Green Knights.

The Titans never trailed St. Norbert College and maintained a lead of at least 11 points for the final 22 minutes.

UW-Oshkosh owned advantages in field goal percentage (.316 to .218), 3-point field goal percentage (.308 to .176), free throw percentage (.556 to .417), rebounds (51-38) and assists (12-4).

Campbell made 5 of 9 shots from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, while Schmidt shot 3-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Schmidt concluded the contest three points shy of 1,000 for her career.

UW-Oshkosh reserves also outscored the St. Norbert College bench, 24-9, as 14 Titans received playing time. Kylie Moe contributed eight points and Emma Melotik seven off the Titan bench while UW-Oshkosh starter Morgan Kokta led all players with five assists and Alex Richard chipped in six points, nine rebounds and a game-high three blocks.

Campbell scored a basket on the game's opening possession, and a 3-pointer by Melotik gave UW-Oshkosh the lead for good at 10-7 with 4:03 remaining in the first quarter.

A pair of free throw by Schmidt extended the Titan advantage to 18-10 early in the second period, but the Green Knights trimmed their deficit to 21-16 at the 4:08 mark on a layup by Macie Zurfluh.

UW-Oshkosh's decisive 18-point skein began with a 3-pointer by Melotik with just under four minutes left in the second quarter and ended on a 3-pointer from St. Norbert College's Jill Kleiman with 5:21 to go in the third period. The Green Knights missed 11 consecutive shots from the floor and committed five turnovers during the Titans' surge, which featured seven points from Schmidt and four from Richard.

Titan reserve Isabella Samuels converted a layup for a 43-23 advantage with 2:57 to go in the third period, and UW-Oshkosh led by at least 20 points the rest of the way.

UW-Oshkosh held its largest lead of 25 points on three occasions. A 3-pointer from Moe provided the Titans a 48-23 advantage late in the third quarter while a pair of free throws from Schmidt gave UW-Oshkosh a 50-25 lead early in the fourth period, and a 3-pointer from Kendell Truttman extended the Titan advantage to 53-28 with 6:27 remaining.

Kleiman paced St. Norbert College, which has made three straight NCAA postseason appearances, with nine points and three steals. Zurfluh added six points and a team-leading six rebounds.

Green Knights leading scorer Regan Carmichael, who entered the game averaging 17 points, was limited to just two points on 1-for-13 shooting from the floor.

UW-Oshkosh plays Carroll University on Saturday (Dec. 3) in Waukesha.