Warhawks Remove Titans From WIAC Lead

UW-Whitewater was held to its lowest scoring output of the season, but the Warhawks took over sole possession of first place in the WIAC standings with a 55-50 win over UW-Oshkosh in a battle of nationally ranked women's basketball teams on Wednesday (Jan. 18) in Whitewater.

UW-Whitewater (15-1, 5-0 WIAC), ranked 20th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, scored 10 unanswered points to take a 47-38 with 4:31 remaining.

Tenth-ranked UW-Oshkosh (14-2, 4-1 WIAC) closed to within 47-44 with just under two minutes to play, but the Warhawks increased their lead to 50-44 with 64 second left.

Clinging to a 52-48 advantage with 35 seconds to go, UW-Whitewater committed turnovers on its next two possessions, but the Titans missed a pair of shots from the field, and Malia Smith made both of her free throws to provide the Warhawks a 54-48 lead with 13 seconds remaining.

The Warhawks, who snapped a three-game losing streak to the Titans, entered the game averaging a WIAC-leading 70.5 points per game while UW-Oshkosh ranked third nationally by holding opponents to 44.8 points per contest.

UW-Oshkosh outshot UW-Whitewater, 35.2 (19-54) to 31.6 (18-57) percent from the field, but the Warhawks converted 15 of 17 attempts (88.2 percent) from the free throw line while the Titans shot 58.8 percent (10-17). UW-Whitewater also owned a 43-36 rebounding advantage.

UW-Whitewater's Smith led all players with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals. She made 4 of 14 shots from the floor, including both of her attempts from 3-point rage, and all 10 of her tries from the free throw line.

Brooke Trewyn had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Warhawks as UW-Whitewater had just five players score.

UW-Whitewater shot just 20 percent (3-15) from the field during the opening quarter and trailed, 12-8, entering the second.

The Titans tallied six straight points to open up an 18-10 lead with six minutes left in the second quarter, but the Warhawks responded with 11 unanswered points of their own, including nine from Trewyn, in the span of 92 seconds to reclaim a 21-18 edge.

Trewyn, who scored 11 points in the second quarter, hit a jumper to provide the Warhawks a 26-23 lead at intermission as UW-Oshkosh shot 2-for-10 (20 percent) from the floor and 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from the free throw line during the second period.

UW-Oshkosh tallied the first six points of the second half before a Trewyn layup snapped UW-Whitewater's four-minute scoring drought. A 3-pointer by Smith gave the Warhawks a 31-29 advantage with 5:37 left in the third quarter, and a jumper by Trewyn put UW-Whitewater ahead, 35-33, entering the final period.

Eliza Campbell scored 10 of UW-Oshkosh's 17 points during the fourth quarter. Her fifth point of the period gave the Titans their last lead at 38-37 with 7:37 remaining.

UW-Whitewater's decisive 10-point scoring surge began with jumpers from Smith and Trewyn before being capped with four free throws from Smith.

UW-Oshkosh responded with six straight points, including five by Emma Melotik, to pull within 47-44 with 1:55 left before UW-Whitewater scored on three consecutive possessions to extend its advantage to 52-46 on a pair of free throws from Smith with 49 seconds to go.

A layup by Campbell trimmed the Titan deficit to 52-48 with 35 seconds to play. UW-Oshkosh's Taylor Schmidt registered a steal, but the Titans' attempt from behind the 3-point line was off the mark. UW-Oshkosh also missed a shot in the lane with 17 seconds remaining, and Smith drained another two free throws for a 54-48 lead with 13 seconds to go.

UW-Oshkosh's Morgan Kokta made a basket to trim the Warhawk lead to 54-50 with six seconds to play, but UW-Whitewater's Olivia Freckmann split a pair of free throws to cap the scoring with four ticks left.

Campbell led UW-Oshkosh with 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting from the field. She added five rebounds, including three on the offensive end.

Madeline Staples contributed six points, a team-leading eight rebounds and two steals off the UW-Oshkosh bench. Melotik chipped in five points for the Titans while Schmidt had four points and a team-best three steals. Olivia Campbell paced the team with three assists.

UW-Oshkosh travels to defending WIAC champion UW-River Falls on Saturday (Jan. 21).