Titans Defeat Warhawks To Avoid Share Of WIAC Crown

Taylor Schmidt scored 13 of her game-high 15 points during the second half as nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh clinched its first outright WIAC women's basketball title in 18 years with a thrilling 59-58 victory over UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Feb. 15) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh took the lead for good at 48-45 on a 3-pointer by Schmidt with 8:30 remaining. Schmidt then sank a jumper to extend UW-Oshkosh's lead to 59-55 with 1:41 to go, but UW-Whitewater's Malia Smith converted a three-point play to pull the Warhawks within 59-58 with 37 seconds left.

UW-Whitewater gained possession with 22 seconds left following a five-second violation on the Titans, but UW-Oshkosh's Jaimee Pitt recorded a steal near the free throw line as time expired after Warhawk Olivia Freckmann lost the ball while driving through the lane.

UW-Oshkosh (22-2, 12-1 WIAC), ranked 11th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, won its first outright league title since 1999 and extended its winning streak to a season-best eight games. The Titans also improved their home record to 9-0 this season.

With the victory, UW-Oshkosh secured the top seed for next week's WIAC Championship. The Titans, who have earned a first-round bye in the league tournament, will host the lowest remaining seed on Feb. 24 in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Whitewater (19-5, 9-4 WIAC), which defeated the Titans by a 55-50 score at home on Jan. 18, falls into a tie for second place in the WIAC standings with UW-Stevens Point (17-7, 9-4 WIAC) with one league game remaining.

The Warhawks outshot the Titans, 40.4 (21-52) to 34 percent (17-50) from the field, and held a 38-31 rebounding advantage. However, UW-Oshkosh had an 18-11 edge in turnovers and shot 21-for-29 (72.4 percent) at the free throw line while the Warhawks were 12 of 16 (75 percent) at the charity stripe.

UW-Oshkosh entered the Wednesday's matchup ranked second nationally by committing just 11.7 turnovers per game while UW-Whitewater was leading the WIAC by forcing 18.4 turnovers per contest.

Schmidt, who paced the Titans in scoring for the 10th time this season, converted 5 of 12 shots from the floor, including 3 of 8 from 3-point range, and made both free throws.

Alex Richard had 12 points for UW-Oshkosh on 6 of 8 shooting from the field while Titan reserves Isabella Samuels and Melanie Schneider added 10 and a career-best seven points, respectively.

Pitt chipped in five points off the bench to go along with a team-leading seven rebounds and three steals. Titan reserve Olivia Campbell led all players with four assists in nine minutes of action.

UW-Oshkosh reserves outscored the UW-Whitewater bench, 26-5, and accounted for 17 of the team's 31 rebounds and six of its 10 assists.

UW-Whitewater's Riley Stewart opened the scoring with a 3-pointer less than a minute into the game, and the Warhawks maintained a lead until the final seconds of the first quarter. The Titans closed the first period with a 10-3 scoring run, claiming their first lead at 18-17 on a pair of free throws from Schneider with four seconds left.

The Titans, who missed seven of their last eight field goal attempts in the first quarter, entered the second period with a lead despite the Warhawks shooting 50 percent (6-12) from the floor and holding an 11-6 rebounding advantage.

UW-Whitewater scored 11 of the first 14 points of the second quarter to retake a 28-21 lead. The Warhawks matched the largest lead by either team at 30-23 on a layup from Brooke Trewyn with 85 seconds to play in the first half, but Richard scored a basket to trim UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 30-25 at intermission.

Richard's late first-half layup sparked a 17-4 scoring run that culminated in a layup by Samuels for a 40-34 UW-Oshkosh lead at the 2:27 mark of the third quarter. The Warhawks missed 9 of 10 shots from the field and committed six turnovers during UW-Oshkosh's 17-4 run that spanned more than eight minutes.

UW-Whitewater rallied to tie the score at 42 following a pair of free throws from Smith, but UW-Oshkosh's Madeline Staples split two free throws to give the Titans a 43-42 edge entering the final quarter.

Smith led UW-Whitewater with 14 points and three steals. Stewart added 13 points for the Warhawks, who also received 10 points apiece from Becky Deichl and Freckmann, who finished with a game-high nine rebounds and two blocks.

UW-Oshkosh concludes the regular season by hosting UW-Stout on Saturday (Feb. 18). The Titans defeated the Blue Devils, 64-58, on Jan. 7 in Menomonie.