Loggers Use Big Second Half To Defeat Titans

University of Puget Sound (Wash.) shot 60.7 percent from the field during the second half and pulled away for a 71-53 win over the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team at the Pacific Northwest Tournament on Sunday (Dec. 22) in Tacoma, Wash.

UW-Oshkosh led by as many as seven points in the second quarter and owned a 30-27 advantage early in the third, but University of Puget Sound outscored the Titans, 44-23, over the last 19 minutes of the game. The Loggers, who went on a decisive 16-2 run during the fourth quarter, shot 10 of 16 from the floor in the third period and 7-for-11 in the fourth.

Mara Henderson led the balanced Loggers with a game-high 15 points and four assists.

Giavanna Sorn added 14 points for University of Puget Sound, which also received 12 points from Jaime Lange, 10 by Katie Minnehan, and nine apiece from Rebekah Dasalla and Cassidy Daugherty. Lange, the sixth leading rebounder in the NCAA Division III entering the weekend, grabbed a game-best 10 boards Sunday.

Olivia Campbell paced UW-Oshkosh with 12 points and two assists for her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the year.

Leah Porath had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds for the Titans while Emily Higgins and Emily Miller chipped in eight and seven points, respectively, off the UW-Oshkosh bench. Higgins shot 4-for-6 from the floor to surpass her previous career high of five points.

University of Puget Sound (6-3) won the first meeting between the teams by shooting 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field, 31.8 percent (7-22) from 3-point range and 80 percent (12-15) at the free throw line. The Loggers, who went into the weekend leading the country with a +17.0 average rebounding margin, finished with advantages of 37-32 in rebounds, 12-8 in assists, 12-13 in turnovers and 5-1 in blocks.

UW-Oshkosh shot 34.5 percent (19-55) from the floor, 17.6 percent (3-17) from beyond the 3-point arc and 60 percent (12-20) at the foul line. The Titans began the Pacific Northwest Tournament leading the nation with 10.5 turnovers per game while ranking third with a 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio and fifth with a .793 free throw percentage.

University of Puget Sound, which held a 16-15 lead after one quarter, did not trail until Abby Kaiser's steal and layup gave UW-Oshkosh a 17-16 edge at the 9:35 mark of the second period. The Titans then extended their run to nine unanswered points on back-to-back layups from Campbell and Higgins for a 21-16 advantage.

A layup by Porath provided UW-Oshkosh its largest lead of the game at 25-18 before the Loggers closed to within 27-25 at intermission.

Katie Ludwig drilled a 3-pointer for a 30-27 UW-Oshkosh advantage less than one minute into the second half, but University of Puget Sound took the lead for good at 34-32 on a Lange jumper with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

The Titans cut their deficit to 48-44 following a three-point play from Porath early in the fourth period. However, the Loggers made five straight field goal attempts and six consecutive free throws during a span of less than four minutes to increase their advantage to 64-46 with 4:32 to play. University of Puget Sound's decisive 16-2 run featured six points by Henderson and four apiece from Minnehan and Lange.

Porath from UW-Oshkosh and University of Puget Sound's Daugherty and Sorn were joined on the Pacific Northwest All-Tournament Team by Toni Thibert from host Pacific Lutheran University, and Abby Holland and Anna Muller from Trinity University (Texas). Holland was named the tournament's most valuable player.

UW-Oshkosh (6-4), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, wraps up its nonconference schedule at Ripon College next Sunday (Dec. 29).