Titans Gain Separation From Pointers With Late Scoring Run

Leah Porath led all players with 17 points, Katie Ludwig had a career-high 16 and the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team defeated UW-Stevens Point, 66-55, Wednesday (Feb. 12) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (13-9, 6-5 WIAC) scored 12 unanswered points for a 12-5 lead and did not trail after the 6:39 mark of the first quarter. UW-Stevens Point pulled within 52-51 with 2:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Titans outscored the Pointers, 14-4, the rest of the way as they shot 4-for-4 from the field and 4-for-6 at the free throw line during their final seven possessions.

The Titans also downed the Pointers by a 64-49 score Jan. 22 in Stevens Point. UW-Oshkosh, which improved its record to 12-0 when allowing less than 60 points this season, has now won its past four meetings with UW-Stevens Point (9-13, 4-7 WIAC) and 11 of the past 12 games in the series.

Porath, who paced the Titans in scoring for the 16th time this season, upped her season total to 405 points to become the first UW-Oshkosh player to reach 400 since Brittany Herrick had 443 during the 2005-06 campaign. She shot 6-for-15 from the floor, 1-for-4 from 3-point range and 4-for-6 at the foul line while adding six rebounds and three assists Wednesday after entering the night ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III with a .452 3-point percentage and leading the conference with 18.5 points per game and 42 made 3-pointers.

Ludwig scored nine of her-best 16 points during the second quarter and finished the night shooting 6-for-8 from the field. She surpassed her prior career high of eight points, established last season, on a 3-pointer just before the second-quarter buzzer.

Nine different Titans scored Wednesday, including Karsyn Rueth with 11 points off the bench and starter Emily Miller with nine. Rueth went 3-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc while Miller shot 4-for-7 from the floor.

UW-Oshkosh's Olivia Campbell chipped in three points, six rebounds and a game-best five assists. She went into the day with a WIAC-leading 4.2 assists per game and 2.05 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The Titans shot 14 of 29 from the field, including 6-for-12 from 3-point range, during the first half and concluded the contest 25 of 54 (.444) from the floor, 8-for-22 (.364) from beyond the arc and 10 of 17 (.588) at the free throw line. UW-Oshkosh, which owned advantages of 13-6 in assists, 12-21 in turnovers and 4-3 in blocks, went into the day pacing the country with 11.9 turnovers per game and leading the conference with 7.4 made 3-pointers per game, a .330 3-point percentage and a 1.08 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Taylor Greenheck led UW-Stevens Point with 15 points to along with seven rebounds and a game-high thee steals. The conference leader with 82 made free throws entering Wednesday, Greenheck went 7-for-9 at the foul line against the Titans.

Amber Baehman and Kellan Schmidt added 13 points apiece for the Pointers. Baehman also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and recorded a pair of steals.

UW-Stevens Point went 16 of 44 (.364) from the floor, 4-for-13 (.308) from 3-point range and 19 of 24 (.792) at the foul line. The Pointers, who have made a conference-best 325 free throws on the year, finished with advantages of 33-28 in rebounds and 8-5 in steals. UW-Stevens Point's six assists matched its season low.

The Pointers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening two minutes, but UW-Oshkosh responded with 12 straight points, including five from both Porath and Nikki Arneson, to reclaim the lead. The Titans never trailed after Porath drained a 3-pointer for an 8-5 lead with 6:39 left in the first quarter.

UW-Stevens Point was held scoreless for nearly six minutes until Baehman drove for a layup that cut the Pointers' deficit to 12-7 at the 2:14 mark of the opening period. UW-Stevens Point missed six consecutive field goal attempts and committed four turnovers during the Titans' 12-0 run.

UW-Oshkosh extended its advantage to 22-9 following a Miller 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second quarter and went into intermission with a 38-27 lead after Ludwig's buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

UW-Stevens Point pulled within 48-41 after three quarters and later scored eight straight points to cut its deficit to 52-51 with 2:41 left. Porath hit a jumper to end the Titans' drought, and Rueth followed with a 3-pointer that extended the UW-Oshkosh lead to 57-51 with two minutes to play.

Rueth then buried another 3-pointer ahead of a Miller basket in the lane that upped the Titans' advantage to 62-53 with 39 seconds left.

UW-Oshkosh plays at UW-Stout on Saturday (Feb. 15). The Titans fell to UW-Stout, 77-71 in double-overtime, Jan. 11 in Oshkosh.