Warhawks Score In Closing Seconds To Edge Titans

Veronica Kieres's three-point play with 19 seconds remaining gave nationally ranked UW-Whitewater the lead for good as the Warhawks clinched the outright WIAC women's basketball title with a 75-71 win over UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday (Feb. 19) in Whitewater.

UW-Oshkosh's Brooke Freitag made three free throws for a 66-64 Titan lead after being fouled behind the 3-point line with four minutes left. Johanna Taylor answered with a layup for UW-Whitewater 13 seconds later to tie the score for the 12th and final time at 66, and four free throws over the next two-plus minutes provided the Warhawks a 70-66 advantage with 1:08 to play.

Olivia Campbell buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to cut UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 70-69 with 43 seconds remaining. Following a UW-Whitewater turnover, UW-Oshkosh's Leah Porath grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the lane for a 71-70 Titan lead with 24 ticks left. Kieres then gave UW-Whitewater the lead for good – the 14th lead change of the night – five seconds later at 73-71 with her layup and subsequent free throw. The Warhawks sealed the win by forcing a turnover on the Titans' final possession before UW-Whitewater's Aleah Grundahl hit a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to create the final score.

UW-Whitewater (22-2, 12-1 WIAC), ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, avenged its lone league loss this season – a 62-51 setback Jan. 25 at defending league champion UW-Oshkosh. The Warhawks, who have won 18 of their last 19 home games, will be the top seed for the WIAC Championship that begins Tuesday (Feb. 25). UW-Whitewater earned an opening round bye and will host a conference tournament semifinal Feb. 27.

UW-Oshkosh (14-10, 7-6 WIAC), which had won its last two meetings with the Warhawks, clinched the fourth seed for the WIAC Championship. Following their regular season finale at UW-River Falls on Saturday (Feb. 22), the Titans will begin defense of their WIAC postseason championship with a first round contest in Kolf Sports Center against fifth-seeded UW-Stout.

UW-Whitewater's Johanna Taylor led all players with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field. She added four rebounds, three assists and two blocks after entering the night with a WIAC-best .565 field goal percentage and 2.4 blocks per game.

Grundahl finished with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Warhawks, who also received 15 points from Becky Raeder and nine apiece from Kieres and Rebekah Schumacher. Kieres dished out a team-leading four assists while Raeder, the WIAC leader with a .880 free throw percentage, recorded a game-high three steals and went 5-for-5 at the foul line.

Porath paced UW-Oshkosh with 14 points and seven rebounds. The WIAC leading scorer at 18.1 points per game, Porath produced her 28th consecutive double-digit scoring effort on the way to leading the Titans in points for the 17th time this season.

UW-Oshkosh, which became the first team to score more than 70 points against UW-Whitewater on the year, featured five double-digit scorers for the first time this season as Brooke Freitag had a career-high 13 points, Campbell and Karsyn Rueth 12 apiece, and Claire Staples a career-best 10.

Campbell shot 4-for-5 from the floor, collected six rebounds and distributed three assists after entering the night leading the WIAC with 4.1 assists per game and a 1.98 assist-to-turnover ratio. Rueth, who was the league leader with 23 made 3-pointers and a .460 3-point percentage during conference games, went 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.

UW-Whitewater shot 27 of 56 (.482) from the floor, 5-for-11 (.455) from 3-point range and 16 of 20 (.800) at the free throw line. The Warhawks held advantages of 31-28 in rebounds, 13-15 in turnovers, 6-4 in steals and 4-0 in blocks.

UW-Oshkosh went 23 of 49 (.469) from the field, 9-for-26 (.346) from beyond the 3-point arc and 16 of 18 (.889) at the foul line. The Titans owned a 15-13 edge in assists.

The Warhawks, whose lone loss over their past 19 home games was a one-point overtime setback to third-ranked DePauw University (Ind.) on Nov. 16, entered the night leading the conference in scoring defense (51.3); field goal percentage (.422); field goal percentage defense (.322); free throw percentage (.741); turnovers forced (19.4), steals (10.4) and blocks (5.5) per game; and average scoring (+17.4) and turnover (+3.8) margins.

The Titans were leading the country with 12.1 turnovers per game while also pacing the conference with 7.4 made 3-pointers per contest and a 1.06 assist-to-turnover ratio.

UW-Whitewater scored the first nine points of the game and owned an 11-2 advantage before UW-Oshkosh went on a 13-2 run to claim its first lead at 15-13 with 3:14 left in the first quarter. The Titans' run, which spanned more than three and a half minutes, included four points apiece from Campbell and Porath. A Staples layup pulled the Titans even at 17, and Freitag's 3-pointer gave UW-Oshkosh a 20-17 advantage after one period.

The Warhawks scored six straight points to increase their lead to 33-26 with under four minutes to play in the first half, but Staples later buried a 3-pointer to pull the Titans within 37-34 at intermission.

Rueth drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give UW-Oshkosh a 47-41 lead at the 4:19 mark of the third quarter. A Staples free throw provided the Titans their largest lead of the game at 48-41 with 3:55 to go in the third period. However, the Warhawks responded with 11 unanswered points, including the last six by Grundahl, to reclaim a 52-48 advantage with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. But UW-Oshkosh rallied to tie the score at 52 entering the final period following Freitag's 3-pointer at the buzzer.

UW-Whitewater, which extended its winning streak to six games, earned its ninth WIAC regular season championship. UW-Oshkosh leads the conference with 13 regular season titles.

UW-Oshkosh ends the regular season by hosting UW-River Falls on Saturday. The Titans have won their last 10 meetings with UW-River Falls, including a 64-47 decision Jan. 18 in River Falls.