Titans Overwhelm Falcons In Regular-Season Finale

Katie Ludwig scored a career-high 23 points and Nikki Arneson added 16 as the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team rolled to an 88-49 victory over UW-River Falls during the regular season finale Saturday (Feb. 22) in Kolf Sports Center.

Ludwig completed a three-point play that provided UW-Oshkosh a 10-9 lead it would not relinquish for the last 35:41 of the game. The reigning conference champion Titans, who earned their 11th straight win over UW-River Falls, went on to own leads of 24-13 after the first quarter, 47-26 at halftime and 71-38 entering the final period. UW-Oshkosh's 11 consecutive victories over the Falcons is the longest active streak among WIAC teams. The Titans also defeated the Falcons, 64-47, Jan. 18 in River Falls.

UW-Oshkosh (15-10, 8-6 WIAC) will be the fourth seed for the upcoming six-team WIAC Championship. The Titans host fifth-seeded UW-Stout (15-10, 6-8 WIAC) in the first round of the league tournament Tuesday (Feb. 25) in Kolf Sport Center.

Ludwig shot 6-for-7 from the field, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 8-for-8 at the free throw line Saturday to eclipse her previous career high of 16 points established during a 66-55 win over UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 12. Ludwig, who led all players with three steals, scored 10 of her points in the first quarter and had 15 at intermission.

Arneson finished the game shooting 4-for-6 from the floor and 7-for-7 at the foul line while contributing six rebounds and three assists.

Thirteen Titans scored during the season finale, including Karsyn Rueth who had nine points, and Olivia Campbell and Leah Porath who had eight apiece. Emily Miller made all three of her field goal attempts and chipped in six points.

Porath, the WIAC leading scorer at 17.7 points per game, collected a team-high eight rebounds. She had scored in double figures each of the previous 28 contests before going 3-for-4 from the floor in 15 minutes played against the Falcons. Campbell, who grabbed four rebounds and dished out a game-high five assists, entered the contest pacing the conference with 4.1 assists per game and a 1.88 assist-to-turnover ratio.

UW-Oshkosh shot 52.9 percent (27-51) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from beyond the 3-point arc and 78.8 percent (26-33) at the free throw line. The Titans held advantages of 35-27 in rebounds, 18-4 in assists, 9-18 in turnovers and 8-6 in steals. Both teams had four blocks.

The Titans, who shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time this year, set new season highs in both made and attempted free throws. UW-Oshkosh went into the day leading the NCAA Division III with 12.2 turnovers per game and pacing the WIAC in made 3-pointers per game (7.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.06)

UW-River Falls went 16 of 47 (.340) from the field, 5-for-18 (.278) from beyond the 3-point arc and 12 of 19 (.632) at the foul line. The Falcons concluded their season with a 5-20 record and a 0-14 mark in conference play. UW-River Falls, the 2016 WIAC champion, had not suffered a winless conference season since going 0-2 during the 1979-80 campaign in the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Division III Small Division.

Crystal Pearson led three UW-River Falls double-digit scorers with 14 points while Brianna Koop and Cassie Heinrichs had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Koop grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Heinrichs shot 5-for-6 from the floor.

UW-River Falls jumped out to a 5-2 lead and held a 7-5 advantage until Arneson drained a pair of free throws to tie the score at 7 with 6:07 left in the opening quarter. A Pearson layup provided the Falcons their final lead at 9-7 before Ludwig's subsequent three-point play sparked an 11-0 UW-Oshkosh run that continued with a four-point play from Ludwig, two Rueth free throws and a Campbell layup for an 18-9 advantage with 2:37 remaining in the first period.

The Falcons cut their deficit to nine points on three occasions in the second quarter, but Ludwig connected on another 3-pointer for a 36-24 Titan advantage at the 3:16 mark, and UW-Oshkosh led by double figures the rest of the way.

UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead of least 23 points for the final 19:33 after Porath scored in the lane for a 49-26 advantage early in the third quarter. The Titans then held the Falcons scoreless over the last 5:34 of the game en route to building their largest lead on Ashley Wissink's layup that created the final score with 34 seconds to go.

The Titans begin defense of their WIAC postseason title when they host UW-Stout on Tuesday. UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stout split their two regular season matchups as the Blue Devils stunned the Titans, 77-71 in overtime, Jan. 11 in Oshkosh before the Titans cruised to a 54-36 win in Menomonie on Feb. 15.

WIAC Women's Basketball Standings: https://wiacsports.com/standings.aspx?path=wbball

WIAC Women's Basketball Championship Website: https://wiacsports.com/sports/2020/1/8/WBB_0108204850.aspx