Titans Defeat Blue Devils To Advance To WIAC Championship Semifinal

Nikki Arneson led all players with 29 points as the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team never trailed on the way to a 68-60 victory over UW-Stout during the first round of the WIAC Championship (presented by Culver's) on Tuesday (Feb. 25) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (16-10) took the lead for good at 8-5 with 3:26 left in the first quarter. The Titans led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and owned a 48-36 advantage at the 9:15 mark of the fourth period before UW-Stout (15-11) pulled within 52-50 with 4:11 remaining. UW-Oshkosh then responded with nine unanswered points, including four from Arneson, over the next three minutes to extend its lead to 61-50 with 76 seconds to go.

The defending conference postseason champion Titans, seeded fourth in the WIAC tournament, advance to play Thursday (Feb. 27) in the semifinals at top-seeded UW-Whitewater. UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater (23-2), ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, had met during the title game in each of the past three WIAC Championships. The Titans have reached the WIAC postseason final the last six years.

UW-Oshkosh, which has won 16 of its last 18 meetings with UW-Stout, split the two-game regular season series with the Blue Devils after eliminating UW-Stout during the semifinals of last year's WIAC Championship.

Thursday's other WIAC Championship semifinal features second-seeded UW-La Crosse (19-6) hosting third-seeded UW-Eau Claire (17-9). The semifinal winners will play Saturday (Feb. 29) for the league's automatic berth into the 64-team Division III Championship that begins March 6.

Arneson shot 9-for-13 from the field and 9-for-11 at the free throw line while collecting seven rebounds en route to setting a program record for points in the league tournament. Arneson, whose 29 points are tied for eighth most in WIAC Championship history, accounted for 24 of UW-Oshkosh's 42 points during the second half as she shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 8-for-9 at the foul line after intermission.

Leah Porath went 2-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc and added 12 points, a game-best eight rebounds and a team-high four assists for UW-Oshkosh, which also received 11 points from Karsyn Rueth, seven points and five rebounds from Olivia Campbell, and three points and a game-high three steals from Brooke Freitag. Rueth went 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

Porath, the WIAC leading scorer at 17.5 points per game, has scored in double figures during 29 of the Titans' last 30 games. Porath increased her season total to 454 points – the most by a Titan since Kay Mikolajczak had 461 on the way to earning the 2004 Jostens Trophy, which is awarded annually to the top NCAA Division III student-athlete in women's basketball. Porath also entered the conference tournament with a conference-best .415 3-point percentage.

UW-Oshkosh shot 21 of 44 (.477) from the field, 10 of 19 (.526) from 3-point range and 16 of 23 (.696) at the free throw line on Tuesday. The Titans, who knocked down double-digit 3-pointers for the fourth time this season, owned advantages of 31-29 in rebounds, 3-1 in blocks and 6-5 in steals.

UW-Stout shot 36.1 percent (22-61) from the floor, 28.6 percent (6-21) from beyond the 3-point arc and 83.3 percent (10-12) at the foul line. The Blue Devils, who committed just two first-half turnovers, finished with edges of 15-10 in assists and 11-15 in turnovers.

Amber Fabeck paced three Blue Devil double-digit scorers with 14 points while Emily Jacques and Liz Oswald had 10 apiece. UW-Stout's Shannon Watkins contributed eight points to go along with a team-leading five rebounds and three assists.

Five-time WIAC postseason champion UW-Oshkosh went into the night leading the country with 12.1 turnovers per game while also leading the conference with a .424 field goal percentage, 7.5 made 3-pointers per game and a 1.09 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Titans claimed league tournament titles in 1999, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

UW-Stout was the conference leader in average rebounding margin (+7.4) and per-game rebounds (41.8), offensive rebounds (16.3) and assists (14.0). The Blue Devils, who grabbed 13 of their 29 rebounds on the offensive end Tuesday, clinched WIAC Championship crowns in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Blue Devils tied the score at 3 and again at 5 until UW-Oshkosh reclaimed the lead to stay following a Rueth 3-pointer. The Titans went on to maintain leads of 14-9 after the opening period and 26-22 at intermission as UW-Stout shot just 27.7 percent (8-29) from the field during the first half while UW-Oshkosh went 5-for-11 from 3-point range.

Arneson began the second half with a pair of layups during the opening minute of the third quarter. Another 3-pointer from Rueth gave UW-Oshkosh its largest lead of the night at 42-29 with 3:51 to go in the third period, and the Titans entered the final quarter with a 46-36 cushion.

Arneson then scored 14 of UW-Oshkosh's 22 points in the fourth quarter. Her three-point play upped the Titans' lead to 52-42 with 7:06 left, but UW-Stout responded with eight straight points, including six from Jacques, over the next three minutes to pull within 52-50. UW-Oshkosh ended its scoreless drought with a pair of Campbell free throws for a 54-50 advantage with 3:50 to play. Arneson followed with layups on the next two Titan possessions to extend the lead to 58-50 at the 2:27 mark, and UW-Stout trailed by at least six points the rest of the way.

UW-Oshkosh improved to 27-13 in WIAC postseason play. The Titans' 27 wins and .675 winning percentage in the tournament are the best in conference history. UW-Stout is now 0-12 on the road during the conference tournament.

The Titans and UW-Whitewater split their two games during the regular season. UW-Oshkosh handed the Warhawks their lone league loss during a 62-51 triumph Jan. 25 in Oshkosh. UW-Whitewater, which lost last year's conference title game at UW-Oshkosh by a 69-40 score, evened this season's series with a 75-71 decision over the Titans on Feb. 19 in Whitewater. The Warhawks have won 18 of their last 19 home games.

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