Porath Receives All-Region First Team Accolades
UW-Oshkosh junior guard Leah Porath was voted to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball All-Central Region First Team by D3hoops.com.
Porath is the 19th UW-Oshkosh player to garner regional accolades and the ninth Titan to receive all-region laurels from D3hoops.com, including previous All-Region First Team honorees Kay Mikolajczak (2003, 2004), Taylor Schmidt (2017) and Whitney Tyriver (2008).
Joining Porath on the five-member All-Central Region First Team were Alex Fanning from Benedictine University (Ill.), Hannah Frazier from Wheaton College (Ill.), Taylor Lake from University of Chicago (Ill.) and Kendall Sosa from Illinois Wesleyan University.
Frazier was named D3hoops.com's Central Region Player of the Year for the second straight season. Edgewood College's Chaia Huff and Ripon College's Alison Leslie were tabbed the Central Region's Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
Porath, the WIAC Player of the Year, had one of the most productive seasons in program history, averaging 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game with 49 made 3-pointers, a .489 field goal percentage and a .408 3-point percentage. She led the WIAC in both scoring and 3-point percentage while ranking second in the league in total rebounds (200) and made 3-pointers, and third in both rebounds per game and field goal percentage.
Porath's 524 points this season were the most by a Titan since Wendy Wangerin had 559 in 1996 en route to earning NCAA Division III Player of the Year honors and leading unbeaten UW-Oshkosh to the national title. Porath also became the first WIAC player with at least 500 points and 200 rebounds in a season since UW-Superior's Sally Linzmeier in 2014. Porath's point total this year was also the most by a league player since Sam Barber had 573 for UW-Stevens Point in 2013.
Porath started all 30 games on the year and led the Titans in scoring on 19 occasions. She scored in double figures 33 times in UW-Oshkosh's past 34 games dating back to last season. Porath's lone contest with less than 10 points during that stretch was an eight-point effort on 3-for-4 shooting from the field in 15 minutes played during an 88-49 blowout win over UW-River Falls on Feb. 22.
Porath scored more than 20 points in eight games this season, including a career-high 30 points with a season-best five made 3-pointers against UW-Stout on Jan. 11. She also had 29 points at Alma College (Mich.) on Nov. 25, 27 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the field to go along with a season highs of four steals and two blocks at Pacific Lutheran University on Dec. 21, 27 points against Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) during the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship on March 7, 26 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double at Loras College (Iowa) on Nov. 16, and 22 points against both Augustana College (Ill.) on Nov. 15 and fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Championship semifinals Feb. 27.
Porath recorded a pair of double-doubles this year, including a 15-point and 10-rebound performance against UW-Platteville on Jan. 29. Her season highs also included four assists against UW-Whitewater on Feb. 19 and UW-Stout on Feb. 25. Porath, who knocked down at least two 3-pointers in 17 games this season, went 17 of 24 from 3-point range during the first seven contests of the year.
Porath and the Titans became the first fourth-seeded team to make the WIAC tournament championship game. UW-Oshkosh then culminated its unprecedented run through the WIAC Championship with a 52-50 victory at UW-Eau Claire to claim the program's second straight league and sixth overall postseason title.
UW-Oshkosh (20-10) went on to reach the third round of the Division III Championship, becoming the first Division III women's team to ever begin the season with an 11-9 record and still manage to advance to the Sweet 16. The Titans, one of 16 teams still remaining when the national tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, have now reached the third round of the NCAA postseason in Porath's past two seasons.
Porath will enter her senior campaign in 2020-21 with 804 career points, 327 rebounds and 109 assists.