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Leah Porath scored a game-high 17 points, including UW-Oshkosh's final six during the second overtime session.
Leah Porath scored a game-high 17 points, including UW-Oshkosh's final six during the second overtime session.

Titans Pull Out Double-Overtime Win Over Eagles

Box Score

Leah Porath scored each of UW-Oshkosh's final six points in double overtime, including two on a game-winning reverse layup with 2.1 seconds left, as the Titans pulled out a thrilling 59-57 women's basketball victory at UW-La Crosse on Saturday (Feb. 12).

With UW-Oshkosh trailing, 57-53, and under two minutes remaining in the second overtime, Porath drove for a layup to cut the Titans deficit to two points. Kennedy Osterman then notched a steal ahead of a Porath jumper that knotted the score at 57 with 55 seconds left in the penultimate Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season contest of the season.

UW-La Crosse missed three field goal attempts during the ensuing possession before Nikki Arneson collected her career high-tying 12th rebound for UW-Oshkosh with 18 seconds to go in the second overtime session. Following a UW-Oshkosh timeout, Porath, returning to the court after missing the previous two games due to injury, received a pass on the left baseline with five ticks to go, spun out of a double-team and finished a reverse layup on the right side of the rim for what proved to be the game-winning basket.

UW-La Crosse's Emma Gamoke then missed a contested 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired to preserve the UW-Oshkosh win during the first double-overtime game between the teams since the Eagles snuck past the Titans, 85-80, in Oshkosh on Jan. 29, 2014.

The Eagles forced the first overtime on a pair of Paige Schumann free throws that tied the score at 43 with 9.8 seconds left in regulation as UW-Oshkosh missed a midrange jumper at the buzzer.

In the first overtime, UW-La Crosse once again tied the score late as a Cassandra Warmsley layup knotted the score at 48 with 24 seconds left, but Porath answered with a turnaround 13-foot jumper for a 50-48 Titans edge with 2.1 seconds to go. However, following a UW-La Crosse timeout that advanced the ball into the frontcourt, the Eagles had one last chance after UW-Oshkosh knocked the ball out of bounds under the UW-La Crosse basket with :00.7 remaining. Alana Gilles slipped free on the right side of the rim and banked the tying layup off the backboard as the buzzer sounded to send the game to a second overtime session.

UW-La Crosse owned its largest lead of the game when Schumann converted a pair of free throws for a 57-53 advantage with 2:01 left in the second overtime.

UW-Oshkosh improved its record to 17-5, including a 6-4 mark in the WIAC, while UW-La Crosse fell to 12-11 overall and 4-8 in league play. The Titans have now won their past four meetings with the Eagles and eight of the last nine in the series.

Porath led all players with 17 points in a reserve role for the Titans. Porath, the reigning two-time WIAC Player of the Year and 2021 D3hoops.com First Team All-American, has scored at least eight points in each of her last 66 games played, including 60 of them in double figures.

Julia Silloway produced her first career double-double for the Titans, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 48 minutes played. Silloway established a career rebounding high and finished one point shy of tying her career scoring best.

Jenna Jorgensen contributed 10 points for UW-Oshkosh, which also received nine points and 12 rebounds from Arneson, five points and six boards from Osterman, and five rebounds and a team-leading three assists from Abby Kaiser.

UW-Oshkosh, which held a 6-4 edge in steals, went 22 of 66 (.333) from the field, 7-for-24 (.292) from 3-point range and 8-for-16 (.500) at the free throw line. Both teams committed 12 turnovers and blocked three shots. The Titans, who have held 12 opponents under 50 points this season, went into the day leading the NCAA Division III with 10.7 turnovers per game and ranked ninth nationally by allowing 48.9 points per contest.

UW-La Crosse shot 26.5% (18-68) from the floor, 28% (7-25) from beyond the 3-point arc and 87.5% (14-16) from the foul line. The Eagles, who were held to their lowest field goal percentage of the season, owned advantages of 55-44 in rebounds and 10-9 in assists.

Gamoke and Kyah Steiner paced the Eagles with 12 points apiece, shooting a combined 9-for-28 from the field.

Schumann chipped in eight points for UW-La Crosse, which also received a team-best eight rebounds and two blocks from Lexie Higgins.

UW-Oshkosh took a 3-0 lead on a Silloway 3-pointer 90 seconds into the game and did not trail until UW-La Crosse claimed a 41-39 edge following a Gamoke layup at the 2:17 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Titans, who held the Eagles to 17.9% shooting from the floor during the first half, maintained leads of 14-10 after one quarter, 27-13 at intermission and 33-26 entering the final period of regulation.

Arneson buried a corner 3-pointer to put the Titans back in front, 42-41, and Silloway split a pair of free throws to extend UW-Oshkosh's advantage to 43-41 with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

UW-Oshkosh closes out the regular season by hosting UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (Feb. 16) in Kolf Sports Center. UW-Whitewater (22-2, 12-1 WIAC), which already secured the 2022 WIAC regular season title, is ranked seventh nationally by D3hoops.com.

Photo courtesy of Jim Lund