Titans Cage Nationally Ranked Falcons
Michelle Boeder (Sr. • Oshkosh) tallied a career-high 22 points to help UW-Oshkosh overcome a slow start during its 61-52 women's basketball victory over UW-River Falls on Saturday (Dec. 10) in Kolf Sports Center.
The Falcons (6-3/2-2 WIAC), ranked 25th in the NCAA Division III, bolted to a 10-0 lead just 3:09 into the contest. Responding with 10 unanswered points of their own, the Titans (7-4/2-1 WIAC) went in front late in the first half and stayed on top for the final 22:06.
UW-River Falls marked the game's opening four points at the free throw line. A lay-up and jump shot by Maranda Dohrn put her team ahead by double digits. The Titans then marked two lay-ups and back-to-back triples from Boeder and Katie Kitzke (So. • South Milwaukee) to equal the score at 10 with 14:25 on the clock.
The two squads went back and forth, recording ties at 12, 19 and 22. Alise Holst stole the ball and dropped in a lay-up to put the Falcons up, 16-15, midway through the period. A Boeder basket in the lane with 2:06 remaining gave UW-Oshkosh the lead for good at 24-22.
Boeder drained three free throws and a long-distance jumper to make it a 31-25 Titan advantage at halftime. A 15-5 scoring run, highlighted by seven Shelby Churchill (Sr. • Sheboygan) points, stretched that margin to 46-30 with 9:57 left in the final stanza.
Dohrn took over for the Falcons, marking eight straight points in a span of 1:07, to cut the deficit to eight (50-42). They would get no closer, as Laura Ebbens (Sr. • Appleton) booked six late points and UW-Oshkosh converted its tosses at the charity stripe.
The Titans hit 46 percent of their shots (19-41) from the field, 4-of-10 three-pointers and 19-of-28 free throws (68 percent). Ebbens contributed 11 points, while Churchill added nine points, six rebounds and two blocks. UW-Oshkosh also turned the ball over 17 times and snatched 23 rebounds.
UW-River Falls got 10 boards apiece from Dohrn (15 points) and Holst (12 points). Nikki Guhr tacked on 11 points for the Falcons, who made 2-of-11 deep tries (18 percent) and 16-of-23 free throws (70 percent). Since it hit only 32 percent of its shots, UW-River Falls was able to corral 20 offensive rebounds (39 overall).
UW-Oshkosh has some time off before traveling to Madison for a game against Edgewood College on Dec. 21.
