The fifth-ranked UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team improved its record to 7-0 with a 69-52 victory over Loras College and a 67-19 win against Mount Mary University at the Kolf Sports Center.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster, but we really need to prove ourselves against the bigger teams coming up,” junior Alex Richard said.

Loras College played the Titans close a year ago, but UWO jumped out to a 12-point lead at the half on Wednesday night.

To prepare for the game against Loras, UWO athlete player of the week, Taylor Schmidt said she relaxed.

“I’m not over-thinking things,” Schmidt said. “I’m not making it bigger than it has to be because we know it’s going to be one of the tougher teams we’re going to play this year.”

Schmidt said the team prepared by using knowledge from past games and polishing what was already practiced “We’ll be prepared for anything to come our way,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said confidence, not arrogance, was key when it came to being ready for the game against Loras.

“I trust my team,” Schmidt said. “I have all the confidence in the world in them to play their best and work things out.”

Sophomore Eliza Campbell said working things out is exactly what the Titans did, but their free throws still need work.

Campbell led the Titans with seventeen points off the bench.

On Dec. 4, the Titans held the Blue Angels to 19 points, the fewest points allowed in program history since their win over Ripon College in 1993.

Schmidt said the team has strong leaders.

“I feel pretty confident,” Schmidt said. “We have people on the floor who are going to do what it takes to get what needs to be done.” S

chmidt said the team needs to talk more during possessions.

“One thing we could work on is communication as a team,” Schmidt said. “Even on the bench, by communicating the little things more effectively.”

Richard said she thought the defense could have been a little better against the Blue Angels.

“I could have made a bigger presence defending on the perimeter,” Richard said. “I’ve never defended on the perimeter before, so I could work on that and we all could have defended ball screens better.”

By the end of the second quarter, the Titans led the Blue Angels by 35 points, allowing the opportunity for those usually on the bench to get more playing time as none of the UWO’s starters played more than 13 minutes.

Campbell said the team has the ability to play anyone in multiple different situations.

“The fact that we had a deep bench and we could keep playing a lot of people and score helped boost us,” Campbell said.

Schmidt said playing the bench players allowed perfect opportunities for them to prove themselves in the game.

“I’m not sure if so many on the bench would have played if we weren’t so far ahead,” Schmidt said.

“It was a good opportunity for those to show what they have in the game instead of just during practice.”

The Titans’ bench scored 42 of its 67 points and contributed 28 rebounds and 11 assists.

Schmidt went into both games as UWO’s player of the week and Richard said she wasn’t surprised.

“I’m super proud of her; she deserves it,” Richard said. “I’ve known Taylor for a long time and she’s worked her butt off, so she deserves it.”

Schmidt said she didn’t think anything of the player of the week award.

“It’s just a team thing to me,” Schmidt said. “If I didn’t have my teammates, I wouldn’t be there. We have 17 players that could be that player of the week.”

The Titans play their third consecutive home game against St. Norbert College on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 3 p.m.