UW Oshkosh women’s basketball laid the lumber on a rebuilding Edgewood squad 69-28.
Oshkosh was led by junior Eliza Campbell’s 16 points. The Titans gave up six points in the first half putting on a defensive showcase, helping UWO win its season opener for the eighth straight season.
Cali Twet led Edgewood College with 15 points, but an 8-0 start by Oshkosh was enough to put this one out of reach from the beginning.
Senior point guard Taylor Schmidt said she was impressed with the way the entire team performed Tuesday night.
“We actually had a lot of people step up,” Schmidt said. “I think everyone had a chance to play so it was cool to start off the year like that.”
The Titans scored 26 points off 20 turnovers and out-rebounded Edgewood 55-26. Head coach Brad Fischer said the team got off to a fast start.
“We got good looks to start and I thought our energy was pretty good,” Fischer said. “That’s important because every game momentum kind of swings on a couple of plays here and there and things can get away from you.”
Campbell had a dominant performance, leading all scorers hitting 8 of 12 shots from the floor and 6 of 7 in the second half. Emma Melotik and Madeline Staples combined for 16 points off the bench.
Campbell said her summer job led to increased hours at the gym.
“I was fortunate enough to get a job where I was actually right in the gym during the summer,” Campbell said. “I really started to improve my shot and get more athletic. Thankfully last night I was able to show it and hopefully I continue to do that throughout the year.”
In the game of basketball, if a team holds an opponent to 22 percent shooting from the floor, odds are that team is going to win.
Fischer said the improvement from Campbell and the depth on defense was a big part of Tuesday night’s win.
“She has gotten a lot better from last year,” Fischer said. “She’s more of an inside out threat; she was shooting from the outside, so I’m not sure people saw her as a true threat. Our depth has to be one of our strengths. I feel like we have a lot of good players and if we can shore up that depth of the bench just to buy some time for our starters, I think it will allow us to do some special things.”
A dominant win can create many smiles but there is always something to improve on, as UWO shot under 24 percent from three and just 50 percent from the free throw line.
Fischer said that has to improve if they want to contend with superior teams.
“I thought we had good shots and looks and I thought for the most part the right people were taking them so we have to be better at that,” Fischer said. “We are going to get looks and people are going to give us some shots from three so we are going to have to knock them down.”
