The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team forced 15 turnovers and eight steals, but the Titans fell to UW-Whitewater 65-57 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference semifinals Feb. 24 at the Williams Center.

In the defensive battle, UWO (19-8, 8-6 WIAC) was held to just 35.8% shooting from the floor and 26.1% from behind the arc. The Titans were led by guard Ava Douglas, who scored16 points while fellow guard Jenna Jorgensen added 12 points and seven boards. Forward Kayce Vaile and guard Kate Huml each scored nine points in the game, and Vaile finished with a game-high 12 rebounds. Every starter for UWO played at least 29 minutes of game time and the bench, which had six players play a total of 31 minutes, scored six points.

For Whitewater (20-6, 10-4 WIAC), guard Maggie Trautsch scored a game-high 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting behind the arc. Junior guard Kacie Carollo finished with 15 points and eight rebounds while senior forward Abby Belschner finished with 13 points. The Warhawks shot 40% from the floor and from behind the arc and forced 12 UWO turnovers.

UWO started the game with two quick baskets from Douglas and Vaile to take an early 4-0 lead. Trautsch responded with a layup for Whitewater, but Jorgensen nailed a 3-pointer, kickstarting a 10-0 run to give the Titans a 14-2 lead with under four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Oshkosh only made one shot for the remainder of the period, allowing UWW to go on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to four points by the end of the first quarter.

Whitewater’s hot shooting continued into the second quarter, and UWW went on a 10-3 run to take a three-point lead following a Yssa Sto. Domingo 3-pointer. The Warhawks scored five more points before Vaile hit a 3-pointer for UWO’s first basket in over six minutes. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the second quarter, and Oshkosh went into the locker room at halftime trailing 32-27.

In the third quarter, Jorgensen hit a 3-pointer to narrow the UWW lead to four points but the Warhawks responded with a 9-2 run to increase their lead to 11 points with under two minutes to go in the period. UWO’s Avery Poole and Douglas added four points for the Titans in the final minute of the period as Oshkosh trailed 43-36 at the end of the third quarter.

UWO came within five points of UWW in the fourth quarter, but the Titans could not get a stop defensively and the Warhawks cruised to an eight-point victory.

The Titans will take on Washington and Lee University (Va.) (22-6) in Ada, Ohio, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament March 3 at 5:30 p.m.