Paige Seckar turned in a season-high 19-point performance off the bench as the UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team won 68-50 over UW-La Crosse at Kolf Sports Center on Saturday.
Seckar scored 19 points on 7-of-13 from the field including 1-of-1 from three and 3-of-3 from the line while matching team highs of 11 rebounds (four offensive), three assists, and a block.
The Titans’ second and third double-digit scorers were Kayce Vaile, who scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds (five offensive), and Sammi Beyer, who tallied 16.
Alex Rondorf registered three steals and three assists. Avery Poole was the third Titan to notch a trio of assists and both Sarah Hardwick and Olivia Argall blocked a shot each.
UWO shot 46.4% from the field, 28.6% from three, and 83.3% from the charity stripe with 40 combined rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks, and five steals.
The Eagles won the opening tip and scored first with a 3-pointer, extending their lead to four points at 10-6 before Seckar sank two free throws and a pair of layups to swap the lead to Oshkosh’s favor. La Crosse responded with a layup and a three to briefly retake the lead and Seckar scored her eight point on a game-tying 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining in the period.
Neither team scored until nearly three minutes of the second quarter had passed. The Eagles broke the 15-15 tie with two free throws and responded to a Vaile layup with another. Vaile converted another layup, followed by one from Allison Forney to put Oshkosh up three points with 5:38 left in the half. La Crosse retied the score one more time before Beyer outscored the WIAC foe, 9-2, the rest of the way with three shots from beyond the arc. Mahra Wieman closed out scoring by making a layup at 50 seconds and Argall blocked the Eagles’ final shot before the teams headed to their locker rooms.
Poole opened the second half with three points. The following five minutes saw just two baskets, both made by the Eagles to cut the deficit to eight points. Vaile made another layup to kick off an 8-0 run for Oshkosh, putting the Titans up 16 points, 43-27. Oshkosh and La Crosse traded baskets for the next two minutes with the Eagles eating away at the Titans’ lead with three 3-point shots and a jumper against one three and a layup for Oshkosh.
UWO strung together small runs of six, five, and four points across the fourth quarter, sitting at a 17-point, 65-48, lead with just over two minutes to go. The Eagles scored their final points of the matchup with a layup at 1:54. Poole hit one free throw and Beyer hit two for Oshkosh’s last points in the final 35 seconds.
