The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team defeated UW-La Crosse 77-52 in the second round of the WIAC Tournament on Wednesday night (Feb. 21), hosted at the Kolf Sports Center.
Kayce Vaile led the Titans with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Mackenzie Tlachac collected 15 points and Kennedy Osterman registered 12 points with six rebounds and six assists. UWO’s Bridget Froehlke had 11 points and six rebounds.
The Titans shot 51.6 percent (32-of-62) from the field, 30.8 (4-of-18) from 3-point range, and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the line, leading the Eagles in field goal and free throw percentages. The Titans also led in points off turnovers (13-6), second chance points (12-2), points in the paint (50-16), and bench points (29-6).
La Crosse opened the first quarter with a jump shot followed by a free throw to put the Eagles on the board. Vaile secured a layup to bring the game to a one point difference followed by a jump shot from Froehlke to capture the lead. The Eagles took the edge back with a three-pointer before a jump shot from Froehlke tied the score, 6-6, with 3:24 left in the first quarter. The Titans went on a 12-point spree to secure an 18-6 lead and the quarter ended with a three-pointer from the Eagles.
The teams exchanged 3-pointers to open the second quarter followed by a 3-pointer and a two, both from Olivia Argall. A layup from Vaile secured an 11-point lead for the Titans, which La Crosse followed up with a jump shot before a three-pointer from Argall brought the lead back to 12 points. The Eagles converted a pair of free throws, while Tlachac scored two layups for Oshkosh. The Titans went on an eight-point run to lead by 20 points over La Crosse. The Eagles closed out the second quarter with a 3-pointer.
The Eagles opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, followed by a layup. Kate Huml registered a jump shot before La Crosse shot another 3-pointer. Sarah Hardwick scored off a layup followed by two free throws from the Eagles and the teams went back and forth with points for the remainder of the quarter while the Titans held a convincing 16 point lead.
A jump shot from the Eagles kickstarted the fourth quarter, leading to a 3-pointer from Osterman. A jump shot from the Eagles was followed by an 11-0 run from the Titans to hold a 26-point lead. La Crosse was unable to come back from the deficit and the Titans secured the 25-point victory.
The Titans will face UW-Stout in the WIAC Championship game on Friday (Feb. 23) at the Kolf Sports Center at 7 p.m. UWO swept the Blue Devils in the regular season, winning by scores of 63-58 and 58-47. The Titans have not lost to the Blue Devils at home since a 77-71 double-overtime loss on January 11, 2020. UW-Stout advanced to the WIAC title matchup by defeating UW-Platteville 81-71 on Monday (Feb. 19) and UW-Whitewater 69-59 on Wednesday (Feb. 21). Both wins came on the road.
