UW Oshkosh is accomplishing a somewhat rare feat in its women’s basketball program. For the first time since 2018, the No. 9 nationally ranked Titans are off to a 9-0 undefeated start to the regular season.
In recent program history, only two seasons have had a better start: In 2017, the Titans enjoyed a 10 game winning streak to open the season, and in 2013, a 13 game win streak that lasted until January 8, 2014.
A strong Titan Performance at its Titan Classic tournament hosted at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells last weekend, gave UWO two big wins over Augustana University of Illinois, as well as the University of Northwestern (Minnesota) which were won 77-52 and 79-35, respectively.
Graduate Student Alex Randorf gave 31 of the Titan’s 156 points over the weekend, going a combined 12-for-19 from the field, and 7-14 in three point field goals.
On Friday, a strong third quarter helped propel the Titans to a 25-point victory over the Vikings. Coming off of a ten-point lead at the half, the Titans scored the first seven points of the third quarter as Rondorf hit a three and fifth year senior Kayce Vaile made two layups. Rondorf followed a Viking layup with yet another made 3-pointer, increasing UWO’s edge to 18 points and Vaile tallied a good free throw, putting the Titans up 44-25 with 6:36 to go. Short runs for the Titans were cut off by Augustana, however their lead slowly grew to 24 points by the end of the third quarter and Sammi Beyer punctuated the scoring bonanza on a last-second jumper for UWO’s 60th point.
Three made shots from the charity stripe nearly brought the Vikings within 20 points of the Titans early in quarter four but Oshkosh had another idea. Sophomore Mallory Hoitink hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Rondorf made her fourth three to extend the lead to 30 points, the largest lead of the contest. Augustana got back within 21 points with nine straight by 2:18, then got outscored, 8-4, as sophomore Hope Barington, and juniors Mayah Holzhueter and Mahra Wieman all came off the bench to score in the final few minutes of play.
In the final game of the tournament against the UNW Eagles, The Titans recorded a 50 percent (31-of-62) clip from the field with 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from three and 80 percent (8-of-10) from the line, leading in all three categories. The Titans dominated under the basket by out-rebounding the Eagles (4-5) by a 45 to 19 margin, the most since recording 46 at Roanoke College in Virginia on Dec. 20, 2022.
The Titans also led 17-7 in assists, 36-12 in bench points, 3-1 in blocks, 9-3 in steals, 20-2 in points off turnovers, 38-14 in points in the paint and 13-2in second chance points.
UWO never allowed the Eagles to score more than two consecutive points throughout the second quarter and while its longest run through the middle of the period was four points, tallied eight to close out the half on three straight layups by Vaile and a Rondorf three with four seconds to go. Northwestern was looking to score for the first time in two-and-a-half-minutes as time expired, however Rondorf stole the ball and sent the teams to their locker rooms with the score at 50-21 at halftime.
The Eagles did not score until nearly half of the third quarter had ticked off the clock while Oshkosh had added five points to its total. Later in the quarter the teams traded baskets on four consecutive possessions for the first time since the end of the first quarter, wrapped up at the 44-second mark by Rondorf with a layup. Hoitink went up for a shot and was fouled before the end of the period and sank both free throws, increasing Oshkosh’s edge to 63-30. UWO held a monopoly on scoring in the back half of the final quarter, scoring on a fifth year Allison Forney three, a sophomore Ashlyn Knapp jump shot, Wieman layup and a Holzhueter transition layup.
The Titans will look to extend the win streak when it co-hosts the UW Oshkosh BSN Winter Classic with the men’s basketball team to close out the calendar year on Dec. 29 and 30. The Titans will play No.18 ranked Trine University (Indiana), whom it defeated in the second round of the NCAA Championship Tournament last season with a score of 74-48, beginning at 2:30. The Titans will return to Kolf on January 4th to begin WIAC action against UW-Stout.
