The UW-Superior women's basketball knew they faced a tough challenge when the undefeated UW-Oshkosh Titans came to town for a WIAC conference showdown at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
After all, the Titans entered the contest sitting at 7-0 on the season and had been outscoring opponents by nearly 25 points per contest.
None of that seemed to faze the Yellowjackets, who stayed within striking distance from the start.
The Titans proved to be too much however, taking advantage of 20 UW-Superior turnovers and outscored the Yellowjackets 10-4 from the free throw line to pull out a hard-fought 56-52 victory.
Neither side proved able to gain much of an edge in the opening half Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders) evened matters 8-8 with a jumper at the 14:23 mark of the opening half.
The Yellowjackets (2-4 overall, 0-2 WIAC) remained close for the next several minutes and found themselves down only 18-16 after another basket by Linzmeier with 7:32 remaining on the clock.
UW-Oshkosh (8-0, 2-0) went on a small burst over the next 1:26, getting a jumper from Ashley Neustifter and two free throws from Sarah Stecker to take their largest lead of the half at 22-16 at the 6:14 mark.
Another jumper by Neustifter put the Titans up 30-23 before a jumper from Britnee Blake (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and a free throw from Hadley Skalmoski (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) in the final 1:52 brought UW-Superior to within 30-26 at the intermission.
Linzmeier's three-pointer early in the second half trimmed the deficit to 30-29 with 18:29 remaining in regulation.
But the Titans scored the next eight points, getting two free throws from Marissa Selner, a jumper and layup from Neustifter and a score from Brittany Mirsberger to up their advantage to 38-29 at the 12:37 mark of the second half.
UW-Oshkosh eventually took their largest lead of the game when Maggie Novak knocked down a three-pointer with 7:57 left to make it a 47-36 game.
The Yellowjackets refused to quit, getting a jumper from Linzmeier, and five points on a layup and three-pointer from Brynn Liljander (Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) to cut the deficit to 52-49 with 53 seconds left in the second half.
After a Blake free throw brought UW-Superior to within 54-52 with nine seconds remaining, the Titans' Taylor Schmidt knocked down two free throws in the final six seconds to finally seal the win for UW-Oshkosh.
Offensively, Linzmeier led all scorers with 21 points while Liljander finished with 13 points. Skalmoski meanwhile had five points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Yellowjackets.
Neustifter finished with 13 points to lead the Titans. Selner and Stecker each added 10 points for UW-Oshkosh.
The Yellowjackets return to action Tuesday evening when they host Northwestern at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on 91.3 FM KUWS with Matt Johnson on the call.