MENOMONIE (January 18, 2013) - The Blue Devils led for nearly the entire game, but lights out foul shooting by Oshkosh down the stretch proved to be too much as Stout fell 74-62 at Johnson Fieldhouse.

Both teams started off slow offensively, as the Blue Devils (6-11, 2-6 WIAC) made just one of their first 12 shots while Oshkosh (15-1, 6-1 WIAC) started 1-13 from the field.

A tenacious defensive effort contributed to the Blue Devils early success, as the Titans missed all nine of their first half three-point attempts. Stout also controlled the glass, grabbing 28 first half rebounds, including 11 offensive compared to just 16 total boards for Oshkosh.

The Blue Devils also had seven steals in the period, including three by Sami Schoeder (Sr, Durand) and two from Brea Boomer (Jr, Grand Portage, Minn.).

Leading 9-5 at the 11 minute mark, a Nicki Alexander (Jr, Wabasha, Minn.) layup followed by a Schoeder three pointer on the next possession jump started the Blue Devil offense. On the next time down, Schoeder hit another three to put Stout up 17-7. Stout would shoot 8-16 from the field the rest of the half.

Despite the poor shooting initially, the Blue Devils never trailed in the half, taking a 32-20 lead into the locker room at the break.

Schoeder, who went down with an ankle injury in the second, scored a team-high 10 points, all in the first half.

Fouls and free throws were the real story of the game, as Stout committed 35 fouls and Oshkosh shot 36-47 from the foul line.
 
Oshkosh came out of the break shooting, scoring seven straight points to begin the second to cut the lead to 32-27.

The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes, with Stout keeping their lead between five and eight points over that time.

With the Blue Devils leading 43-35 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, Oshkosh ripped off an 8-0 run to tie the game for the first time with 8:42 to go.

The teams went back-and-forth for the next three minutes, as Stout would go up only to have Oshkosh tie the game the next time down the court.

Oshkosh seized their first lead of the game with 4:53 remaining, going up 55-54 when Taylor Schmidt converted an and-one opportunity. Stout would trail for the remainder of the game.

The Titans free throw shooting down the stretch proved to be the difference in the game. In the last five minutes, Oshkosh shot 16-17 from the line, including 8-8 over the last 40 seconds.

After being dominated on the boards in the first half, Oshkosh did much better in the second, outrebounding Stout 19-13 in the half. The Blue Devils still managed to win the rebounding battle overall, 41-35.

Becca Smith (Fr, Victoria, Minn.) had 9 points off the bench for the Blue Devils. Boomer grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds, 3 on the offensive end, to go with 3 steals and 6 points. Haley Froelich (Jr, Mondovi) chipped in five rebounds and 7 points for Stout.

 For Oshkosh, Taylor Schmidt and Katelyn Kuehl led all scorers with 16 points each while shooting a combined 21-27 from the charity stripe. Kuehl also added 8 rebounds. Sarah Stecker had 11 points and 6 boards for the Titans.

The Blue Devils will have a week between games before they travel to Eau Claire to take on the Blugolds Saturday, Jan. 25.