STEVENS POINT, Wis. – In a matchup of top-15 teams, the No. 14 UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team cut an eight-point deficit in the final three minutes to two but came up empty on its final possession, falling 61-59 to No. 11 UW-Oshkosh on Saturday afternoon at Berg Gym.
UW-Stevens Point (15-4, 6-2 WIAC) had the ball down two with 1.6 seconds remaining out of a timeout. From in front of their bench, the Pointers inbounded the ball into the near corner and looked for Allie Miceli on a cut to the rim but Marissa Selner stole the pass to help UW-Oshkosh (16-3, 7-1 WIAC) hang on for the win.
The win puts the Titans alone in first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) standings, one game ahead of the Pointers and UW-River Falls, which lost to UW-Whitewater. UW-Stevens Point is now 5-3 against ranked teams this season.
UW-Oshkosh held a 61-53 lead with 2:50 remaining after Taylor Schmidt found Morgan Kokta for a jumper before UW-Stevens Point chipped away at the visitors' lead. Two free throws by Lauren Anklam and a three-point play from Allie Miceli with 54 seconds left brought the Pointers within a pair, as UWSP held UW-Oshkosh without a point after Kokta's jumper.
Schmidt had a look at a jumper that would have made it a two-possession game with three seconds left but came up short and Miceli secured the rebound and quickly called timeout, setting up the final possession.
Schmidt shot 8-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-5 from behind the arc, on her way to a game-high 21 points and also handed out five assists. Alex Richard scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half for the Titans.
Miceli paced UW-Stevens Point with 13 points and seven rebounds on 6-for-8 from the field. Anklam knocked down all six of her free throws to score 11, while Sarah Gamillo came off the bench to hit a pair of threes and score nine.
UW-Oshkosh shot 47.2 percent (25-for-53) from the field in the game, compared to 45.0 percent (18-for-40) for UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers hit 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) from the free-throw line to help offset the Titans' 27-9 advantage in points off turnovers. UW-Stevens Point's bench outscored UW-Oshkosh's 23-10 in the game.
The Titans led 35-29 at the half but opened up a 13-point lead early in the second half. UW-Oshkosh started the half on a 9-2 run capped by a three-point play from Eliza Campbell. Campbell and Schmidt combined to score all nine points during the run.
The Pointers cut the 13-point deficit to four with an 11-2 run that ended with 1:29 left in the third. Four different players scored for UW-Stevens Point in the run but Campbell sent the Titans to the fourth with a seven-point lead with a three.
Neither team led by more than four in the opening quarter. UW-Stevens Point held a 20-15 lead early in the second before UW-Oshkosh took control with a 17-5 run.
UW-Stevens Point starts a two road-game week at UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.