Pioneers victorious in overtime at Oshkosh

OSHKOSH, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team (11-8, 3-5 WIAC) defeated UW-Oshkosh (11-8, 4-4 WIAC) for the first time since the 2011-12 season with a 69-65 overtime win. The women's team's overtime victory at the Kolf Sports Center and the men's 91-87 win in double overtime on Bo Ryan Court marks the first time the women's and men's teams went into overtime on the same night since January 23, 2002, coincidentally against UW-Oshkosh.  

Notes from the Pioneers

Sophomore Allison Heckert banked in a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to send the game into overtime. After the game, Heckert said, "Coach set up a play, but Oshkosh was face guarding everyone so it didn't work as it was drawn up. The ball eventually came to me and I immediately felt the clock running down and knew I needed to get a shot off. I got a running three and when it banked in I was completely surprised, but I knew we had the game after that."

Sophomore Kaite Asche lent a big helping hand, especially in the first quarter and finished the first half 3-of-3 from the floor. When asked about her hot start after the game, Asche said, "It was very important to get those early scores down low; they gave us a lot of momentum that continued throughout the game. We knew we needed to work inside out and once we did it opened up a lot for us."

First half

• The Titans jumped to a strong 10-2 lead during the first five minutes of the game, but the Pioneers battled back to narrow UW-Oshkosh's advantage to 18-15 going into the second quarter.
• Just a little more than a minute into the second quarter, the Pioneers had tied the game 18-18 followed by a three-point basket by UW-Oshkosh's Leah Porath before both teams went cold until the 4:15 mark.
• Heckert closed out the half with a jump shot and a three-pointer to keep it a one possession game at the half as the Titans led 28-26.
• Overall, UW-Platteville shot 41.7% (10-of-24) from the field and were 33.3% (4-of-12) from three point territory while the Titans shot 42.3% (11-of-26) from the floor and were 20.0% (2-of-10) from three point range.

Second half

• UW-Platteville pulled away by as much as six with a 38-32 lead with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
• With less than a minute left, the Titans tied the game back up 38-38 and took a brief 39-38 lead before a made layup by senior Morgan Horstman gave the Pioneers a 40-39 lead with one quarter left.
• While the game remained a one possession game, the Pioneers' largest lead of 49-45 fell at the 6:05 mark.
• The Titans took a 51-50 lead with 4:13 remaining and the Pioneers trailed 56-52 with 0:18 left in regulation.
• UW-Platteville called a timeout and junior Jai Clemons' made layup at the 0:13 made drew the Pioneers within two.
• Nikki Arneson missed her first free throw and made her second to give the Pioneers a chance to send the game into overtime with ten seconds remaining. Heckert banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer and the teams went into overtime.
• UW-Platteville shot 44.8% (13-of-29) from the field while shooting 28.6% (2-of-7) from three point range. UW-Oshkosh closed the half shooting 37.5% (9-of-24) from the field and 20.0% (1-of-5) from behind the three point arc.

Overtime

• Locked 57-57 at the start of overtime, UW-Oshkosh scored first with a made layup by Arneson followed by a jumper from Heckert to keep things tied 59-59 with 2:46 left in OT.
• The Pioneers ended overtime with a 10-6 run that concluded with two successful free throws from junior Maiah Domask to give the Pioneers the 69-65 lead with just 0:02 remaining.

Notables 

• UW-Platteville improves to 11-8 overall and 3-5 in the WIAC.
• UW-Oshkosh falls to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in the league.
• Domask's earned her ninth double-double of the season, and fifth consecutive, which consisted of 14 points and 12 rebounds in addition to 3 assists and one steal.
• UW-Platteville snapped the WIAC's longest active losing streak to a conference opponent with the Pioneers' first vicotry over UW-Oshkosh since a 68-63 road win on January 25, 2012.
• Until Wednesday night, January 23, 2002 was the last night both the women's and men's teams saw overtime on the same night. Coincidentally, the Pioneers faced UW-Oshkosh on that very night and although the men's Pioneer team won 75-72 at UW-Oshkosh, the women's team fell 74-72 in Williams Fieldhouse.
• The Pioneers first responders dished out 26 points to UW-Oshkosh's 13 points from the bench.
• The night saw 11 lead changes and seven ties.
• Heckert had a team high and career high 15 points a long with three assists.
• Asche dished out a career high 14 points.
• Horstman tallied 10 points and pulled down six boards.
• Overall, UW-Platteville shot 43.3% (26-of-60) from the field with 30% (6-of-20) from three-point territory. UW-Oshkosh closed the night shooting 38.3% (23-of-60) from the field and was 26.3% (5-of-19) from behind the three-point arc.
• The Pioneers finished 55.0% (11-of-20) from the free throw line while the Titans were 82.4% (14-of-17). 

Remarks from Coach McNiff

After a huge overtime win at her alma mater, head coach Kelly McNiff said, "Tonight, unlike other games, we had a really tough start. However, I think the response from our kids after being down 10-2 really set the tone for the rest of the game. We stayed the course, chipped away at their lead, and continued to battle. We played hard and focused on matching Oshkosh's physicality." 

With a bye weekend ahead, McNiff said, "This is a huge conference road win, but beating Oshkosh is not our end goal. The next game is the biggest game of the year. We are going to enjoy some well-deserved time off and come back ready to take on a very talented UW-La Crosse team."

Up next

The Pioneers have a bye weekend and then will hit the road next Wednesday, Feb. 5 for No. 20 UW-La Crosse with game time set for 7 p.m.