Titans Chop Down Foresters In Final Seconds
   Heidi Baerenwald (So. • Appleton) converted a three-point play with two seconds left to give her 28 points and lead the UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team to a 66-64 win over Lake Forest College (Ill.) on Tuesday (Nov. 17) in Lake Forest, Ill.
Baerenwald, a first-year transfer from Ripon College, tallied her 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 accuracy from the free-throw line. She also grabbed nine rebounds and dished off one assist in her UW-Oshkosh debut.
UW-Oshkosh (1-0), which won its season opener for the 28th time in 36 years, also received 12 points and four assists from Michelle Boeder (Jr. • Oshkosh), eight points from Katie Kitzke (Fr. • South Milwaukee) and six points, six rebounds and three assists from Shelby Churchill (Jr. • Sheboygan).
The Titans led by one point before a jumper from Lisa Nassin put Lake Forest College (0-1) up, 64-63, with 21 seconds remaining. Back down the court, Laura Ebbens (Jr. • Appleton) found Baerenwald in the lane, where her lay-up dropped in while being fouled. Baerenwald converted the foul shot to give the Titans the two-point win and their second straight victory over the Foresters.
UW-Oshkosh opened the game with an 11-4 scoring run, starting with four points from Baerenwald. The run included a three-point basket from Kitzke with 14:55 left in the first half to give the Titans a 9-2 advantage.
Lake Forest College then went on an 8-3 scoring spurt to knot the game at 14 with 8:32 remaining in the opening half. The Foresters built a 20-16 lead, but the Titans rallied back to take a 30-27 halftime advantage thanks to eight points from Boeder and six from Baerenwald.
Baerenwald opened the second half with four straight points to spark UW-Oshkosh to a 35-27 lead with 17:27 to play. Lake Forest College pulled to within 41-39, but a Kitzke three-point play gave the Titans a 44-39 lead with 10:55 left.
The Foresters refused to fold as they tied the score at 45 with 8:11 remaining. The Titans answered the charge with a 15-7 scoring run to take a 60-52 lead with 3:52 to go. But, four free throws by Tracy Rainey and a three-point play by Nassin cut the Foresters' deficit to 60-59 with 1:57 left.
Following two free throws by UW-Oshkosh's Megan Wenig (Fr. • Oshkosh), one by Nassin and one by Ebbens, the Titans owned a 63-60 lead with 1:14 to play. Nassin then scored four straight points to give Lake Forest College a late 64-63 lead.
Nassin and Claire Schmidt both scored 15 points to lead Lake Forest College. Schmidt also tallied 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots. Rainey finished the contest with 14 points and six rebounds.
UW-Oshkosh shot 42.1 percent (24-57) from the field and 68.2 percent (15-22) from the free-throw line. The Titans made 25 percent (3-12) of their three-point shots while committing 17 turnovers.
Lake Forest College made 48.9 percent (23-47) of their field-goal attempts. The Foresters also shot 64.3 percent (18-28) from the free-throw line. Lake Forest College, which turned the basketball over 19 times, missed all four of their three-point shots.
UW-Oshkosh visits Carroll University on Thursday (Nov. 19).
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Titans Can't Keep Up With Badgers In Exhibition Game
  After witnessing the Badgers’ Division I experience and talent during a tough first half, the UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team bounced back with a strong second period in its 106-39 exhibition defeat to the University of Wisconsin on Sunday (Nov. 8) at the Kohl Center in Madison.
The Badgers jumped on the Titans right away as they took a 9-0 lead just 2:07 into play. Tara Steinbauer, who tallied 19 first-half points, converted a trio of buckets to stretch Wisconsin's advantage to 13-2. She amassed four more baskets during a two-minute span to make it 33-2 with 11:18 left in the opening period.
UW-Oshkosh scored its first four points at the free-throw line, including a pair from both Heidi Baerenwald (So. • Appleton) and Laura Ebbens (Jr. • Appleton). A jumper by Michelle Boeder (Jr. • Oshkosh) at the 6:07 mark was the Titans’ first field goal and cut their deficit to 44-6.
Wisconsin’s Rae Lin D’Alie buried back-to-back three-point shots before the break to give her team a 62-8 halftime lead. The Badgers shot 66.7 percent (26-39) from the field and forced 22 turnovers in the opening half.
Shelby Churchill (Jr. • Sheboygan) got UW-Oshkosh on track with a lay-up after intermission. She followed that up by draining a three-point shot and another jumper to cut the Titans' deficit to 78-18.
A pair of freshmen got into the flow as UW-Oshkosh continued to put points on the scoreboard. Megan Wenig (Oshkosh) made a nice spin move in the lane to get free for a lay-up. Katie Kitzke (South Milwaukee) then heated up from behind the arc, knocking down three three-pointers to cut the Badgers' lead to 100-37.
Anya Covington recorded a steal and three baskets during the final five minutes on her way to finishing with 12 points. The Badgers were led by the 25 points of Steinbauer and the 19 of D’Alie.
The Titans got 15 points from Kitzke and nine from Churchill.
UW-Oshkosh finished the game shooting 28.6 percent from both the field (12-42) and behind the three-point line (4-14). The Titans shot 78.6 percent (11-14) from the free-throw line.
Wisconsin, which outscored UW-Oshkosh, 44-31, in the second half, concluded the contest shooting 62.5 percent (45-72) from the field. The Badgers shot 46.7 percent (7-15) behind the three-point line and 90 percent (9-10) from the free-throw stripe.
The Badgers out-rebounded the Titans, 32-24, with Taylor Wurtz and Lin Zastrow grabbing five boards each. Wisconsin finished with 22 assists compared to just four for UW-Oshkosh. The Badgers also won the turnover battle with just nine compared to 32 for UW-Oshkosh. Wisconsin finished with 52 points off of the Titans' turnovers.
The attendance for the game was 4,394, the largest to ever watch a UW-Oshkosh women's basketball game.
UW-Oshkosh officially opens its 2009-10 season at Lake Forest College (Ill.) on Nov. 17.
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Titans To Face Badgers In Exhibition Game
UW-Oshkosh will get the taste of big-time women's college basketball when the Titans play the University of Wisconsin in an exhibition game on Sunday (Nov. 8) at the Kohl Center in Madison. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
UW-Oshkosh is the fifth member of the WIAC to play the Badgers in an exhibition game. The University of Wisconsin is unbeaten in the four previous contests, defeating UW-Platteville (88-33) in 2005, UW-Stevens Point (77-58) in 2006, UW-Stout (98-60) in 2007 and UW-River Falls (71-38) in 2008.
The University of Wisconsin has won its last four games against UW-Oshkosh, with the most recent being a 79-65 victory over the Titans on March 2, 1979 in Oshkosh. UW-Oshkosh posted a 67-58 win over the University of Wisconsin on Feb. 19, 1977 in Madison.
UW-Oshkosh has compiled a 330-110 record the past 16 seasons, with a minimum of 19 victories in 13 of those campaigns. The Titans posted a 7-18 record a year ago.
Tickets are still available for the game, but if you’re not in the area, there are a number of ways you can follow the contest. Log onto UWBadgers.com to watch a live Web stream (fee involved) and follow the live in-game blog. You can also follow along with live stats courtesy of Gametracker.
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Titans' 2009-10 Season Preview
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Fielding one of the youngest teams in the WIAC, UW-Oshkosh hopes its balanced team effort will lead to a rise in the league standings during the 2009-10 women’s basketball season.
The Titans will not have a senior on their roster for the second consecutive season. This year’s group features four juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen. In all, three starters and five letter winners return from last year’s team that posted a 7-18 record.
UW-Oshkosh marked an eighth-place 2-14 WIAC record during the 2008-09 season. Both of the Titans’ WIAC triumphs were against UW-Superior. The team posted back-to-back victories on two occasions, with those four wins coming outside the league.
Head coach Terri Schumacher, who was a NCAA Division III All-America performer for UW-Oshkosh in 1985, enters her fifth season at the helm. Under her guidance, the Titans have posted a 44-58 record. During her first year, Schumacher led UW-Oshkosh to a 12-4 WIAC record and a share of the league title.
Forward Shelby Churchill (Jr. • Sheboygan) figures to be one of the Titans’ leaders in her second season with the team after transferring from UW-Stout. Last year, Churchill earned All-WIAC honorable mention recognition after averaging 9.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. She also topped UW-Oshkosh with shooting marks of 48.4 percent from the field and 78.7 percent at the free-throw line.
Churchill started all 25 games last season and tallied four double-doubles. She amassed 14 points on two occasions, while achieving 16 rebounds in a loss to Carroll University. Churchill concluded the year with 34 steals, 30 assists, 10 blocks and 35 percent three-point shooting.
Guard Michelle Boeder (Jr. • Oshkosh) also started every game last season as she averaged 8.9 points per contest. She tacked on totals of 38 assists and 16 steals. Reaching double-figure scoring 12 times, Boeder tallied 20 points, including six three-point baskets, in a loss to Wartburg College (Iowa).
The final returning starter for the Titans is guard Laura Ebbens (Jr. • Appleton). In her 25 games played and 13 starts last year, Ebbens averaged 7.2 points and finished with a team-best 52 assists. She posted a season-high 17 points in UW-Oshkosh’s second win of the season over UW-Superior.
Guard Megan Lund (So. • Reedsville) and forward Kelsey Myklebust (So. • Wisconsin Dells) are also back. Myklebust saw action in every game last year, tallying 84 points and 45 rebounds. Lund participated in 17 contests and finished with 25 points and 16 boards.
There are eight new faces on the Titans’ roster this year, including two transfers and six freshmen.
Junior forward Dannielle Bauer (Dell Rapids, S.D.) stands 6-foot-three and spent the past two seasons playing for NAIA Division II Black Hills State University (S.D.). Forward Heidi Baerenwald (So. • Appleton) joins UW-Oshkosh after participating in 26 games with Ripon College during the 2008-09 season.
The incoming freshmen are guards Katie Kitzke (South Milwaukee), Katie Potts (McFarland) and Megan Wenig (Oshkosh) and forwards Melissa Franken (St. Francis), Ellen Maves (Scandinavia) and Ashley Winterfeldt (Hortonville).
UW-Oshkosh’s schedule features 25 regular-season games and an exhibition contest at NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin on Nov. 8. The Titans’ first four regular-season games will come against Midwest Conference opponents, including the opener at Lake Forest College (Ill.) on Nov. 17. Late in December, UW-Oshkosh will travel to Phoenix, Ariz., for a pair of games at the Grand Canyon Classic.
UW-Oshkosh’s WIAC schedule begins with a road game at UW-Eau Claire on Dec. 2. In January, the Titans will play a team ranked in the top 25 of the D3hoops.com NCAA Division III preseason poll four times in six games. That stretch features back-to-back home contests against eighth-ranked UW-Whitewater and 25th-ranked UW-Stout.
UW-Oshkosh ends its regular-season schedule at UW-Whitewater on Feb. 17.
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