A standout defensive performance propelled the UW-Oshkosh women's basketball team to a 53-41 victory over UW-Stevens Point in the 100th meeting of the two programs on Saturday (Jan. 24) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh, which has won four of the last five games in the longest rivalry in the WIAC, never trailed in avenging a 54-47 loss at UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 10. The Titans improved their record to 52-48 in the all-time series with the Pointers.

The Titans held UW-Stevens Point to its lowest scoring output in the 90 games since a 47-41 loss at UW-La Crosse on Jan. 14, 2012. UW-Oshkosh, which sports the top scoring defense in the conference at 53.2 points per game, limited its opponent to less than 50 points for the second straight contest and the sixth time this season.

UW-Oshkosh (15-3, 7-2 WIAC) remained tied atop the league standings with UW-Superior. UW-Stevens Point (9-9, 4-5 WIAC) fell one spot to fifth place.

Alex Richard and Marissa Selner paced UW-Oshkosh with 11 points apiece. Richard made 4 of 7 shots from the floor and 3 of 4 from the free throw line to go along with six rebounds. Selner converted 4 of 5 attempts from the field and 3 of 6 from the foul line while adding a game-high eight rebounds.

The Titans, ranked 24th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, also received nine points from Ashley Neustifter, eight from Taylor Schmidt and seven from Katelyn Kuehl.

UW-Oshkosh held advantages in shooting percentage (.442 to .321), rebounds (37-33) and blocks (4-1). UW-Stevens Point entered the game with a WIAC-best +9.5 rebounding margin. The Titans connected on 2 of 9 shots (22.2 percent) behind the 3-point arc and 13 of 23 attempts (56.5 percent) from the free throw line.

The Titans made their first seven shots from the field and raced out to a 19-6 lead at the 12:26 mark. UW-Oshkosh scored its first basket on a layup by Neustifter 20 seconds into the game and didn't miss a field goal for nearly six minutes. The Titans' seventh straight shot from the floor came on a Taylor Schmidt layup that gave UW-Oshkosh its first double-digit cushion of the game at 17-6.

UW-Stevens Point trimmed its deficit to nine points on two occasions late in the first half, but a 3-pointer by Neustifter gave UW-Oshkosh a 29-17 lead at halftime, and the Titans held a lead of 10 or more points for the last 21:19 of the contest.

UW-Oshkosh outshot UW-Stevens Point, .522 (12-23) to .333 (8-24), from the floor in the first half and had a 20-9 advantage in rebounds.

The Titans tallied the first five points of the second half to tie their largest lead of 17 points at 34-17 with 17:46 left. The Pointers responded with six unanswered points to pull within 34-23 before UW-Oshkosh reeled off six straight points of its own for a 40-23 advantage at the 12:57 mark.

The Pointers got within 44-34 with seven minutes to play, but the Titans put the game away with a 7-0 run for a 51-34 lead at the 3:08 mark. Richard scored five of UW-Oshkosh's points during the skein that featured four missed field goals and two turnovers by UW-Stevens Point.

Allie Miceli had a game-high 15 points for the Pointers, who also received eight points and a team-high seven rebounds from Kaitlyn Jacobs.

UW-Stevens Point, which shot 31.3 percent (10-32) from the floor in the second half, held slim advantages in turnovers (12-15) and steals (11-10).

UW-Oshkosh is off until Saturday (Jan. 31) when it travels to UW-Stout. The Titans defeated the Blue Devils, 94-71, on Jan. 14.