WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis.- In a battle between of pair of teams appearing in the national polls, UW-Oshkosh women's basketball defeated Coe College (Iowa), 53-46, on Friday (Dec. 19) in the first day of the Justagame DIII Invitational.
 
With the win, the Titans (8-0), ranked third by D3hoops.com and fourth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, moved to 4-0 against the Kohawks (8-2, 3-0 A-R-C), who are receiving votes in both polls, all time.
 
Oshkosh shot 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the field, made six 3-pointers, and went 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the line while holding Coe to 35.2 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from three, and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
 
The Kohawks outrebounded the Titans, 37-24, and scored 28 points in the paint to Oshkosh's 22, but committed 21 turnovers, 12 of which were stolen possessions. The Titans recorded 12 turnovers and Coe had five steals. Oshkosh scored 24 points off the Kohawks' turnovers, six on second chances, and 18 off the bench.
 
Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) tallied the first point of the game with a free throw after being fouled on the first possession. Coe hit a 3-pointer and made a layup to claim a 5-1 edge before responding to a layup by Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) with another two points. Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) kicked off a 12-0 Oshkosh run with the first of her three 3s. Mayah Holzhueter (Cambridge/Cambridge) recorded all of the last five points of the quarter across 1:36.
 
Holzhueter continued both the Titans' and her own scoring run by converting an and-1 jumper at 9:26 in the second quarter. She nearly extended the lead again on an attempt from beyond the arc after Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy) stole her second steal before Coe ended its 7:24 scoreless drought by making a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 18-10. After a few minutes of back-and-forth scoring, Oshkosh pushed their lead to 32-18 on a 7-0 spurt than included a Hope Barington (Sobieski/Notre Dame Academy) layup and five Seckar points. The Kohawks finished the half with four points across 56 seconds. Oshkosh led 32-22 after 20 minutes of play.
 
In an even third quarter that included nine turnovers, Coe edged the Titans, 10-9, and scored the only two consecutive baskets at 2:43 and 2:05. Argall scored Oshkosh's first points of the period with a 3-pointer, Hardwick made a free throw, and Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) notched a layup and a 3.
 
While the Titans fought off the Kohawks at the beginning of the fourth quarter on 3-pointers from Argall and Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East), Coe eventually broke through with a 9-2 run which made the score 49-44 with 25 seconds to play. The Kohawks went into foul mode to get possession, sending Seckar to the line twice. She bookended Oshkosh's scoring with four free throws in the last 24 seconds and the Kohawks made an uncontested layup with five seconds on the clock.
 
Seckar shot 3-of-8 from the field and made seven of nine free throw attempts for a team-high 13 points while tying Hardwick for the Titans' most on Saturday with six. Seckar added a season-best four assists and Hardwick's five steals matched her career best from the third round of last season's NCAA Division III Championship at Illinois Wesleyan University on March 14.
 
The Titans will wrap up their trip to the Dells on Saturday (Dec. 19) with an 11 a.m. contest against Edgewood University (5-4, 4-0 NACC). Since the programs' first meeting in 1994, Oshkosh is 14-1 against the Eagles and has won each of the last seven games dating back to a 62-40 win in Madison on November 25, 2014.