OSHKOSH, Wis.- UW-Platteville grinded out a 47-43 win over previously unbeaten UW-Oshkosh in matchup of nationally ranked women's basketball teams Wednesday (Feb. 4) in Kolf Sports Center.
 
Platteville (16-4, 6-3 WIAC) scored 10 unanswered points to turn a 37-30 deficit with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter into a 40-37 advantage at the 4:30 mark. The Pioneers entered the night ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com and receiving votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
 
Oshkosh (19-1, 8-1 WIAC), the consensus third-ranked team in the nation, forged a tie at 43 with 42 seconds remaining, but Platteville answered with a jumper on the ensuing possession and the Titans committed a turnover with under 10 seconds to go. The Pioneers iced the victory with a layup out of a timeout with under six ticks left.
 
Platteville, which snapped a six-game losing streak to the Titans, moves into a tie for second in the WIAC standings with UW-Whitewater (16-4, 6-3).
 
Oshkosh still leads the conference by two games despite suffering its first setback of the season. The Titans, who went into the night as one of eight undefeated NCAA women's basketball programs, including five in Division III, were seeking their third 20-0 start in program history after accomplishing the feat in 1995-96 and 1998-99.
 
Ella Mackiewicz, the WIAC leading scorer heading into Wednesday, paced all players with 14 points to go along with six rebounds and a pair of blocks for Platteville, which also received 10 points and six boards from Tatum Weir. Madalyn Reichmann chipped in nine points and a game-best three assists for the Pioneers.
 
Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) and Avery Polle had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Oshkosh while Mallory Hoitink (Hartford/Slinger) added eight points and Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy) grabbed a game-high seven rebounds to go with three blocks.
 
Platteville shot 33.3 percent (19-57) from the field, 16.7 percent (3-18) from 3-point range and 85.7 percent (6-7) at the free throw line. The Pioneers owned advantages of 40-30 in rebounds, 11-13 in turnovers and 5-4 in blocks. Both teams had seven assists.
 
Oshkosh went 16-for-47 (34 percent) from the floor, 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc and 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) at the foul line. The Titans, who entered the contest leading the NCAA across all divisions at 9.2 turnovers per game, held a 5-4 edge in steals.
Both squads shot just 26.7 percent (8-30) from the field during the first half and went into intermission tied at 18.
 
Oshkosh claimed a 34-30 lead after three quarters, going 6-for-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range in the third period. However, Platteville held the Titans scoreless for more than five minutes after Avery Poole's (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) three-point play provided Oshkosh its largest lead of seven points at 37-30 with 9:33 to play.
 
Platteville's decisive 10-0 scoring run began with five points from Reichmann, continued with a pair of Alexis Strom free throws and culminated on a three-point play by Ava Hanson that provided the Pioneers a 40-37 lead at the 4:30 mark.
 
Two Poole free throws knotted the score at 43 with 42 seconds left, but Reichmann hit a leaning jumper on the next Pioneer possession for a 45-43 edge. Oshkosh then stepped out of bounds with just under six seconds to go before Platteville put the game away less than two seconds later on Weir's layup.
 
Oshkosh remains at home to host UW-River Falls (12-8, 5-4 WIAC) at 3 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 7) in Kolf Sports Center. The Titans downed the Falcons, 65-33, in River Falls on January 17.