Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball outscored UW-Oshkosh 16-5 to to over come a nine point fourth quarter deficit to win their first ever Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament (presented by Culvers) on Friday night. 

THE BASICS 
Final Score: #2 UW-La Crosse 52, #1 UW-Oshkosh 49,
Location: Kolf Sports Center, Oshkosh, Wis.
Records: UWL 18-9, UW-Oshkosh 24-3
National Rankings: Going into tonight's game, UW-Oshkosh was ranked #1 on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III National Power Index (NPI) while UWL was 16th. Both teams are also on this weeks D3hoops.com Top-25 poll as the Titans are fifth and UWL is 25th. 
WIAC Tournament History: On Wednesday night, UWL made program history with their first ever WIAC Tournament Semifinal win after losing their previous eight trips to the semifinals. Tonight, the Eagles once again make history by winning the programs first ever WIAC Tournament Championship. 
Next Up: With the win, UWL earns the WIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA III National Tournament which starts March 6th. The Eagles will find out on Monday during the NCAA III Selection show at 1:30 p.m. where and who they will play. 
   
HOW DID IT HAPPEN

• UW-Oshkosh would score the first five points of the game before Madisyn Kilboten's three-pointer made the score 5-4 early in the first quarter. The Titans then scored the next seven points to lead 12-4 with 2:11 left in the quarter. After an Ali Sprangers three-pointer made it 12-7, UW-Oshkosh scored seven of the final 10 points of the quarter to lead 19-10. 
• The two teams would trade baskets over the first 2:22 of the second quarter before UWL back-to-back baskets from Molly Janke and Jenna Welsch to the Eagles defict to 23-20 with 5:29 left in the quarter. UWL would be limited to just two points the rest of the quarter as UW-Oshkosh led 29-22 at the half. 
• A Malia Nelson layup with 8:32 on the clock in the third quarter cut UWL's deficit to 31-26; however UW-Oshkosh then scored seven unaswered points to give them their largest lead of the game at 38-26 with 5:44 left in the quarter. Janke's three-pointer followed by back-to-back jumpers from Grace Knupp pulled UWL to with in 38-33 (3:09). After the Titans extended their lead back to double digits (44-33), Welsch hit a three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to make it 44-36 heading into the fourth quarter. 
•  The Eagles would open the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run to take its first lead of the game at 46-45 with 4:10 left in the contest. Janke would hit a jumper followed by a three-points to help spark the Eagles run. Two Paige Seckar free throws would put the Titans back on top 47-46 but that lead would be short lived as Knupp scored a layup with 1:47 remaining to make it 48-47. After an Eagles defensive stop, Nelson would hit a three-pointer from the wing to put UWL up 51-49 with :48 remaining. Seckar would cut the Eagles lead in half with a layup (:33) and the Titans would foul Knupp with :13 left. Knupp hit one-of-two free throws to put the Eagles up three (51-48). The Titans would get a very contested three-pointer off at the buzzer but it would not go in as the Eagles celebrated the win. 

FROM THE BOX SCORE

• As a team, the Eagles finished 20-of-54 (37.0%) from the floor including six-of-15 (40.0%) from the three-point line. UWL was also six-of-12 (50.0%) from the free throw line.
• With her fifth double-double of the season, Janke led the Eagles with 12 points and a game high 12 rebounds. 
• Knupp finished with 11 points and four assists while Kilboten had 10 points. 
• Nelson had a very balanced game as she finished with seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. 
• UW-Oshkosh would shoot 20-of-53 (37.7%) from the floor including four-of-14 (28.6%) from the three-point line. The Titans were also five-of-seven (71.4%) from the free throw line. 
• Paige Secakar led the Titans with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Sarah Hadwick added 11 points and 10 rebounds.  

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