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| Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com |
A heavy band of snow across the regions formerly known as Great Lakes and Central took a large number of games out of a usually busy Wednesday night in Division III basketball, but the UW-Oshkosh men finished its sweep of UW-Platteville and the Randolph women set a program record for wins on Feb. 2, 2022. Plus, Punxsutawney Phil came out, saw his shadow, and predicted six more weeks of winter, so perhaps six (and a half) weeks from now, we'll have finally once again crowned Division III basketball national champions.
UW-Platteville had zero assists in the first half and shot 0-for-9 from 3-point range, and things didn't get much better for the Pioneers in the second half as No. 5 UW-Oshkosh defeated No. 2 UW-Platteville 65-51. It's the second win for Oshkosh against Platteville in as many outings this season, marking the only two losses that Platteville has suffered.
UW-Oshkosh (16-3, 6-2 WIAC) by contrast, went 6-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half, including two by Eddie Muench in a stretch where the Titans turned a 20-19 deficit into a 30-20 lead. Kyle Tuma managed just five points in 30 minutes and was held to 1-for-7 from the floor for Platteville (18-2, 7-2). Muench led all scorers with 19 points, while Levi Borchert added 16 points, 13 rebounds and was one of three Titans with two blocked shots apiece.
No. 3 ranked Marietta extended its winning streak to 15 games with an 84-64 win over Muskingum. Marietta (17-2, 12-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) scored the final seven points of the first half to open up a nine-point lead and made the run 18-4 and 28-8 after a big run to open the second half. Tim Kreeger led the Pioneers with 20 points, adding nine rebounds and two blocks.
Penn State-Altoona picked up a road win on Wednesday night just east of the winter storm's path, winning at La Roche in Pittsburgh, 96-87. Altoona inched within a half-game of Penn State-Behrend in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference standings after the Lions lost at Pitt-Greensburg 77-66. Mason Bush led the way for the Lions of Altoona with a season-high 23 points and also recorded eight rebounds, two assists, and a block.
Keuka has put its 12-game losing streak to start the season clearly in the rear-view mirror as the Wolves won in the final minute for the second time in three games, this time defeating Alfred 74-72. Devin Milton led Keuka (2-13, 2-5 Empire 8) with a game-high 24 points as the Wolves survived an off-balance 3-point attempt at the buzzer from Alfred (12-8, 5-6).
And in the Division III men's basketball game played closest to that famed burg of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Isaiah Archie and Nathan Schneider combined for 47 points and shot a combined 21-for-36 from the floor as Pitt-Bradford won 85-71 in AMCC play at Mount Aloysius College, just 53 miles from the Groundhog Day epicenter. The homestanding Mounties essentially played just six players in falling to 3-17, 1-11 in conference play, while the Panthers improved to 9-11, 4-7.
Women's basketball wrapup
In other women's action, Randolph knocked off Old Dominion Athletic Conference leader Washington & Lee, handing the Generals their first conference loss and setting a program record in the process. For the WildCats, it was their 14th win on the season, setting a program record. Randolph had won 13 games in a season multiple times, most recently in 2016-17.
Teniyah Crenshaw-Patterson scored 23 points to lead the WildCats and added six rebounds. "Teniyah continues to shine and probably played her most impressive game offensively," said Randolph coach Steve Lanpher. "Kylie (Stark) was limited somewhat with foul trouble but still recorded 15 points as she was relentless on both ends. Cierra (Cook) was great on both ends and really played with poise and confidence in the fourth quarter."
Randolph has four regular season games left, as of this writing, after its game with Bridgewater for Saturday was postponed.
No. 8 UW-Whitewater beat UW-La Crosse 56-54 thanks to two big plays from senior guard Rebekah Schumaker. She first found Aleah Grundahl for the game-tying layup with 38 seconds to play. After an empty UW-La Crosse possession, Schumaker hit the game-winning pull-up jumper with six seconds left. The Warhawks (19-2, 9-1 WIAC) were led by Kacie Carollo who scored 14 points. UW-La Crosse (12-8, 4-5 WIAC) made 13 three-point field goals but just five 2 -point field goals.
No. 21 Scranton got 24 points from All-American Bridget Monaghan, and the Lady Royals needed every one of them to hold off Moravian, 60-59, in overtime.
Monaghan’s final point was a free throw with 43 seconds left in overtime that put Scranton ahead 60-57. Moravian’s Sam Osorio scored on the Greyhounds next possession to trim Scranton’s lead to 60-59. The Lady Royals missed a three on their next possession, giving Moravian a chance to win the game, but the Greyhounds missed two shots in the final five seconds.
Abby Anderson added 16 points and 16 rebounds for Scranton (18-2, 9-0 Landmark) which has won 12 in a row.
Sophomore forward Mikaela Reese scored a career-high 33 points and DeSales all but clinched the top spot in the upcoming MAC Freedom playoffs with an 80-63 win over Stevens. Reese has had double-doubles in her last six games. The Bulldogs (14-3, 11-0 MAC Freedom) swept both games from the Ducks and have not lost a conference game since January 2020.