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The UWS Women’s Basketball team lost to UW-Oshkosh by a final score of 63-53 in the playoffs on the road.

After defeating Martin Luther College and the University of Northwestern en route to winning the UMAC conference title, the Yellowjackets faced a tough test ahead of them.  They have been eliminated by rival UW-Oshkosh the past two seasons.  They were eager to extract revenge, but came up just shy of reaching that goal.

In the first half, Hailey Kontny scored ten points and was 5-9 shooting from the field.  The first quarter was close with the score being 16-12 in favor of the Titans.  By halftime, Oshkosh widened the lead to 35-25.  The Titans outside perimeter shooting made the difference, as Emma Melotik came off the bench to hit 2-4 three-point shots.  Ashley Neustifer and Kendell Truttman also each hit a three point shot.  Alex Richard led the Titans with 13 total points and grabbed nine rebounds.

It appeared that the Yellowjackets would make a comeback in the second half and that is what it looked like in the third period.  The Yellowjackets outscored the Titans in the third period 16-12.  But Oshkosh was able to come away in the fourth period and seal the victory.

The leading scorer of the game was Hailey Kontny with 20 points.  Kontny has averaged a team leading 13.2 points per game and was named UMAC Player of the Year.  She hit two late three point shots in the fourth period but it wasn’t enough to cut the Titans lead.  Allie Nelson came close to hitting a few three point attempts, but unfortunately she came just short from connecting beyond the arc. She scored a total of eight points and helped cut the lead down in the second half.  Justine Larson fouled out towards the end and only scored three points.  It wasn’t her best night, as she went 0-5 shooting from the field.  Hadley Skalmoski finished with six points and grabbed four rebounds.  Bailee Bartunek and Sarah Lekson each had four points coming off the bench.

As a team, the Yellowjackets shot 42 percent from the field.  The Titans shot 42.3 percent, but were able to hit more three point shots, going 7-18 from beyond the line. 

Despite the loss, the Yellowjackets finished with one of the most successful seasons in school history.  Coach Don Mulhern was named the UMAC coach of the year this season.  The Yellowjackets finished with a program record 24 wins and only 4 losses.  The seniors that will be done for their college playing career are:  Grace Kennedy, Allie Nelson, Hadley Skalmoski, and Allyssa Lindberg.  The Yellowjackets appear to have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about next season, as they return a team full of young players who look to improve even more.