DE PERE, Wis. -- The University of Chicago women's basketball team pushed #3 UW-Oshkosh to the brink in the final game of the St. Norbert Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
The Titans jumped out to a big lead early with a 14-7 advantage just five minutes in, but the UChicago defense would answer the call and hold UW-Oshkosh to just two points over the next 10 minutes to allow the Maroons to even the score at 16. Two minutes later,
Annabelle Spotts would drill a triple to give the Maroons their first lead of the game at 23-22 late in the half.
A layup by
Caroline Workman and another triple by Spotts would put the Maroons back in front by four, and they would not relinquish their lead for the remainder of the quarter. Workman would drill a triple late in the third to stretch the UChicago lead to eight, their largest of the game to that point, at 39-31.
After the Titans cut the lead to three,
Kasi Samuda added a layup and
Bri Simpson nailed a triple to give UChicago their largest lead at 44-35 with nine minutes remaining, and Samuda and
Karen Xin would hit big buckets again later in the fourth quarter to extend the lead back to nine at 51-42 with 3:28 remaining. However, the Titans would not go away quietly and scored the final nine points of regulation to send the game to overtime.
The overtime period was back and forth, and
Chris Sanders gave the Maroons their first lead at 55-54, but UW-Oshkosh was able to hold on down the stretch to pick up the 60-58 victory.
Simpson led the team with 13 points and Spotts added 12 to lead UChicago. Sanders also dished out a team-high four assists. Samuda had an excellent game inside with four points and 15 rebounds. Her 15 rebounds are the most by a UChicago player since Grace Hynes in 2023.
Annabelle Spotts earned an All-Tournament team selection for the tournament after averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on the weekend.
With the loss, the Maroons move to 1-1 on the season. UChicago will return to Hyde Park for their first two home games of the year next weekend as the team hosts Marian (WI) and Tufts in the 2025 Midway Classic.
