STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team begins its 2015-16 on its home court by hosting Finlandia on Saturday afternoon at Berg Gym.

THE BASICS
Who: Finlandia (0-0) at UW-Stevens Point (0-0)
When: Saturday, Nov. 14 – 1 p.m.
Where: Stevens Point, Wis. – Berg Gym

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ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)

LAST YEAR
Last season, UW-Stevens Point put together its 15th straight winning season, finishing 14-13 overall. The Pointers advanced to the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship before losing to top-seeded UW-Superior on the road. Among UW-Stevens Point's 14 wins were a pair of wins over top-25 opponents and the Pointers also took top-ranked FDU-Florham to the wire in the D3hoops.com Classic. The Devils had won 42 consecutive games at the time and were the defending national champions.

THE GRADUATES
The Pointers lost Taylor Atkinson (Franklin, WI/Franklin/Concordia-St. Paul), Jamie Destache (Sussex, WI/Sussex-Hamilton), Eleni Seitz (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) and Kaitlyn Jacobs (New Franken, WI/Green Bay Preble) to graduation from last season's team. Jacobs was a First Team All-WIAC selection after averaging 9.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in her senior season in 30.3 minutes a game. Atkinson started 21 of 24 games, averaged 15.5 minutes a game and was tied for fifth on the team in assists (27). Destache averaged 4.3 points a game in 14.7 minutes per contest, including a game-winning buzzer beater on Senior Day. Seitz battled injuries in her senior season, playing in 18 games and averaging 2.1 points and 1.7 rebounds a game.

THE RETURNERS
UW-Stevens Point returns eight letterwinners from last season, including junior guard Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest), who has a D3hoops.com Third Team All-Central Region and First Team All-WIAC selection a year ago. Anklam led the Pointers in scoring at 10.0 points per game last season and ranked second in the WIAC in three-pointers made per game (1.83). Also back are senior posts Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) and Joann Wolfenberg (Adell, WI/Plymouth Comprehensive), who combined to average 16.3 points and 12.0 rebounds a game last season.

The Pointers also have Autumn Hennes (Kaukauna, WI/Kaukauna) back in the mix after she missed last season due to injury. Hennes averaged 7.6 points per game in 2013-14. In total, UW-Stevens Point returns 84 of 135 starts from last season, as Lexi Roland (New London, WI/New London), Taylor Douglas (Brodhead, WI/Brodhead), Mickey Roland (New London, WI/New London) and Sarah Gamillo (Colby, WI/Colby) all saw at least one start.

THE NEWCOMERS
UW-Stevens Point's 2015-16 roster includes six freshmen among the team's 15 players. Michelle Kienow (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) and Caitlin Broberg (Vadnais Heights, MN/White Bear Lake) join the backcourt, while Katy Heine (Jefferson, WI/Jefferson), Payton Mix (New London, WI/New London), Erin Crownover (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls) and Olivia Pawlak (Lindenhurst, IL/Lakes Community) are in the frontcourt mix. Heine missed last season due to injury, while Crownover transfers to UWSP from Ashland University.

PRESEASON POLL
UW-Stevens Point was picked to finish fourth in the WIAC in 2015-16, according to a poll of the conference's head coaches and sports information directors. UW-Oshkosh is the preseason WIAC favorite and is ranked No. 6 in the country. The Titans are followed in the preseason poll by UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point, UW-River Falls, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stout and UW-Platteville.

SEASON OPENERS
Prior to last season, UW-Stevens Point had won its last 14 season openers going back to 2000-01. The Pointers dropped their season opener 61-56 to Luther, an NCAA Tournament team coached by former UWSP All-American Amanda (Nechuta) Bailey, on Nov. 15, 2014. The loss also snapped a run of 13 consecutive wins in home openers for the Pointers.

ABOUT FINLANDIA | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)
In 2014-15, Finlandia posted a 13-11 record and lost in the semifinals of the Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) Tournament 50-45 to Agnes Scott College. Prior to the loss to Agnes Scott, the Lions had won their final five regular-season contests.

This season, Finlandia's roster consists entirely of freshmen (6) and sophomores (5). All 11 players on the roster are from the state of Michigan.

Sophomore Julia Daavettila is the Lions' leading returning scorer after averaging 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds a game as a freshman a year ago. The Lions lost 2014-15 GSAC MVP Marissa Burke to graduation after she averaged 18.8 points and 7.6 rebounds a game and led the nation in three-pointers made per game (3.71).

THE COACHES
The 2015-16 season is the 27th for Shirley Egner as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point. Egner is the all-time winningest coach in WIAC history with a career record of 488-212 (.697) and is just 12 wins shy of the 500 career victories. Over the last 14 seasons, she has guided the Pointers to an average of nearly 23 wins per season and UWSP's 319-87 record over that span is the best of any WIAC team. Egner is a four-time WIAC Coach of the Year honoree (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011) and was named the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Women's Coach of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012. She was inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame in 2010. Egner led the Pointers to the 2001-02 NCAA Division III national championship with a 67-65 win over St. Lawrence and the team became the eighth team in Division III history to win 30 games in a season, finishing 30-3.

Terry Klemett is entering his third season as the head coach at Finlandia and he has a career record of 25-22 with the Lions. Klemett came to Finlandia after serving for three years as an assistant at Michigan Tech, where he helped the team to three consecutive winning seasons, two conference titles and a Sweet 16 berth in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. As a player, Klemett played at National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) power Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. and played nine season as a professional, including stops in Finland and Mexico.

SERIES NOTES
UW-Stevens Point is a perfect 4-0 all-time against Finlandia since the teams first met in 2005-06. The Pointers have won the four meetings by an average of 14.5 points, although two of the games have been decided by eight points or less.

Last season, Jacobs scored 16 points and Seitz had a career-high 10 points as UW-Stevens Point defeated Finlandia 56-48 in Hancock, Mich. The Pointers led 48-28 with 8:21 remaining before the Lions chipped away at the lead but UWSP's bench helped UWSP secure the win by outscoring Finlandia's reserves 31-19.

This is the third time UW-Stevens Point and Finlandia will meet in Berg Gym. The Pointers beat the Lions 72-39 on Nov. 18, 2011 in the Pointer Tip-Off Tournament and 60-48 on Dec. 14, 2006.