STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team hits the court for three games this week, including two games at the Just A Game Tournament in Wisconsin Dells.
THE BASICS
Who: UW-Stevens Point (6-2) vs. No. 25 Luther (8-1)
When: Wednesday, Dec. 30 – 1 p.m.
Where: Wisconsin Dells, Wis. – JustAgame Fieldhouse
Who: UW-Stevens Point (6-2) vs. Edgewood (2-7)
When: Thursday, Dec. 31 – 1 p.m.
Where: Wisconsin Dells, Wis. – JustAgame Fieldhouse
Who: UW-Stevens Point (6-2) at St. Norbert (7-3)
When: Saturday, Jan. 2 – 6 p.m.
Where: De Pere, Wis. – Schuldes Sports Center
FOLLOW THE GAMESLive video – Wisconsin Dells games
Live video – St. Norbert
Live stats – St. Norbert
LAST TIME OUTUW-Stevens Point shot 52.0 percent and trailed for just 44 seconds to knock off previously-unbeaten Saint Mary's (Minn.) 68-44 on Saturday, Dec. 19 at Berg Gym. Ten players scored for the Pointers, which held the Cardinals to 26.8 percent shooting in the first meeting of the two teams since 1996.
Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest) and
Autumn Hennes (Kaukauna, WI/Kaukauna) each scored 11 points for UW-Stevens Point. Hennes added nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots, leading to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Athlete of the Week honors for the week. The Pointers led 32-17 at the half before SMU scored the first seven points of the third quarter, only for UWSP to go on an 8-0 run to pull away.
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSThe 24-point win over Saint Mary's was UW-Stevens Point's third consecutive win in non-conference play. The three-game winning streak is the longest for the Pointers since Dec. 10-28, 2014 when UWSP topped UW-Stout, St. Norbert and Occidental.
FINDING A RHYTHMUW-Stevens Point's 52.0 percent shooting performance in the win over Saint Mary's was the team's second-straight game shooting over 50 percent. It was also UWSP's third time shooting over 50 percent this season and the Pointers have won all three games. The Pointers shot a season-best 53.1 percent in the season opener against Finlandia on Nov. 14. and 51.1 percent in a road win over Illinois Wesleyan on Dec. 12.
CONTROLLING THE GLASSThe Pointers rank 18th in the country in rebounding margin (+10.1) and are one of 22 Division III teams to have a rebounding margin above +10.0 per game this season. UW-Stevens Point has outrebounded its opposition in all eight games this season.
UW-Stevens Point is averaging 16.0 offensive rebounds per game, the second-highest mark in the WIAC. The Pointers are averaging over 15 second-chance points per game and have scored over 20 twice.
UWSP VS. RANKED TEAMSThe game against No. 25 Luther will be UW-Stevens Point's fourth game against ranked opposition this season. The Pointers have already defeated No. 9 WashU and. No. 23 Carthage and lost to No. 18 St. Thomas. Those three games were decided by a total of 10 points.
The Pointers are 4-3 in their last seven games against top-25 teams since Dec. 13, 2014. UWSP is currently receiving votes in the D3hoops.com poll and are two spots outside the top 25.
ABOUT LUTHER | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSLuther has opened the season 8-1 through its first nine games with its only loss coming at St. Olaf on Nov. 28. The Norse won four games on either side of the loss, including back-to-back road wins over WIAC teams UW-Eau Claire (71-69) and UW-River Falls (71-64).
The Norse feature a balanced offensive attack, led by D3hoops.com Preseason All-America selection Moran Lonning (10.7 ppg) and Kylie Romeo (10.4 ppg), that ranks 11th in the country in three-pointers made per game (8.3). Luther shoots an average of 26.6 threes per game and three players have attempted over 40 threes so far.
Defensively, Luther's press forces its opponents into an average of 21.7 turnovers per game. The Norse have forced three opponents into over 30 turnovers: UW-La Crosse (32), Viterbo (32), Mount Mercy (31).
Luther was the preseason favorite to win the Iowa Conference this season, receiving five of seven first-place votes. The Norse are currently ranked No. 25 by D3hoops.com and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
ABOUT EDGEWOOD | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSEdgewood heads to Wisconsin Dells with a 2-7 record and faces No. 12 UW-Whitewater in its opener at the Just A Game Tournament. The Eagles have lost three consecutive games and have been held under 50 points each time.
Rachel Pope leads the Eagles in scoring at 15.3 points per game and has scored in double figures in all nine games. Sierra Jiran contributes 9.6 points and 9.0 rebounds a game and has two double-doubles this season.
Edgewood's two victories came 60-35 over Mount Mary on Nov. 18 and 59-56 at Concordia-Chicago on Dec. 5. The three-point loss to the Cougars is the Eagles' only game this season decided by single-digit points.
The Eagles finished 12-14 last season and went 11-9 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. Pope, a first team All-NACC pick last season, is one of six returners in 2015-16 for Edgewood, which is seeking its third consecutive NACC Tournament berth.
ABOUT ST. NORBERT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSSt. Norbert has won seven of its first 10 games this season. The Green Knights are 6-0 in Midwest Conference (MWC) play and just 1-3 in non-conference action.
The Green Knights have posted back-to-back convincing conference wins, topping Cornell 64-46 and Illinois College 67-44 on Dec. 19 and 22. Of St. Norbert's three losses, two have come to WIAC teams UW-Eau Claire (70-62) and No. 5 UW-Oshkosh (62-48). The other loss came 62-60 to then-No. 18 St. Thomas, currently ranked No. 10, in the season opener.
Three players average in double figures for St. Norbert. Brianna Byrne leads the way at 12.2 points per game, followed by Stephanie Weigman (11.8 ppg) and Regan Carmichael (11.4 ppg). Carmichael has made a team-high 22 three-pointers and is tied for the team lead in assists (40).
St. Norbert ranks in the top-50 teams in the country in three key categories. The Green Knights are 15th in assist-to-turnover ration (1.18), 26th in turnover margin (+6.67) and 38th in scoring defense (52.9 ppg).
St. Norbert returned eight of its top-nine scorers from last season's team that finished 22-4 overall and made the program's 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Green Knights were the preseason pick to win the MWC for the third consecutive season, gathering 10 of 11 first-place votes.
THE COACHESShirley Egner is in her 27th season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and is the all-time winningest coach in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) history with a 494-214 (.698) career record. Over the last 14 seasons, Egner has guided the Pointers to a 319-87 record, the best mark of any WIAC team over that span. She is a four-time WIAC Coach of the Year honoree, a three-time Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Women's Coach of the Year (2010-12) was inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2001-02, Egner led the Pointers to the national title and a 30-3 record to become just the eighth team in Division III history to win 30 games in a season.
Former UWSP standout Amanda Bailey is in her fifth season as the head coach at Luther. Through four-plus seasons as head coach at Luther, Bailey has led the Norse to a 61-53 (.535) record. The Norse went 30-46 over Bailey's first three seasons but have gone 31-7 since the start of 2014-15. In four years as a player at UW-Stevens Point, she was a two-time Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American and was the 2005 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year.
Casey Thousand is the 12th women's basketball coach in Edgewood program history and is in her seventh season leading the Eagles. Thousand has led the Eagles to the NACC Tournament in each of her previous six seasons since taking over the program. She came to Edgewood after three years as an assistant at Carthage.
Connie Tilley is in her 39th season as the head coach at St. Norbert and has a career record of 638-284. Her 638 wins rank 10th all-time in Division III history. Only Elizabethtown's Yvonne Kauffman (42 years, 1971-2012) has spent more time as the women's basketball coach at one school. Including softball and volleyball, Tilley is 966-481 at St. Norbert. She has led the Green Knights to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.
SERIES NOTESUW-Stevens Point is 5-2 all-time against Luther. Last season, the Norse defeated the Pointers 61-56 on Nov. 15, 2014 in the season opener for both teams. Before that, the two teams had not met since 2009.
UW-Stevens Point is undefeated in the all-time series with Edgewood, winning all eight of the prior meetings. The Pointers and Eagles last met in Madison on Jan. 2, 2014 with UWSP winning 73-55.
UWSP holds a slender 12-11 edge in the all-time series with St. Norbert. Last season, the Pointers topped the nationally-ranked Green Knights 71-59 in Stevens Point on Dec. 13, 2014.
