STEVENS POINT, Wis. – This week, the No. 19 UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team hosts No. 18 UW-River Falls on Wednesday for its seventh game against a top-25 team this season before heading on the road to face UW-La Crosse on Saturday.
THE BASICS
Who: No. 18 UW-River Falls (13-2, 4-0 WIAC) at No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (12-3, 3-1 WIAC)
When: Wednesday, Jan. 20 – 7 p.m.
Where: Stevens Point, Wis. – Berg Gym
Who: No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (12-3, 3-1 WIAC) at UW-La Crosse (6-9, 0-4 WIAC)
When: Saturday, Jan. 23 – 7 p.m.
Where: La Crosse, Wis. – Mitchell Hall
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SaturdayLAST WEEKUW-Stevens Point split two conference road games last week, winning 67-48 at UW-Platteville on Wednesday and going down 60-46 to No. 20 UW-Oshkosh on Saturday.
On Wednesday, UW-Stevens Point led from start to finish in Platteville to earn head coach
Shirley Egner's 500th career victory.
Joann Wolfenberg (Adell, WI/Plymouth Comprehensive) posted the second double-double of her career with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while
Lexi Roland (New London, WI/New London) pitched in a career-high 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. The Pointers got out to an early 11-2 lead and led by at least four the rest of the way.
On Saturday afternoon, the Titans outscored the Pointers 43-22 in the second half to overturn a seven-point halftime deficit in a matchup of top-20 teams. UW-Stevens Point led by four midway through the third quarter before the hosts his four consecutive threes as part of a 14-5 close to the quarter.
Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest) scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the second half.
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSPrior to the loss in Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point's nine-game winning streak was the team's longest since the Pointers started 2011-12 with 10 consecutive victories. The Pointers and Titans are currently tied for second in the WIAC standings with identical 3-1 records, one game behind UW-River Falls (4-0).
UWSP VS. RANKED TEAMSWednesday night's matchup with No. 18 UW-River Falls is UW-Stevens Point's seventh game against top-25 opposition already this season. The Pointers are 4-2 in the first six games against ranked teams, including two wins over top-10 squads.
UW-Stevens Point has won three of its last four home games against ranked teams in the last calendar year.
IN THE POLLS | D3HOOPS.COM TOP 25UW-Stevens Point came in at No. 19 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 and was ranked for the third straight week. The Pointers are one of four WIAC teams in the top 25, joining No. 12 UW-Whitewater, No. 13 UW-Oshkosh and No. 18 UW-River Falls.
PASSING THE BATONEight different players have either led UW-Stevens Point or tied for the team lead in scoring at least once this season.
Autumn Hennes (Kaukauna, WI/Kaukauna),
Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) and Anklam have each done so four times and
Mickey Roland (New London, WI/New London),
Erin Crownover (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls),
Sarah Gamillo (Colby, WI/Colby),
Taylor Douglas (Brodhead, WI/Brodhead) and
Joann Wolfenberg (Adell, WI/Plymouth Comprehensive) have done so once.
The Pointers have had a different player lead the team in scoring in each of the team's last four games.
ABOUT UW-RIVER FALLS | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSUW-River Falls has won its last four games, all in conference play, and is off to a 13-2 start to the season. The Falcons' 13 wins this season are two fewer than the team had in the last two seasons combined. UWRF opened the season 7-0 before losing to Luther and Messiah in a four-game stretch in December.
However, the Falcons have rebounded with four straight WIAC wins, including victories over No. 13 UW-Oshkosh and No. 6 UW-Whitewater. Last week, UW-River Falls posted two home wins, defeating the sixth-ranked Warhawks 78-65 for the first time since 2011-12 and UW-Eau Claire 71-62.
Through four conference games, UW-River Falls is averaging a WIAC-high 77.8 points per game, which is nearly eight points more than any other team and nearly 10 points above its season average (69.0 ppg). The Falcons rank 24th nationally in field-goal percentage (43.4 percent) and have five players averaging between 7.1 and 14.6 points a game.
Sophomore Taylor Karge ranks second in the WIAC in both scoring (14.6 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.518). Brynn Liljander, a transfer from UW-Superior, and Richell Mehus both average in double figures at 12.6 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Kate Theisen averages 9.2 points a game and is shooting a WIAC-high 56.2 percent from the field.
As a team, the Falcons are the top free-throw shooting team in the conference at 71.2 percent. Liljander leads the conference individually at 84.2 percent and Karge is tied for fourth at 80.8 percent.
ABOUT UW-LA CROSSE | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSUW-La Crosse has dropped its first four WIAC games of the season after going 6-5 in non-conference play. The Eagles are winless (0-6) in road games this season, 2-3 at home and a perfect 4-0 in neutral-court games.
Last week, UW-La Crosse fell 79-47 at No. 8 UW-Whitewater on Saturday and 48-38 at No. 20 UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday. The Eagles shot just 31.9 percent from the field against the Titans and 27.9 percent against the Warhawks.
The Eagles are led by MaKenzie Miller, who averages 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. The junior ranks eighth in the WIAC in scoring and is tied for the conference lead in rebounding with Miceli, as the pair each have 135 rebounds in 15 games. Rachel Atchison contributes 10.0 points a game and is third in the WIAC in three-pointers made per game (1.75).
UW-La Crosse is last in the conference in scoring (61.7 ppg) but its defense ranks second in the WIAC in blocks (4.40 bpg). Miller and Cameron Chapin combine to average over three blocks a game on the interior for the Eagles.
THE COACHESShirley Egner 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 500-215 (.699) career record, making her the 17th Division III women's basketball coach with 500 career victories. 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.
The 2015-16 season is Cindy Holbrook's 16th leading the UW-River Falls program and she has a 216-188 record with the Falcons. She ranks as the eighth-winningest coach in conference history in terms of victories. Holbrook's most successful season at UWRF was 2012, when she guided the Falcons to a 21-7 record, which included a 12-4 mark in the WIAC. Holbrook is the only person to have been named the WIAC Coach of the Year (2001) and the WIAC Player of the Year (1994) and was an All-American at UW-Stout.
Lois Hereen is in her 17th season as UW-La Crosse's head coach and has a career record of 208-216 (.491). Hereen has led the Eagles to six winning campaigns in the last 10 seasons, is the program's winningest coach and ranks 10th in conference history in wins. Prior to coming to UW-La Crosse, she spent two seasons as an assistant at the United States Air Force Academy, was the head coach at Saint Mary's (Minn.) for three seasons and the head coach at Division II Truman State for three years.
SERIES NOTESUW-Stevens Point leads the all-time series with UW-River Falls by over a two-to-one margin at 56-25. The Pointers have won seven of the last eight meetings since Jan. 2012 after the two teams split last season's two games. Both teams won away from home a year ago with the Falcons winning 69-64 in Stevens Point and the Pointers winning 45-38 in River Falls. UWSP had won nine consecutive home games against UWRF prior to last season.
The Pointers hold a 50-34 edge in the all-time series against the Eagles but UW-La Crosse swept last season's meetings 59-54 and 51-41. UW-Stevens Point had won five in a row against UW-La Crosse prior to last season. The teams have split the last six meetings in La Crosse.
