STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 17 UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team hosts its Play4Kay game on Wednesday evening before taking on UW-Eau Claire on the road on Saturday as the Pointers enter the final two weeks of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play.
THE BASICS
Who: UW-Stout (9-12, 3-7 WIAC) at No. 17 UW-Stevens Point (16-5, 7-3 WIAC)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 10 – 7 p.m.
Where: Stevens Point, Wis. – Berg Gym
Who: No. 17 UW-Stevens Point
(16-5, 7-3 WIAC) at UW-Eau Claire (10-11, 5-5 WIAC)
When: Saturday, Feb. 13 – 7 p.m.
Where: Eau Claire, Wis. – Zorn Arena
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Saturday (UWEC)
LAST WEEKUW-Stevens Point split a pair of road games against top-25 conference foes last week to bring its record to 6-4 against ranked opposition this season.
The Pointers began the week with a
72-64 win at No. 15 UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Feb. 3 behind a career-high 28 points from
Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest), who was 8-for-14 from the field, including three three-pointers, and 9-for-11 at the free-throw line. UW-Stevens Point trailed 40-36 midway through the third but used a 7-0 run to take the lead for good.
On Saturday, UW-Stevens Point led No. 18 UW-River Falls 54-49 after three quarters but the Falcons outscored the Pointers 28-13 in the fourth to come away with a
77-67 win.
Taylor Douglas (Brodhead, WI/Brodhead) scored a career-high 21 points off the bench for the Pointers, who led by as many as 12 in the third quarter. UW-Stevens Point led 59-57 inside the final six minutes but UW-River Falls went on a 9-0 run and led by at least five the rest of the way.
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSUW-Stevens Point carries a 16-5 overall record and a 7-3 mark in conference play into the week. The team's last three games have all come against top-20 teams and the Pointers close out WIAC play against the bottom four teams in the conference standings.
PLAY4KAY INFORMATIONWednesday's game against UW-Stout will be UW-Stevens Point's ninth annual Play4Kay Pink Game. Over the years, the Pointers have helped raise over $40,000 for the fight against cancer. For the last five years, UW-Stevens Point has partnered with Project Embrace at Saint Michael's Foundation, which provides blankets to cancer patients at the Stevens Point Cancer Center. At halftime, the team will present a check to Saint Michael's Foundation and fans are encouraged to wear pink and join the team on the court afterwards for a group photo.
AT HOME IN BERGUW-Stevens Point plays three of its final four regular-season games on its home court as the Pointers host UW-Platteville and UW-La Crosse next week after the trip to Eau Claire. The Pointers are 6-2 at Berg Gym with the losses coming to No. 18 St. Thomas and No. 11 UW-Oshkosh by a combined five points.
The Pointers are 100-19 (.840) at home since the start of the 2007-08 season, including a mark of 57-11 (.838) in conference games.
BEHIND THE ARCUW-Stevens Point shot a combined 13-for-28 (.464) from three-point range in its two games last week. The Pointers were 6-for-13 (.462) from deep against the Warhawks and 7-for-15 (.467) against the Falcons. UW-Stevens Point ranks third in the WIAC in three-point shooting (.326) this season.
UW-Stevens Point's seven made three-pointers at UW-River Falls were the team's most in 11 games since the Pointers made seven versus Edgewood on Dec. 31. The seven makes are the team's second-highest total of the season. The Pointers opened the season with eight threes in a 92-45 win over Finlandia on Nov. 14.
ANKLAM'S BIG NIGHTAnklam's 28 points in the win at No. 15 UW-Whitewater last Wednesday were the most by a UWSP player in 76 games since Liz Althoff scored 28 in a 72-64 win over Concordia-Moorhead in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament on March 1, 2013. The last time a UW-Stevens Point played scored more than 28 points was Sam Barber's 34-point performance the game prior to Althoff's 28-point game, a 76-71 overtime win at UW-Whitewater on Feb. 24, 2013.
IN THE POLLS | D3hoops.com PollUW-Stevens Point is ranked No. 17 in the country this week by D3hoops.com and is ranked for the sixth consecutive week. The Pointers are one of four WIAC teams ranked between No. 13 and No. 19 in the poll.
ABOUT UW-STOUT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSUW-Stout enters this week with a 9-12 overall record and is 3-7 in WIAC play. The Blue Devils currently sit in the sixth and final spot for the WIAC Championship, one game ahead of UW-Platteville and two ahead of UW-La Crosse with four games left. UW-Stout snapped a four-game losing streak by knocking off No. 10 UW-Oshkosh on the road on Saturday by closing the game on a 10-2 run. Five of the Blue Devils' nine wins have come on the road.
Three players average in double figures in scoring for UW-Stout, led by Jenna Goldsmith's 12.7 points and 7.2 rebounds a night. The junior ranks sixth in the WIAC in scoring, fourth in rebounding, fifth in field-goal percentage (.486) and second in blocks (2.7 per game). Kyleigh Hebert is in the WIAC's top 10 in scoring (11.5 ppg), field-goal percentage (.470) and steals (2.5 per game) and leads the conference in assists (4.1 per game). Sarah Schoch chips in with 10.1 points per game and is shooting nearly 35 percent from behind the arc.
The Blue Devils boast the WIAC's top-scoring offense this season at 71.0 points per game but is just fifth in conference games (64.2 ppg). Defensively, UW-Stout leads the conference in steals (10.6 per game).
ABOUT UW-EAU CLAIRE | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSUW-Eau Claire hosts No. 13 UW-Oshkosh before the Pointers come to Zorn Arena on Saturday. The Blugolds are currently 10-11 overall and sit fifth in the WIAC at 5-5. UW-Eau Claire is coming off a 69-61 road win over UW-Platteville last Saturday behind 22 points and nine rebounds from Teenie Lichtfuss. Prior to the win, the Blugolds had lost three of four, all to ranked WIAC teams, after starting conference play 3-2.
Sophomore center Erin O'Toole, a transfer from Division I University of North Dakota, paces the WIAC in scoring (19.2 ppg), is third in rebounding (8.3 per game), second in field-goal percentage (.529) and third in blocks (2.3 per game). No other WIAC player is averaging over 15 points a game. Teenis Lichtfuss (14.4 ppg) and Madison Johnson (13.0 ppg) also rank in the conference's top-five scorers. Lichtfuss is shooting 40.7 percent from behind the arc, second in the WIAC, while Johnson is sixth in rebounding (6.5 per game).
The Blugolds have the top defense in the conference in terms of opponent's field-goal percentage, holding their opposition to 35.0 percent for the season. UW-Eau Claire has been especially stingy in WIAC play, limiting opponents to 30.8 percent shooting, nearly 10 percent lower than any other team.
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 504-217 (.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.
Mark Thomas is the dean of WIAC women's basketball coaches as this season is his 29th at UW-Stout. He ranks second to Egner in conference history in wins with a 457-306 (.599) career record. Over the past 20 seasons, Thomas has helped the Blue Devils finish in the WIAC's top four 16 times. He is a six-time WIAC Coach of the Year and a two-time Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coach of the Year.
Tonja Englund is in her 16th season as the head coach at UW-Eau Claire and has a career record of 280-156 (.642). Her 280 wins are the fourth-most by a WIAC women's basketball coach in conference history. Englund has led the Blugolds to four WIAC championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances in her first 15 seasons. In 2002-03, her Blugolds set the program record for wins with a 32-2 season and placed third in the country, earning Englund WIAC Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year honors.
SERIES NOTESUW-Stevens Point holds a 43-29 lead in the all-time series against UW-Stout after overcoming a six-point deficit with 1:33 remaining in regulation to claim a 69-61 overtime win in Menomonie on Jan. 27. The victory was UWSP's 11th in the last 12 meetings going back to Feb. 25, 2010. The Pointers have won six consecutive home games against the Blue Devils over the same time and have won 14 of the last 16 at home overall in the series.
The Pointers lead the head-to-head series with the Blugolds 58-38 after opening WIAC play with a 59-52 home victory back on Jan. 6. UW-Stevens Point closed the game on an 8-1 run to claim their eighth consecutive victory in the series. The Pointers have won 12 of the last 13 meetings with the Blugolds and five of the last seven in Eau Claire.
