STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The weather outside may have featured freezing rain, but the temperatures inside were scorching.
     
In front of a sellout crowd of 1,762 at a steamy Berg Gymnasium, the UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team rallied to knock off Webster University (Mo.), 71-61, to move on the sectional final Saturday night at 7 p.m.
     
Kari Groshek (Rosholt, Wis./Rosholt) scored a game-high 22 points and Andrea Kraemer (Waukesha,Wis./Waukesha North) finished one assist short of a triple-double as the Pointers (27-3) move on to host Pacific Lutheran (Wash.), a 62-54 winner over Chapman (Calif.) in the night's first semifinal game. Kramer recorded 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the contest for the hosts.
     
UW-Stevens Point's 27th victory of the season, ties a school record set in 1987 when the Pointers won the national championship.
     
"It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done," UW-Stevens Point coach Shirley Egner said. "We live to see another day."
     
Webster (25-3) went on a 10-3 run late in the first half to take a 31-23 lead with two minutes remaining before eventually carrying a 31-26 lead into halftime. The Gorlocks full-court pressure defense gave the Pointers fits in the opening half as UW-Stevens Point committed 15 turnovers.
     
"I thought we needed to take care of the ball," Egner said of her team's first half struggles. "We had 15 turnovers in the first half and a lot of those were unforced. We just needed to settle down. We made a couple of adjustments at halftime with their press and we went from there."
     
Webster expanded its lead to 36-27 two minutes into the second half before the Pointers went on an 11-3 run to get within 39-38. The Gorlocks responded by scoring six of the next seven points to push its lead back to six with 13:49 remaining. However, the turning point may have come during that run as Gorlock's leading scorer Halley Spann, who averages 18.4 points per game, was forced to sit down with her fourth personal foul.
     
UW-Stevens Point took control of the game over the ensuing 4:50, using a 15-3 run to turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead behind seven points from Kraemer. Webster never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
     
"I thought our kids handled their composure really well," Egner said. "I'm really proud of how they fought back. We did whatever we needed to do to survive and that's all that matters right now."
     
Both Egner and Groshek agreed that the crowd played a big factor in the contest.
    
"When you have 1,700 people cheering for you and saying, 'Let's go Point,' you can't help but get excited," Groshek said.
     
Egner added, "It was just awesome to play in front of 1,700 people. Hopefully they'll come out tomorrow night and help us."
     
The Pointers are making their first "Elite Eight" appearance since winning the 1987 NCAA Division III championship.
     
Angie Carr led Webster with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Spann added 12 points.