Nathalie Lechault (Chavannes de Bogis, Switzerland/Int'l School of Geneva) made a free throw with 12.1 seconds left and UW-Stout missed a short jumper in the closing seconds as UW-Stevens Point held on for a 74-71 women's basketball victory on Saturday at Berg Gym.

Lechault, a senior playing in her final home regular season game, made it 18 straight senior day victories for the Pointers, who moved into fourth place in the league standings with a 16-6 overall record and 8-6 league mark. UW-Stout has already clinched a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and holds a one-game lead on first place with a 19-5 overall record and 12-3 WIAC ledger. The Blue Devils are ranked 12th in the latest NCAA Division III poll.

The game was deadlocked for the 12th time at 71-71 following a baseline reverse layup by the Blue Devils' Dani Boese with 37 seconds left. UW-Stevens Point did not call timeout and ran the shot clock down before feeding it inside to Lechault, who missed her first shot, but was fouled after getting her own rebound. She made the first free throw, but missed the second.

UW-Stout worked the ball to Savanah Oeltjen, who drove to the hoop and hit the backside of the rim. Chelsea Kranz (Columbus/Columbus) pulled down the rebound and was fouled with 0.4 seconds left. She made both free throws to share game-high scoring honors with Laura Neuenfeldt (Two Rivers/Two Rivers) with 18 points apiece.

Neuenfeldt helped the Pointers get out to an early 13-5 lead by scoring two three-point plays and a three-pointer for nine of the team's points. UW-Stout took a brief lead and the first half was tied seven times before the Pointers closed the half on a basket by Kranz for a 37-35 halftime lead.

UW-Stevens Point extended the lead to 48-38 with 16:07 left when the Blue Devils caught fire, scoring a pair of three-point plays and hitting five straight shots during a 16-0 run that put them ahead 54-48 with 11:34 left. The Pointers then went on a big run of their own with an 18-4 spurt capped by a three-point play by Kranz that gave them a 66-58 advantage with 6:29 left. UW-Stout had turnovers on six of 11 possessions during the Pointers' run.

The Blue Devils came back to tied the game at 66-66 on a three-point play by Julie Hirssig with 2:21 left. UW-Stevens Point responded with a basket by Janell Van Gomple (DeForest/DeForest) and, following a Blue Devils turnover, Jessi Sporle (Mineral Point/Mineral Point) made two free throws for a 70-66 lead with 1:12 remaining.

UW-Stout's Lindsey Geissler made a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and, after Sporle made one of two free throws, the Blue Devils tied the game on Boese's layup to set up Lechault's game-winning free throw.

Sporle added 11 points for the Pointers. Geissler and Hirssig led the Blue Devils with 12 points apiece. The Pointers held the league's leading scorer, Kelsey Duoss, to 10 points as UW-Stout shot 52.3 percent, but had 25 turnovers and just four offensive rebounds.