UW-Stevens Point busted open a tight game with a huge second half run to pull away from UW-Superior for a 75-60 victory on Saturday in Superior and clinch a first round home game in next week's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The Pointers trailed by three points in the second half, but scored the next 11 points during the start of a 26-4 run. With the victory, UW-Stevens Point will host UW-River Falls in the WIAC quarterfinals on Monday at 7 p.m. at Berg Gym. The Pointers, who are now 18-6 overall and 10-6 in the WIAC, are hosting a first round game for the seventh straight year.

UW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior were hooked up in a tightly-contested first half as neither team held bigger than a six-point lead. The Yellowjackets led 29-28 at halftime and held a 41-38 lead after Jessie Matkovich drained a three-pointer with 15:08 left in the game.

The Pointers started their rally on a layup by Janell Van Gomple (DeForest/DeForest) following a Yellowjackets' turnover. Nathalie Lechault (Chavannes de Bogis, Switzerland/Int'l School of Geneva) then connected on two free throws to give the Pointers a 42-41 lead on the 14th lead change of the game and then added two more baskets. Lechault finished with six points for the game and scored them all consecutively during the decisive spurt.

UW-Stevens Point shot just 33.3 percent in the first half, but increased that percentage to 53.3 in the second half and 43.3 percent for the game. UW-Superior shot 38.2 percent for the game and had 22 turnovers.

Junior center Jesirae Heuer (Wisconsin Rapids/Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln) scored a career-high 19 points on six-for-six shooting from the field in 16 minutes off the bench for the Pointers. Laura Neuenfeldt (Two Rivers/Two Rivers) added 13 points for UW-Stevens Point.

UW-Superior's Katie Moench scored 14 points and Carissa Nord added 12 points for the Yellowjackets, who ended the season 8-17 overall and 2-14 in the WIAC.