It took two full years, but UW-Stevens Point finally avenged its only Pointer Tipoff Tournament loss in the past six seasons as the Pointers beat Lawrence 75-65 in the opening round of the 2006-07 event at Berg Gym on Friday.

Lawrence handed the Pointers a 59-56 setback in the 2004 finals and hung tough with the Pointers again this year, forcing 29 turnovers to stay in the game throughout. The Pointers scored the game's first 11 points and never trailed, though Lawrence had the game tied on two separate occasions.

UW-Stevens Point will face Viterbo on Saturday at 4 p.m. in its seventh straight tournament title game and a rematch of the 2000 finals, while Lawrence takes on St. Scholastica for third place at 2 p.m.

After bolting out to the fast start, UW-Stevens Point had its only cold shooting spell of the night as the Vikings rallied to trim the lead to 17-14 nine minutes into the game. The game was tied at 27-27 with 5:06 left in the first half when the Pointers used a 6-0 run and eventually led 37-34 at halftime.

Lawrence freshman Jen Gabriele knocked down one of her five three-pointers to open the second half and tie game, but the Pointers scored the game's next nine points, holding the Vikings without a point for nearly six minutes. Chelsea Kranz (Columbus/Columbus) scored the first four points during the Pointers' run and Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) finished the spurt with five straight points. Gabriele and Houghton shared game-high scoring honors with 15 points apiece.

UW-Stevens Point extended the lead to 18 points at 64-46 on a three-pointer by Katie Webber (Reedsburg/Reedsburg) with 6:34 left and led 68-50 with less than four minutes remaining. Lawrence scored 10 points in the game's final minute as Margaret Rhatican made two three-pointers to cut the lead to 72-65 with 33 seconds left. However, UW-Stevens Point made three free throws to seal the game.

The Pointers, who ranked second in the country in field goal percentage last season, had a hot start to this year by shooting 54.9 percent from the field, including 59.1 percent in the second half. Kranz had 13 points, while Webber and Jesirae Heuer (Wisconsin Rapids/Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln) each added 12 points. Jenny Stoner and Kelly Mulcahy each contributed 13 points for the Vikings.

UW-Stevens Point and Lawrence are scheduled to meet again on Dec. 12 in Appleton.