After controlling the inside against its first three opponents, the UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team stepped outside the paint to defeat North Central 82-67 in a non-conference game on Friday at Berg Gym.

The Pointers knocked down eight of their first 10 three-point field goal attempts and got a career-high 19 points from junior Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) in the victory. UW-Stevens Point improved to 4-0 with the victory, while North Central fell to 0-3.

The Cardinals scored the game's first four points, but the Pointers came back with consecutive three-pointers by Laura Neuenfeldt (Two Rivers/Two Rivers), Houghton and Katie Webber (Reedsburg/Reedsburg) followed by an inside basket from Jesirae Heuer (Wisconsin Rapids/Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln) to take an 11-4 lead.

North Central tied the game at 19-19, but another three-pointer from Houghton sparked a 15-2 run that put UW-Stevens Point ahead 34-21 with 3:41 left in the half. The Cardinals came back to score the final five points of the half to trail 36-32 at halftime.

Leading 50-46 with 13:28 remaining, Neuenfeldt hit three-pointers on three consecutive possessions as the Pointers scored 13 straight points to take control. North Central was able to get the lead down to nine points at 65-56 with under eight minutes left, but the Pointers used a six-point spurt to push the lead back to 15 points.

Neuenfeldt was four-for-five from three-point range and finished with 16 points, while Heuer added 13 points. The Pointers had assists on 22 of their 30 field goals with Chelsea Kranz (Columbus/Columbus) totaling six assists. UW-Stevens Point shot over 50 percent for the fourth straight game at 52.6 percent from the field.

North Central's Brianne Parra totaled 23 points and Danielle Tinkoff had 22 points. The Pointers host the Cardinals' College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin rival in fifth-ranked Wheaton on Saturday at 5 p.m.