Box Score
STEVENS POINT – Senior Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) (Sr.-Wausau/East) scored a layup with just over a minute remaining in regulation as the UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team knocked off third-ranked UW-Whitewater by a score of 64-62 today at Berg Gym.
It was Senior Day for the Pointer women's team and the seniors went out in grand fashion in their final regular season home game. Stevens Point finishes the regular season unbeaten at home with a 12-0 record. The Pointers now have an overall record of 19-4 and a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record of 10-4. The Warhawks drop to 21-2 overall and 12-2 in the conference.
Whitewater came into today's contest as the fourth-best shooting team in the country, shooting 46.9 % from the field on the season. The Warhawks would not come close to that number today. Since it was Senior Day, how fitting was it that a pair seniors Chelsea Kranz (Columbus/Columbus) (Sr.-Columbus) and Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) got the scoring started for the Pointers making the first six points. The Warhawks started just 1-for-12 from the field to begin the game and trailed 13-5 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
However, Whitewater crawled its way back into the game with a 9-2 run to cut the Stevens Point lead to one. The Warhawks then took their first and only lead of the game after a pair of free throws to make the score 18-17 with 4:50 left in the first half. The Pointers regained the lead right back on senior Laura Neuenfeldt (Two Rivers/Two Rivers)'s (Sr.-Two Rivers) three-pointer. Stevens Point went into halftime with a 27-25 advantage.
Both teams had a tough time finding the bottom of the net in the first half as the Pointers shot just 31 %, while the Warhawks were at 21 %. Whitewater also had a 30-17 edge on the glass, but committed 11 turnovers.
After Whitewater tied it up right after halftime, Stevens Point went on a 7-0 run to take a 34-27 lead. The Pointers grew their lead to 11 after a Jessi Sporle (Mineral Point/Mineral Point) (Jr.-Mineral Point) three-pointer made the score 43-34. The Warhawks came back with an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to three halfway through the second half.
The game remained close the final 10 minutes of the second half as the Pointers kept the lead, but not by more than six points. With less than two minutes to play, Whitewater would get a hold of loose ball and drain a three-pointer to tie the contest 62-62. On the next Pointer possession, Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) drove baseline and made nice move between two defenders to give the Pointers a 64-62 lead with 1:08 remaining.
After the Pointers missed a chance to make it a two possession game with less than 20 seconds remaining, the Warhawks had a chance to tie or possibly win. With a sideline inbound with two seconds on the clock, Whitewater got a shot in the lane, but it was off target as the Pointers upset the Warhawks 64-62. The 62 points were second-lowest scoring total for the Warhawks this season.
The Pointers finished the game shooting 39 % from the field. Stevens Point was 12-for-16 from the free throw line. Whitewater shot just 33 % from the field and was 20-for-30 from the foul line.
Jessi Sporle (Mineral Point/Mineral Point) led the way for the Pointers with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Houghton added 14 points and Britta Petersen (Luck/Luck) (Fr.-Luck) had 15 points off the bench. Tiffany Morton had 13 points to lead Whitewater.
The Pointers will play their final two regular season games on the road starting with UW-La Crosse on Wednesday. The tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Mitchell Hall.
