Box Score

WHITEWATER – Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) (Sr.-Wausau/East) matched a career-high as the 19th-ranked UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team controlled the game throughout and defeated fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater 79-71 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Semifinals tonight at Kachel Gym.

The Pointers improve to an overall record of 23-4, while Whitewater falls to 24-3. The Pointers have won seven straight games. Stevens Point becomes the fourth three seed in the last four years to advance to a WIAC Championship game. Whitewater falls to 0-2 in WIAC Semifinal games. This was the first-ever meeting between the teams in the WIAC Tournament.

The Pointers got out to a 9-2 lead after Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) drained a three-pointer three minutes into the game. The Warhawks came back and eventually took the lead at 21-20 with nine minutes left in the first half. Stevens Point then scored the next five points to regain the lead at 25-21.

Stevens Point followed that with a 9-1 run to take an 11-point lead with under five minutes left in the half. The Pointers grew the lead to 14 with 1:42 on the clock after a Britta Petersen (Luck/Luck) (Fr.-Luck) layup. The Pointers went into halftime with a 43-33 lead.

Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) had 12 points in the half on 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the three-point line. The Pointers shot 53 % from the field, while Whitewater was held to 39 % and just 1-for-6 on three-point attempts.

The Warhawks came out in the second half and cut the lead down to four just two minutes in. Stevens Point responded and got the lead back up to 11 after a Laura Neuenfeldt (Two Rivers/Two Rivers) (Sr.-Two Rivers) layup made the score 55-44. Whitewater tried to get back in it again and cut the Pointer lead to 59-53 with 8:16 left in the game. However, the Pointers answered again, getting the lead back up to double-figures on another Houghton three-pointer. The margin stayed around nine the rest of the game as the Pointers were 9-for-10 from the free throw line in final four minutes to seal the victory.

The Pointers shot 48 % from the field and were 6-for-7 on three-point attempts. They were also 15-for-16 from the free throw line. Whitewater, who was ranked eighth in the country in field goal shooting, was held to 41 % from the field and 3-for-15 from beyond the three-point line.

Haley Houghton (Wausau/Wausau East) matched a career-high with 23 points and also led the team with eight rebounds. Houghton was 7-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 on three-point attempts, and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Jessi Sporle (Mineral Point/Mineral Point) (Jr.-Mineral Point) added 14 points and Chelsea Kranz (Columbus/Columbus) (Sr.-Columbus) had 10 points. Tiffany Morton led Whitewater with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The Pointers will face UW-Eau Claire Saturday in the WIAC Championship game at Zorn Arena. The Blugolds defeated UW-Stout tonight by a score of 86-61. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 3 p.m.