No. 3 Men's Basketball (16-2, 9-0 WIAC)

The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team extended their winning streak to eight games, notching a 20-point victory over UW-Eau Claire on the road Wednesday and home victories against UW-Oshkosh on Saturday and Viterbo University on Monday.

Close for the first few minutes of the first half against Eau Claire, the Pointers used a 13-2 run to pull ahead 20-8 with 10 minutes left and continued to build a lead. The Pointers led by as many as 14, 43-29, with 10 seconds remaining and took a 12-point lead into halftime, 43-31.

In the second half, Eau Claire cut the deficit to 11, 45-34 with 18:22 remaining, but UW-Stevens Point answered right back, building their largest lead of the game, 22 points with 14:18 to go and held the Blugolds at bay, cruising to the 20-point conference victory.

Bryan Beamish (Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) led the way for Stevens Point, pouring in 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point land. He also finished as the team's leading rebounder, pulling in five boards. Pete Rortvedt (Pittsville/Pittsville) added 15 points, four rebounds and three assists on the evening for the Pointers.

Against Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point had four players score in double figures, including a team-high 19 from Louis Hurd (Portage/Portage) as the Pointers held of the Titans of UW-Oshkosh and 33 points from D.J. Marsh, for an 80-70 victory on Saturday afternoon.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with neither team able to build more than a four point cushion until Beamish rattled off five straight points for the Pointers, as UWSP pulled ahead to a 21-16 lead. After back-to-back Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) three-point baskets gave the Pointers a nine-point lead, 27-18, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half. The Titans closed out the first half 23-12 to pull ahead by two, 41-39 at halftime.

But the Pointers answered in the second, going on a 20-2 run, sparked by back-to-back three-pointers from Matt Moses (Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) and Rortvedt as the Pointers continued to build their lead to 17, 69-52, with 7:45 remaining.

Marsh kept the Titans close, twice cutting the deficit to nine three times, but the Pointers answered with clutch Moses and El-Amin baskets down the stretch to secure the 10-point victory.

UW-Stevens Point committed just three turnovers in the game, while forcing nine by the Titans. The Pointers shot 50 percent from the floor for the game and 47.6 percent from three-point land.

Moses finished the game with 17 points, El-Amin added 15 points and seven assists while Rortvedt added 13 and had a team-high eight rebounds. Nick Krull (Marshall, WI/Marshall) and Beamish each added eight points to round out the scoring for Stevens Point.

On Monday, the Pointers opened the game on a 15-0 run and led by 37 at halftime as the third-ranked Pointers cruised to a 92-40 victory over the V-Hawks of Viterbo University in nonconference action Monday evening.

Rortvedt, who missed last season's game against the V-Hawks, made up for tonight, going a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc in the opening half, tallying 15 of his game-high 23 in the opening stanza. On the defensive end, the Pointers held Viterbo to just 13 percent shooting, allowing just three field goals in the game's first 20 minutes

In the second, the Pointers continued to add to their lead, as the Pointer bench came in and contributed 23 points to the cause, pushing the lead to as many as 54, as UWSP cruised to the 52-point win.
The Pointers improve to 22-3 all-time against the V-Hawks.

Rortvedt added three rebounds and one block in just 16 minutes of work on the evening while Moses added 16 and Hurd added 14. All but two players scored in the victory.

Up Next:
UW-Stevens Point (16-2, 9-0 WIAC) gets back to conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 28 when UW-River Falls comes to town for a 7 p.m. match-up against the Pointers. Earlier this season in River Falls, the Falcons pushed the Pointers into overtime, before UWSP pulled out the 94-87 win.

No. 3 Women's Basketball (17-1, 9-0 WIAC)

The Pointers posted another 2-0 week, tying the school record consecutive victories at 13.

On Wednesday, UW-Stevens Point avenged it's only loss of the season, defeating the sixth-ranked Blugolds of UW-Eau Claire behind 16 points from senior Janell Van Gomple (DeForest/DeForest) and 10 points from freshman Cassie Bandow (Plover, WI/Pacelli) off the bench.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half marked by five ties and six lead changes. Eau Claire pulled ahead by four, 10-6, with 11:10 remaining in the half, but Bandow connected on a three and after a Blugold free-throw, Christin Coles (Hustisford/Hustisford) connected from downtown to give the Pointers a 12-11 edge with 9:20 remaining.

Eau-Claire again built a four point lead at the 7:24 mark, going ahead 18-14, but the Pointers used a 10-2 run to take another four-point lead, 24-20, with 5:07 left in the opening half. After Eau Clair again tied the game at 24-24 thanks to a pair of free-throws, Point built their lead back to three, as Katie Webber (Reedsburg/Reedsburg) connected on a three-pointer at the 3:53 mark. A Van Gomple jumper and Ashley Baker (Vesper/Pittsville) lay-up gave the Pointers all they needed to take a five point lead, 31-26, into halftime.

Stevens Point opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 14 points (42-28) with 16:01 remaining. Eau Claire slowly ate away at the Pointer lead, cutting the deficit to one, 46-45, with 7:00 left. From there, Van Gomple and the Pointers pulled away, opening up a seven point lead down the stretch. Eau Claire cut the lead to four, 64-60 with 31 seconds left, but free-throws by Bandow and Webber in the final seconds sealed the victory for the Pointers.

UW-Stevens Point shot just 37.9 percent from the floor in the first half and 39.6 percent for the game, compared to 44.4 percent by UW-Eau Claire. The Blugolds tallied 28 points in the paint compared to just 10 by the Pointers, but UW-Stevens point held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding the visitors by six including a 12-4 edge on the offensive glass, converting that into 15 second-chance points.

For the Pointers, Van Gomple added six rebounds to her 16-point performance while Bandow also added six rebounds and two assists. Jessi Sporle (Mineral Point/Mineral Point) and Baker each tallied nine points and Britta Petersen (Luck/Luck) added seven points, six rebounds and three steals in the victory.

Against Oshkosh, Ashley Baker scored a game-high 14 points and added seven rebounds as the seventh-ranked Pointers of UW-Stevens Point stayed perfect in WIAC downing the Titans 59-45.

Baker scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half, going 6-for-13 from the floor and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, aiding in the Pointers 20-11 run to open the game. It was all Pointers the rest of the first half, as the team led by as 19 before taking a 17-point lead, 37-20, into halftime.

In the second half, the Pointers continued to add to their cushion, leading by as many as 22, despite shooting just 24 percent from the floor, cruising to the 19-point victory.

Petersen chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals while Sporle collected a team-high 13 rebounds for the Pointers.

Up Next:
UW-Stevens Point returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 28 when they travel to UW-River Falls for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Falcons.

No. 8 Wrestling (14-4, 2-1 WIAC)

The Pointers posted a 4-0 week, registering a come-from-behind victory over NCAA Division II UW-Parkside on Tuesday and then three victories at the Border Brawl on Saturday, capturing the team championship at the event hosted by UW-Whitewater.

On Tuesday, the UW-Stevens Point overcame a 16-6 deficit, capped by a Bret Oswald (Antigo/Antigo) pin in just :35 at 285 pounds to notch an 18-16 victory over UW-Parkside, ranked tenth in NCAA Division II, in Berg Gym.

After falling behind 3-0 after a loss at 125, UW-Stevens Point battled back with wins by Jered Kern (Mosinee/Mosinee) at 133 and Chase DeCleene (Ashwaubenon/Ashwaubenon) at 141 to take a 6-3 advantage into the 149 pound weight class.

The visiting Rangers tallied a major decision at 149, as undefeated Craig Becker defeated Kris Magruder (Racine/Case) 11-0, giving Parkside a 7-6 edge. Three more victories, a 5-1 decision at 157, a 3-1 decision at 165 and a 9-8 decision at 174 gave Parkside the 16-6 advantage.

But UW-Stevens Point began to slowly climb back in, as Ben Engelland (Neenah/Neenah) tallied a 5-0 victory at 184 and Jeremy Fulk (Anchorage, AK/West Valley) earned a 9-4 decision at 197 to get the Pointers within striking distance with the heavyweight class to go.

At 285, Oswald made quick work of Parkside's Jon Treml, getting the pin the Pointers desperately needed in just 0:35 seconds, stealing the 18-16 victory for Stevens Point.

The win is the 14th of the season for Oswald, his 12th by way of the pin.

The Pointer wrestling team went 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Border Brawl, hosted by UW-Whitewater, and captured the team championship.

Kern, DeCleene, Jake Wozniak (Stanley/Stanley-Boyd), Dennis Reckelberg (New Franken/Luxemburg-Casco), Engelland and Fulk all went a perfect 3-0 on the day to help the eighth-ranked Pointers improve to 14-4 overall.

Against Chicago, the Pointers suffered just two defeats, falling at 157 and 285, tallying five pins en route to a 40-6 victory, their second-highest point total of the season. Against Elmhurst the Pointers again used wins from Kern, DeCleene, Wozniak, Reckelberg, Engelland and Fulk to capture the victory over the Bluejays 26-15.

In the day's final dual against Augustana, the Pointers suffered just one loss at 125 and recorded two forfeit victories to cruise to the 44-3 victory and close out the perfect 3-0 day.

Elsewhere, Nick Estep (Racine/Case) finished with two victories, as did Kris Magruder (Racine/Case), Chad Gregory (Lawton, OK/Lawton), Fred Lane (Stanley/Stanley-Boyd) and Brett Oswald.

Up Next:
The Pointers return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 27 when they travel to face Lawrence University at 7 p.m. This will mark the last regular-season dual against the Vikings for the Pointers, as Lawrence will suspend its wrestling program beginning with the 2009-10 season.

No. 8 Women's Hockey (9-2-5, 7-2-3 NCHA)

The Pointers finished the week 2-0-1, posting 5-0 victory at St. Olaf and a 6-0 victory over Concordia (Wis.) before skating to a 2-2 tie with the Falcons in the second game of their weekend series. 

 UW-Stevens Point tallied two first period goals and three third period goals as the Pointers avenged a season-opening tie and defeated the Oles of St. Olaf with a 5-0 win on Tuesday evening.

Trish Piskula (Antigo/Antigo) and Kellye Nelson (Lino Lakes, MN/Centennial) each tallied goals in the game's opening period, giving the Pointers the early edge.

After a scoreless second, UW-Stevens Point tallied three more goals, this time from Jessica Edward (Sherrard, IL/Shattuck St. Mary's (MN)), her first of the season, another goal from Nelson, and the season's first from Rachel Graves to seal the 5-0 non-conference victory.

On the night, Edward and Nelson each tallied three points while Dana Carothers (Burnsville, MN/Burnsville) added two in the Pointer victory. d'Andra Phillips tallied 25 saves in goal

On Friday, Nicole Grossmann (Lindstrom, MN/Chisago Lakes) notched the game's first goal 35 seconds in off a Michelle Sosnowski (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield Central) assist as the Pointers jumped ahead 1-0 over Concordia. The Pointers took advantage of an early penalty in the second period as Samantha Scheving (Warroad, MN/Warroad) scored a power play goal, unassisted, at the 3:37 mark to start the scoring. Three more Pointers goals ensued, as Nelson, Carothers and Grossmann each tallied goals in the second period, extending the Pointer lead to 5-0 after the second.

In the third, Edward scored unassisted at the 14:45 mark to give the Pointers their 6-0 victory.

d'Andra Phillips registered the win in net, recording 10 saves in just over 29 minutes of work while Cassi Carpenter (Forest Lake, MN/Centennial) logged 30 minutes in goal and had a team-high 12 saves.

On Saturday, Carothers and Grossmann each tallied first period goals to give the Pointers a 2-0 lead after the first period, but two goals in the third by Concordia (Wis.) helped even the game and force a 2-2 tie in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) action Saturday afternoon.

Carothers netted her even goal at the 15:47 mark off a Scheving assist to give the Pointers, who had netted a 6-0 decision the night before against the Falcons, a 1-0 advantage. Grossmann added her goal just over three minutes later, scoring shorthanded and unassisted to give the Pointers the 2-0 advantage.

After a scoreless second period, the Falcons struck back, scoring just :25 into the third, as Hilary Christiansen cut the deficit to just one. At 13:31, CUW's Sarah Smith pulled the host Falcons even with the Pointers, finding the back of the net and knotting the score a 2-2.

In overtime, the Pointers put three shots on net and the Falcons recorded two, but both goalkeepers turned the shots away, preserving the 2-2 tie. d'Andra Phillips tallied 26 saves in net for UWSP while Katie Hirsch recorded 43 for Concordia.

The Pointers are now tied with UW-River Falls for the NCHA lead, with both team's boasting 17 points in the standings.

Up Next:
The Pointers return to action on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 30 & 31, as they host UW-Eau Claire and UW-River Falls, the league's other top teams, in conference action starting at 7 p.m.

No. 12 Men's Hockey (13-5-2, 4-4-1 NCHA)

The Pointers tallied two conference victories last weekend, moving back to the .500 mark in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, as the 12^th-ranked Pointers notched a 4-0- shutout against Lake Forest on Friday and then a 2-1 overtime victory over fourth-ranked St. Norbert on Saturday.

The Pointers started the scoring early on Friday night, scoring just 12 seconds in, and added a goal in the second and two in the third, earning a 4-0 victory over the Forester of Lake Forest College in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) men's hockey action.

Taylor Guay (Boulder, CO/Boulder) scored off a Ross Johnson (International Falls, MN/Falls) pass just 12 seconds in, as the Pointers jumped out to the early 1-0 lead. In the second, Luke Nesper (Eagle River, WI/Northland Pines) tallied his seventh goal of the season off a Matt Stendahl (Forest Lake, MN/Forest Lake) assist to give the Pointers a 2-0 advantage at the 17:42 mark.

In the third, Stendahl scored and unassisted short-handed goal at the 14:23 mark to push the lead to 3-0 and a Jonathan Ralph (Chester, NJ/Shattuck St. Mary's) added a goal of his own at the 19:05 mark off a Korey O'Brien and Stendahl assist, giving the Pointers the victory.

Thomas Spear recorded 19 saves in net for the Pointers in his first action since Dec. 13, returning from illness.

On Saturday, Travis Erstad (Stevens Point, WI/SPASH) tallied both Pointer goals, including the game-winner just 1:41 into overtime, as the Pointers defeated fourth-ranked St. Norbert 2-1 on Saturday evening.

Erstad got the scoring started at the 6:30 mark of the first half on the power play, scoring off a deflection of a Nesper shot attempt. St. Norbert's Taylor Langford answered less than four minutes later, knotting the score at 1-1.

After scoreless second and third periods sent the game into overtime, it was Erstad again sent the Green Knights packing, taking a pass from Nesper and Stendahl and finding the back of the net for the 2-1 victory.

Spear netted 25 saves in net, improving his record on the season to 8-5-0.

Up Next: 
The Pointers now hit the road for a four-game road-stand, heading to UW-River Falls, UW-Stout, St. Scholastica and UW-Superior before returning home to close out the season against UW-Eau Claire on Feb. 14.

Indoor Track and Field

The UW-Stevens Point women's indoor track and field team tallied four first-place finishes on Saturday afternoon and tallied 75 team points, finishing third at the UWSP Tri held at the Multi-Activity Center.

Liz Caine (Plover/SPASH) was a double winner on the day for UWSP, running t victories in the 55-meter dash (7.45) and the 200-meter dash (26.73). Kathleen Folbrecht (Jefferson/Jefferson) added a win in the 400-meter dash, posting a time of 59.76, more than three seconds faster than the second place finisher. Rounding out the first-place finishers, Sara Kline (Casco/Luxemberg-Casco) was a winner at the 55-meter hurdles, finishing in a time of 8.81.

The men's indoor track and field team recorded nine first-place victories, earning 138 team points on their way to a first place finish on Saturday afternoon.

Keith Ingram (Milwaukee, WI/Riverside) was a double-winner on the day, notching first-place finishes in the 55-meter dash and the long jump. Keith Dismuske tallied two second place finishes, one in the 55-meter hurdles and one in the long jump.

Other top finishers on the day included Ernest Edmond (Southfield, MI/Southfield Lathrup) in the 200-meter dash, Dom Meyer (Beloit/Memorial) in the one mile run, Adam Lang (Sheboygan/Sheboygan Lutheran) in the 800-meter, Mike Delleman (Oregon/Oregon) in the 55-meter hurdles, Brian Thill (Webster, WI/Webster) in the high jump, Chris Petrie (Glenbeulah/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah) in the triple jump and Kyle Scofield (Green Bay/Preble) in the shot put.

Up Next:
The Pointers return to action on Jan. 31 when they travel to Carthage for the Tadd Metzger Invitational at the Tarble Athletic and Recreation Center in Kenosha. Events are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

The men's and women's swimming and diving teams hosted the Get to the Point invite this last weekend, with eight women's teams competing and six men's teams. The men's team finished with 1,091 team points, good for a first place finish. The Women's team tallied 625 points, good for third. 

On the men's side, Chase Gross (Edina, MN/) finished with a time of 21.06 in the men's 50 freestyle, followed closely by Sam Davy (Stevens Point, WI/) with a time of 21.82, good for second. Gross and Davy again finished 1-2 in the 100 freestyle and Gross also tallied a first place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.04. Ian Girdley (Verona, WI/) also finished first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:00.15, over a full second ahead of the second place finisher. Matt Olp (Oregon/Oregon) finished as the top qualifier 100 breaststroke but finished third in the finals with a time of 1:01.32. The 200 medley relay team also posted a victory, finishing with a time of 1:36.22 including a final leg of 21.46. The 400 medley relay team also captured a first place finish, posting a time of 3:31.07, as did the 200 freestyle relay team, posting a time of 1:25.30.

On the women's side, Diandra Nero (Green Bay, WI/) finished second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:12.24 and posted a fourth place finish in the 100 backstroke. Jenny Bussey finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke finals after a second place finish in the prelims. Jenna Shelerud (Esko, MN/) posted a score of 388.80 in the one-meter diving event, good for a fourth place finish and Lindsay Lukes (Austin, MN/) finished second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.65, improving by almost two seconds her qualifying time. Lisa Clemens (Wisconsin Dells, WI/) had a fourth place finish in the 100 butterfly, posting a time of 1:00.87 while Jess Nordstrom (Hibbing, MN/Hibbing) finished in third with a time of 24.97 in the 50 freestyle.

Up Next:
The Pointers return to action on Jan. 31 when they travel to UW-La Crosse for a showdown of top WIAC programs. The meet is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.