Box Score
STEVENS POINT -
Andrea Flease (New London) scored a career-high 28 points and led the UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team to an 82-74 victory against the Blue Devils of UW-Stout in the semi-final round of the 2010 WIAC Tournament at Berg Gymnasium Thursday evening.
The Pointers were able to put a six point gap between them and the Blue Devils a little less than midway through the first half jumping out to a 12-6 led thanks to five different Pointers scoring points.
At the 11:46 mark left of the first half, UW-Stout's Julia Hirssig and Kim Stokke took matters into their own hands and helped the Blue Devils put together a 24-10 run, putting the score at 35-24 in favor of Stout.
Sophomore Cassie Bandow (Plover) ended the scoring run with a jumper which sparked the Pointers on an 8-2 run to end the half the cutting Stout's led to 37-34.
Both the Pointers and the Blue Devils' had trouble securing the ball in the first half and committed 11 turnovers apiece. The Pointers were only able to score five points off the Blue Devil's first half turnovers while the Blue Devils were able to capitalize with 16 points. Stout was also able to knock down 46.2 percent of their shots from the field compared to Point's 41.9 percent.
The Pointers junior Britta Petersen (Luck) began the second half scoring with a jumper from the top of the key. With the basket, she eclipsed 1,000 points on her career and is only the 17th Pointer to accomplish the feat.
Peterson's basket propelled the Pointers on a 22-12 run, pushing the lead to nine points, 58-48, with 12:27 left in the game.
The second half was a battle between the Pointers Flease and the Blue Devil's Hirssig. Both players shot lights out in the half, hitting 8-of-11 shots. Hirssig was able to dominate the paint in the second half and with help from a three pointer by Danielle DeWitt the Blue Devils were able to tie the game at 62 apiece with 8:40 remaining.
The Pointers then put their last run of the evening together, started off by two quick scores from freshman Josi Schultz (Eau Claire), and outscored the Blue Devil's 20-12 in the final 8:40. Flease was able to seal the game with a block with 1:16 remaining and the Pointers were able to hit 5-of-6 free throws resulting in an 82-74 final.
The Pointers had only four turnovers in the second half and pressured the Blue Devils into 14. Point shot a blistering 57.1 percent from the field in the second stanza compared to 40 percent from the Blue Devils. The Pointers ended the game shooting 49.2 percent from the floor.
Along with scoring 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting, Flease also chipped in with five boards and four steals. Bandow and Peterson added 11 and 10 points respectfully while Schultz led the Pointers bench scoring with 14. Peterson also collected 10 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the season.
Hirssig shot 12-of-19 from the field scoring a game-high 32 and added 14 rebounds, 10 of which were on the offensive end, in her final collegiate game. She helped the Blue Devils' outscore the Pointers 32-26 and put back 23 second chance points compared to just six by Point.
Stokke added 12 points and Kayla Windt chipped in with nine while Danielle DeWitt scored eight off the bench.
UW-Stevens Point (20-6, 11-5 WIAC) will now travel to UW-Whitewater on Saturday in pursuit of their fourth overall and third straight WIAC Tournament Championship. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
