LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team pushed top-ranked FDU-Florham to the final buzzer but a game-winning desperation three-pointer at the buzzer was no good as the Devils escaped with a 60-58 victory at the D3hoops.com Classic at South Point Arena on Monday afternoon.
 
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FDU-Florham (9-0) built an 11-point lead with 7:51 remaining thanks to a 10-0 run. However, UW-Stevens Point (7-5) used a 12-2 run of its own to get with 59-58 with 5 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest). After the Devils made one of two at the line with two seconds to go, the Pointers pushed the ball up court but was unable to get a good look at the basket.
 
The meeting was the first time the two teams had faced each other on the hardwood. The win marked the 42nd in a row for FDU-Florham, which won the national championship hosted by UW-Stevens Point at Quandt Fieldhouse last March.
 
Kaitlyn Jacobs (New Franken, WI/Green Bay Preble) recorded her second double-double in as many days and the fourth of her career, finishing with a career-high 18 points and tying her career high with 15 rebounds. The senior was 8-for-9 from the field in the game. Anklam came off the bench to score a season-high 13 points, shooting 3-for-5 from behind the arc and 4-for-4 from the foul line.
 
The Pointers led for the first seven-plus minutes of the game before the Devils took their first lead at 12-11 at the 12:09 mark of the opening half. Late in the half, FDU-Florham used an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the half at 34-27 with 1:33 remaining. UWSP closed out a half that featured seven ties and seven lead changes with a three by Anklam as part of a mini 5-0 run to get within a basket, 34-32, at the break.
 
The Devils held the lead until Anklam knotted the score at 42-42 five minutes into the second half. A couple minutes later, FDU-Florham scored 10 consecutive points, capped by a Leguillou three, to go up by 11.
 
The Pointers then held the Devils scoreless for 6:04 until Brown's free throw with 67 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, four free throws by Anklam and a pair of buckets by Sarah Gamillo (Colby, WI/Colby) held lead the late UWSP charge.
 
Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) added seven points and eight rebounds for the Pointers, who outrebounded the Devils 54-31. UWSP turned 18 offensive rebounds into 16 points and scored 30 of its 54 points in the paint.
 
FDU-Florham was led by Shalette Brown's double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Brown was 5-for-15 from the floor and 7-for-11 from the charity stripe. Danielle Leguillou added 11 points off the bench in 17 minutes for the Devils, who scored 26 points off 24 turnovers.
 
UW-Stevens Point heads home and will return to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play with a trip to UW-Platteville on Wednesday, Jan. 7. The Pointers and Pioneers will tip-off at 7 p.m. at Bo Ryan Court.