STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team overcame a 12-point first-half deficit but UW-River Falls scored the final nine points of the game to come away with a 69-64 win on Alumni Day on Saturday afternoon at Berg Gym.
 
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UW-Stevens Point (8-8, 3-4 WIAC) led 64-60 with 1:20 remaining before UW-River Falls (7-9, 2-5 WIAC) closed the game with a 9-0 run. A layup by Taylor Karge and a three-pointer by Katie Messman gave the Falcons a one-point lead with 28 seconds remaining.
 
UWRF then forced two turnovers and made four free throws to close out the win. UW-Stevens Point had won the last six meetings between the two teams.
 
UWSP trimmed a 12-point deficit to five at halftime and used a 10-2 run early in the second half to take its second lead of the game at 41-39 with 16:16 remaining. Lexi Roland (New London, WI/New London) capped the run with a pair of three-pointers.
 
The Pointers led by between one and five points until the late run by the Falcons. Karge led UW-River Falls with a career-high 25 points on 11-for-17 shooting, while Messman added 11.
 
UW-River Falls raced out to leads of 9-3 and 19-7 in the first 10 minutes of the game, as threes by Messman and Cassy Saxton led to the 12-point lead. However, UW-Stevens Point hung around and closed the half on a 9-4 run to get within five.
 
Mickey Roland (New London, WI/New London) had a career-high 13 points and a career-best eight rebounds to lead UW-Stevens Point. The freshman did most of her damage at the free-throw line, where she was 9-for-10.
 
Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest) tallied her fourth double-digit scoring effort in the last five games, finishing with 12 points. The sophomore hit 3-of-6 tries from behind the arc and had nine of her 12 in the first half.
 
UWRF held advantages of 28-20 in points in the paint and 25-6 in points off turnovers. The Pointers outrebounded the Falcons 40-35 and both teams had at least 14 offensive rebounds.
 
UW-River Falls shot 36.9 percent from the floor in the game and was 8-for-24 from behind the arc. UW-Stevens Point shot at a 40.0-percent clip from the field, was 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range and held a nine-point edge at the free-throw line.
 
UW-Stevens Point hosts UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear gold as part of a Gold Out at Berg Gym.