STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team looks to pick up another quality non-conference win and extend its winning streak to three games when it hosts undefeated Saint Mary's (Minn.) on Saturday night at Berg Gym.
THE BASICS
Who: Saint Mary's (Minn.) (8-0) at UW-Stevens Point (5-2)
When: Saturday, Dec. 19 – 7 p.m.
Where: Stevens Point, Wis. – Berg Gym
FOLLOW THE GAMELive videoLive statsLive audioSANTA COMES TO BERGFans are encouraged to come early to Saturday night's game to get their picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus! Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for pictures in the Berg Gym lobby from 6:15 until tip-off at 7 p.m. Project Embrace will also be auctioning three baskets in the lobby.
UW-Stevens Point students in attendance will receive free popcorn!
LAST TIME OUTUW-Stevens Point built a 46-20 halftime lead after shooting 60.0 percent in the first 20 minutes and went on to defeat Illinois Wesleyan 68-50 on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington, Ill. The Pointers were 15-for-25 from the field in the first half and outscored the Titans 23-10 in each of the first two quarters for their fourth win in the last five meetings with IWU.
Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest) and
Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) each scored 15 points in the win and combined to shoot 11-for-14 (78.6 percent) from the floor. Anklam also dished out five assists and Miceli grabbed seven rebounds in the victory.
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSUW-Stevens Point's win at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday was the team's second-straight road win against College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) opposition after the Pointers toppled No. 23 Carthage 63-60 on Dec. 5. UWSP has opened the season 5-2 and has won three of its last four with the lone loss coming 51-48 to St. Thomas, which is now ranked No. 10 in the country.
HEATING UPUW-Stevens Point shot 51.1 percent from the field in the win at Illinois Wesleyan, the team's second-best shooting outing of the season, and its best since shooting 53.1 percent in the season-opening win over Finlandia.
The Pointers' five made threes tied the team's second-highest total of the season and UWSP shot a season-best 83.3 percent (15-for-18) from the free-throw line at IWU.
AGAINST THE MIACUW-Stevens Point is 14-11 all-time against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). The Pointers have played nine of the MIAC's 12 teams but have only played three MIAC teams more than once (St. Thomas – 10, Saint Mary's – 6, Concordia-Moorhead – 3).
UWSP is facing its second MIAC opponent of the season after being edged 51-48 by St. Thomas at home on Nov. 29.
ON THE BOARDSRebounding continued to be a strength for UW-Stevens Point in the win at Illinois Wesleyan, as the Pointers outrebounded the Titans 49-23. The Pointers' 49 rebounds were a season-high and UWSP has grabbed at least 12 offensive rebounds in every game this season.
UW-Stevens Point leads the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and ranks 13th in the country in rebounding margin (+11.1 per game) this season. The Pointers have rebounded over half (50.4 percent) of their missed shots through seven games.
Saint Mary's also has held a commanding advantage on the glass through eight games this season. The Cardinals boast a rebounding margin of +9.6 and are rebounding 46.1 percent of their misses so far. Seven SMU players are averaging over 3.0 rebounds per game.
WIN/LOSS SPLITSUW-Stevens Point has been especially dominant on the boards in its five wins this season, outrebounding its opponents by an average of 14.4 boards a game, compared to an average of 3.0 per game in its two losses.
The Pointers are averaging over twice as many assists in their wins (14.4) than losses (7.0) through seven games.
CONTRASTING STYLESOn Saturday night, UW-Stevens Point's stingy defense comes up against Saint Mary's explosive offense. The Pointers rank second in the WIAC in scoring defense (55.0 ppg) and have only allowed two opponents (Chicago – 63, Carthage – 60) at least 60 points this season.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals entered the week ranked 28th in the country in scoring offense (75.0 ppg). Prior to the win over Carleton, SMU ranked inside the top-15 teams in the country in both three-point field-goal percentage (ninth, 40.3 percent) and free-throw percentage (15th, 75.8 percent).
IN THE POLL | D3HOOPS.COM TOP 25UW-Stevens Point continued to creep closer to entering the D3hoops.com Top 25 this week, receiving the second-highest point total (28) of any team in the "Others Receiving Votes" portion of the poll. The Pointers have been receiving votes for each of the last three weeks.
ABOUT SAINT MARY'S | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATSSaint Mary's comes to Stevens Point with a perfect 8-0 record this season, including wins in its first four MIAC contests and five wins on its home court. The Cardinals are coming off an 85-47 win over Carleton at Saint Mary's Gym on Wednesday evening. Saint Mary's raced out to a 35-7 lead, including scoring 20 consecutive points, and shot 52.2 percent from the field in the win.
The Cardinals got 58 points in the paint and 37 from their bench in the blowout win against Carleton. Brandi Blattner led SMU with 22 points and eight rebounds, while shooting 8-for-10 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line. Alexa Huisman came off the bench to score 14 points and 11 Cardinals scored in the game.
Saint Mary's 85 points against Carleton on Wednesday evening marked the third time the Cardinals have scored over 80 points already this season. None of the 80-point games have come in a true road game, as two have come at home and one on a neutral court. SMU shot a combined 55.5 percent in the three 80-point games and 38.1 percent in its other five games.
Micaela Meredith leads Saint Mary's in scoring at 14.6 points per game, followed closely by Blattner's average of 14.5. Blattner also averages an MIAC-high 9.4 rebounds per game. Emma Schaefer adds 9.5 points per game and is shooting an MIAC-best 54.3 percent (10-for-35) from behind the arc, while Bridget Pethke pitches in 8.9 points and 6.1 assists per game, the most in the MIAC.
The Cardinals have won eight consecutive games to start the season for the second year in a row. Last season, Saint Mary's eight-game winning streak was halted with a 51-47 loss to MIAC foe Bethel. The eight consecutive wins to begin a season are the program's longest since opening the 1985-86 season by winning 19 in a row.
A year ago, Saint Mary's finished the season 18-9 overall and 11-7 in the MIAC, which earned the Cardinals their fourth straight appearance in the MIAC Playoffs. SMU defeated Gustavus Adolphus 90-58 in the opening round before falling to Bethel 72-56 in the semifinals. The Cardinals have won at least one playoff game in each of the past four seasons, reaching the semifinals in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2014-15, while reaching the title game in 2013-14.
THE COACHESShirley Egner is in her 27th season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and is the all-time winningest coach in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) history with a 493-214 (.697) career record. Over the last 14 seasons, Egner has guided the Pointers to a 319-87 record, the best mark of any WIAC team over that span. She is a four-time WIAC Coach of the Year honoree, a three-time Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Women's Coach of the Year (2010-12) was inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2001-02, Egner led the Pointers to the national title and a 30-3 record to become just the eighth team in Division III history to win 30 games in a season.
Brent Pollari is in his first season as the head coach at Saint Mary's and has opened his SMU career 8-0. Prior to coming to Saint Mary's, Pollari spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I and II levels. He spent last season at Division II Minnesota State (Mankato) and helped lead the Mavericks to a 21-10 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. In 2013-14, Pollari helped guide Division I North Dakota to Big Sky regular-season and conference titles and the school's first-ever national tournament berth. Pollari was on the staff at Northern State for six years prior to his year at North Dakota.
ALL-TIME SERIESUW-Stevens Point and Saint Mary's are meeting for the seventh time in a series UWSP leads 4-2. All six previous meetings came between 1985 and 1996.
The Pointers are 2-0 all-time at home against the Cardinals, including a 70-54 win at Berg Gym in the last meeting between the two teams on Dec. 30, 1996. Both UWSP home wins came by at least 13 points.
