MENOMONIE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team clinched a spot in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament for the 15th straight season on Saturday, escaping UW-Stout with a 68-64 victory.

Box Score

The Pointers have now reached the postseason tournament in all 17 years of its existence and own a 24-9 record in the tournament, the most wins of any conference team. The Pointers have also won the WIAC touranment title and received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament a league-best seven times.

UW-Stevens Point built an early nine point lead in the game's opening stanza, only to have the host Blue Devils charge back and tie the game at 37-37 at the break.

In the second half, Stout held a narrow edge for the first 15 minutes of play until the Pointers pulled in front for good with just 4:53 remaining with a Joann Wolfenberg (Adell, WI/Plymouth Comprehensive) free throw and a Jamie Destache (Sussex, WI/Sussex-Hamilton) jumper.

Over the final minutes the Pointers connected on five of eight free throws to hold off Stout and secure the four-point victory.

Wolfenberg finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and a 6-for-10 afternoon from the charity stripe. Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest) chipped in with 14 and Destache scored all 11 of her points in the second half. Wolfenberg also had a team-best eight rebounds.

Three Blue Devils finished in double figures as well, led by 14 from Kyleigh Hebert.

UW-Stevens Point (12-12, 7-8 WIAC) closes out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 21 at home against UW-Superior who is tied atop the league standings with UW-Oshkosh heading into the final week of the season. Game time Saturday is set for 3 p.m. from Berg Gym.

The Pointers will also recognize seniors Taylor Atkinson (Franklin, WI/Franklin/Concordia-St. Paul), Destache, Eleni Seitz (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) and Kaitlyn Jacobs (New Franken, WI/Green Bay Preble) after the game.