PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Kaitlyn Jacobs (New Franken, WI/Green Bay Preble) and Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) each recorded double-doubles to power the fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team to a 61-55 win over fourth-seeded UW-Platteville in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament on Wednesday night at Bo Ryan Court.
 
Box Score
 
Jacobs made her first six shots and finished 6-for-7 with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Miceli came off the bench to record 14 points and 11 boards for UW-Stevens Point (14-12, 8-8 WIAC). The Pointers had lost the two regular-season meetings with UW-Platteville (15-11, 8-8 WIAC) by a combined nine points.
 
With the win, UW-Stevens Point improves to 25-9 all-time in the WIAC Tournament and 10-3 in the quarterfinals/first round. On Friday, Feb. 27, the Pointers will travel to top-seeded UW-Superior for a 7 p.m. semifinal matchup with the Yellowjackets, who UWSP defeated 58-56 last Saturday at Berg Gym.
 
The Pointers held their largest lead of the night at 52-46 with 4:30 to go but the Pioneers trimmed the deficit to two with 1:34 remaining. UW-Stevens Point responded by scoring the next three points, including a layup by Taylor Atkinson (Franklin, WI/Franklin/Concordia-St. Paul) with 38 seconds left to lead 57-52.
 
Mykaela Brandt promptly hit a three-pointer to get UW-Platteville back within two with 18 seconds left. The Pioneers then sent Lexi Roland (New London, WI/New London) to the line but the freshman calmly knocked down two free throws to give UWSP a two-possession lead.
 
UW-Stevens Point forced a turnover on UWP's next possession and Lauren Anklam (Ringle, WI/D.C. Everest) drained two free throws to seal the win. The victory marks the third time UWSP has overturned a halftime deficit to win this season.
 
The Pointers trailed 26-23 at halftime, as Miceli and Jacobs combined for 16 points and 12 boards in the opening half. UWSP scored 18 of its 23 points in the paint in the opening half.
 
After a scoreless first half, Anklam opened the second half with a three-pointer to tie the score. The sophomore later hit a jumper to tie the game at 33-33 with 15:43 to go and the Pointers would not trail the rest of the way.
 
UW-Stevens Point trailed 5-1 after the first 67 seconds before the teams traded 8-0 runs leading up to the first media timeout.
 
Anklam scored 11 points in the second half to join Jacobs and Miceli in double figures in the game. UW-Stevens Point shot 44.9 percent from the field and hit 12-of-16 (75.0 percent) of its free throws in the second half after going 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) in the first half.
 
UW-Platteville also had three players score in double figures. Mykaela Brandt came off the bench to lead the Pioneers with 13, while seniors Alyssa Krajco and Stacy Clark each had 11. The Pointers held Krajco and Clark, two of the top-three scorers in the WIAC, to a combined 9-for-28 shooting night.
 
The other semifinal will see third-seeded UW-Oshkosh take on second-seeded UW-Eau Claire in Eau Claire on Friday at 7 p.m. The winners of the semifinals will play for the WIAC Championship on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m. at the site of the highest remaining seed.