SUPERIOR, Wis. – The fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 58-36 loss at top-seeded UW-Superior in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship on Friday evening at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
Box Score Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) and
Jamie Destache (Sussex, WI/Sussex-Hamilton) each scored 11 points off the bench for UW-Stevens Point (14-13), which trailed by just five at halftime. However, UW-Superior (19-7) outscored the Pointers 35-18 in the second half to pull away in the first-ever meeting between the two teams in the WIAC Tournament.
The semifinal appearance was the 14th in the tournament's 17 seasons for UW-Stevens Point, which is now 8-6 all-time in the semifinals.
The loss brings an end to the UWSP careers of seniors Destache,
Taylor Atkinson (Franklin, WI/Franklin/Concordia-St. Paul),
Eleni Seitz (Marshfield, WI/Marshfield) and
Kaitlyn Jacobs (New Franken, WI/Green Bay Preble). The Pointers posted an overall combined record of 79-34 in the last four seasons and helped UW-Stevens Point to its 15th consecutive winning season this year.
Jacobs finished her career with 511 points and 453 rebounds in 90 games, which includes 52 starts. Destache scored 336 points and made 59 three-pointers in 77 career games. Atkinson totaled 118 points and 74 rebounds in 68 games, while Seitz had 58 points and 54 boards in 45 games.
After trailing 23-18 after a low-scoring first half, UW-Stevens Point was still within five with 17:18 to go after two free throws by Miceli. The Yellowjackets then went on an 8-1 run over a span of three and a half minutes to take a 35-23 lead and would lead by as many as 20.
Sally Linzmeier scored a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Hadley Skalmoski recorded 11 points and eight rebounds and was the only other double-figure scorer for UW-Superior.
Destache scored nine of her 11 and hit three three-pointers in the second half. Miceli grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, finishing one board shy of a double-double.
UW-Superior held UW-Stevens Point to 12 made field goals on 24.5 percent shooting in the game, while the Yellowjackets shot 41.9 percent in the second half to finish at 33.3 percent. The Pointers had an assist on each of their 12 made shots.
The teams combined to shoot just 6-for-29 from behind the arc and 24-of-39 from the free-throw line in the game.
The Pointers held their largest lead of the game at 15-10 with 8:25 left in the opening half after a Destache jumper. The Yellowjackets closed the half on a 10-1 run to take a five-point lead of their own into the break.
UW-Superior will host UW-Oshkosh in the tournament's championship game on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m.
