STEVENS POINT, Wis. – A strong effort from the bench helped the No. 19 UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team record its fifth win over a ranked opponent this season with a 63-52 win over No. 18 UW-River Falls in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) action on Wednesday evening at Berg Gym.

Box Score

UW-Stevens Point (13-3, 4-1 WIAC) trailed UW-River Falls (13-3, 4-1 WIAC) by one entering the fourth quarter but the Pointers outscored the Falcons 21-9 in the final 10 minutes to send the visitors to their first conference loss of the year. The Pointers had three double figure scorers off the bench as the UWSP bench outscored the UWRF reserves 37-9 in the game.

Allie Miceli (Marseilles, IL/Ottawa Township) recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds. Taylor Douglas (Brodhead, WI/Brodhead) led the strong bench performance with 13 points, while Mickey Roland (New London, WI/New London) added 11 points and eight rebounds and Taylor Barrett (Monroe, WI/Monroe) had a career-high 10. Douglas scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter alone.

After trailing 43-42 entering the fourth, the Pointers led 50-48 with 5:09 to go before pulling away with consecutive three-pointers from both Roland sisters. The threes gave UW-Stevens Point an eight-point lead with 2:49 and the hosts made seven of 10 free throws down the stretch to put away the win.

The Falcons held a 30-27 lead at halftime but stretched their lead to 40-33 midway through the third quarter. Richell Mehus and Taylor Karge each had four points during the spurt but UW-Stevens Point closed the quarter on a 9-3 run to get within one.

Mehus led UW-River Falls with 11 points, five rebounds and four steals in the loss. Brynn Liljander and Kate Theisen each had 10 points for the Falcons, who shot 37.7 percent (20-for-53) in the game and committed 15 turnovers.

UW-Stevens Point had 14 assists on 23 made field goals and shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) from the floor. The Pointers heated up in the second half, shooting 45.8 percent (11-for-24) after the break, as UWSP outscored UWRF 36-22.

The Pointers started the game by taking an early 7-3 lead after five quick points from Miceli but neither team led by more than five points in the first half. UW-Stevens Point opened up a 19-14 lead early in the second quarter thanks to four points from Barrett, but Liljander hit two threes to help UW-River Falls close the half on a 10-4 run to go in up three.

UW-River Falls entered the game averaging a WIAC-high 77.8 points per game through four conference games but UW-Stevens Point held the Falcons to their second-lowest point total of the season.
The Pointers travel to UW-La Crosse on Saturday, Jan. 23 to face the Eagles at 7 p.m. at Mitchell Hall.