LA CROSSE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team (8-18) saw its season come to an end in a 61-55 loss at No. 25 UW-La Crosse (22-4) in the first round of the WIAC Championship (presented by Culver's) on Wednesday.
Sophomore
Bailee Collins (Milton, Wis./Milton) led all players with 21 points in the game. Freshman
Amber Baehman (Plainfield, Wis. /Tri-County) just missed her eighth double-double of the year with a game-high 10 rebounds and nine points.
The Eagles scored first, but a
Carly Cerrato (De Pere, Wis./De Pere) three in the opening minute sparked a 12-0 run by the Pointers. Collins scored the next seven points, including her first three-pointer of the game, and
Brooke Geier (Kewaunee, Wis./Kewaunee) closed the run as UWSP held a 12-2 advantage. Collins buried another three, but UWSP went scoreless the final 3:46 of the quarter as UWL closed to within 15-11 after one.
Taylor Greenheck (Sauk Prairie, Wis./Sauk Prairie) got on the board early in the second and scored again midway through the second as UWSP clung to a 21-18 lead. Later in the quarter,
Erin Moran (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) scored, but UWL inched ahead for a 25-23 lead at the half.
Geier nailed a triple early in the third quarter, but an 11-4 run by UWL put UWSP in a 36-28 hole a little over three minutes in. Collins completed an and-one and scored the final five points of the quarter as the Pointers fell behind 42-33 heading to the fourth.
The Eagles opened the fourth on a 10-4 run over the first 5:52 of the quarter with all four UWSP points coming at the free throw line. Collins snapped the drought from the field with a layup with 4:08 to go to begin a furious comeback attempt. A Baehman three with 1:50 remaining cut the deficit to 10.
Kellan Schmidt (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) drained a three-pointer with 22 seconds left and Baehman scored at the buzzer as time ran out on the comeback.
Baehman finished the season with a .911 free-throw percentage, the second-highest season average in program history. She led the team in scoring (13.1 points per game), rebounds (181), steals (29) and double-doubles (7).
