PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – In a playoff-like atmosphere with the season on the line, the UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team (10-15, 5-9) prevailed with an 85-78 win at UW-Platteville (12-13, 4-10) to secure the final seed in next week's WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's).
 
Junior Bailee Collins (Milton, Wis./Milton) led all scorers with 23 points and nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds.  Fellow junior Taylor Greenheck (Sauk Prairie, Wis./Sauk Prairie) added 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor and 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.
 
Kellan Schmidt (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton), Carly Cerrato (De Pere, Wis./De Pere) and Jessica Slowik (Elcho, Wis./Elcho) were also in double figures with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.  Slowik hit 8-of-9 free throws in the game.
 
The Pioneers scored the first five points of the game and used a 7-0 run to lead by an 18-9 score with 1:50 left in the first.  Cerrato buried a three and Schmidt scored the final five as UWSP closed on an 8-0 burst to trail by just one, 18-17.
 
Cerrato nailed another three early in the second, but a 6-0 run by Platteville put UWSP in a 27-20 hole.  Collins heated up midway through the quarter with an and-one and a three-pointer.  Erin Moran (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) drilled a late three to tie the game 36-36.  Slowik completed an and-one and UWSP led 40-38 at the half.
 
Collins had a personal four-point spurt to open the third.  The Pioneers battled back and the teams traded leads until Collins poured in five-straight to put UWSP in front 57-54 heading to the fourth.
 
Collins and Greenheck combined for UWSP's first 11 points in the fourth and a layup Jamie Pfeifer (Wisconsin Dells, Wis./Wisconsin Dells) pushed the lead to nine.  The Pointers scored their final 15 points from the free-throw line going 15-for-18 over the final 3:10 to seal the win.
 
The Pointers travel to UW-Eau Claire for a first round matchup on Tuesday (Feb. 25).  Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m.