NCAA Division III Women�s Basketball Tournament Sectional Preview �

Friday, March 8, 2002
Chapman University (23-4) vs. #18 Pacific Lutheran University (22-3) � 5 pm
#9 UW-Stevens Point (26-3) vs #19 Webster University (25-2) � 7 pm

Saturday, March 9, 2002
Championship Game � 7 pm

Berg Gymnasium (2,000) � Stevens Point, Wis.

Weekend Outlook:

For the first time ever, UW-Stevens Point will host an NCAA Division III sectional tournament with the winner advancing to the Final Four March 15-16 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Pointers are coming off a stunning win over four-time defending national champion Washington (Mo.) last weekend and face another St. Louis opponent in Webster in the semifinals. Chapman (Calif.) and Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) meet in the other semifinal on Friday.

Broadcast:

     All three games can be heard live on WWSP (89.9 FM) with Jeff Olson and Dan Mirman on the call. The games can also be heard on the Internet at http://www.uwsp.edu/stuorg/wwsp/.

     Any games involving UW-Stevens Point can also be heard live on WSPT (1010 AM) with Jeff Bushman providing the broadcast.

     S-TV student television (Stevens Point cable channel 10) will air the game on tape delay at a time to be determined.

The Coaches:

 UW-Stevens Point coach Shirley Egner has a 196-128 career record in her 13th season with the Pointers.

     Webster coach Ryan Barke boasts a 53-24 career mark in his third season with the Gorloks. Barke was the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

     Chapman coach Mary Hegarty has led the Panthers to a 142-81 record in her nine seasons at the helm.

     Pacific Lutheran coach Gil Rigell has a 105-28 career record and has won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons with the Lutes.

NCAA Tournament Information:

     The winner of the tournament will advance to the Final Four in Terre Haute, Ind. next weekend and play the winner of a sectional tournament in Salisbury, Md. Other sectionals are being played this weekend in Wilmington, Ohio and Springfield, Mass.

Series History:

UW-Stevens Point has never played any of the schools in this year�s sectional. In fact, the only team remaining in the entire tournament that the Pointers have ever played is Scranton (Pa.), which UW-Stevens Point defeated in the 1987 Final Four.

Pointers Update:

     UW-Stevens Point pulled off one of the biggest surprises in recent Division III tournament history by beating four-time defending national champion Washington (Mo.) 66-60 last weekend in St. Louis. Senior Carry Boehning scored a season-high 18 points to lead the Pointers in the win over the Bears. WIAC Player of the Year Kari Groshek averages 15.1 points per game and was held to six points, which was her second-lowest point total of the season and snapped her streak of 15 straight games in double figures. UW-Stevens Point also shot just 35.5 percent in the win, which was its third-lowest total of the year ahead of only back-to-back wins against UW-Eau Claire and UW-Platteville.

Gorloks Update:

Webster brings an 18-game winning streak into the tournament, suffering its last loss to Washington (Mo.) in an 81-76 loss on Jan. 3. The Gorloks advanced to the sectional by beating Aurora (Ill.) 81-60 in the first round and defeating Lakeland (Wis.) 48-33 in the second round. Against Lakeland, the Gorloks led 14-13 at the half and 21-20 with 8:15 left before pulling away with a 13-2 run.

Senior guard Halley Spann is the team�s leading scorer at 18.7 points per game and was the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Senior Laura Stuhlman was also a first-team All-Conference selection, averaging 6.9 points per game. In addition to the loss to Washington, Webster�s other loss was in the season opener in a 62-55 loss to Alma (Mich.).

Panthers Update:

Chapman won its first-ever NCAA tournament game in its third appearance with a 78-65 opening round win over Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) and then followed with an 87-74 triumph over Carleton (Minn.) to reach the sectional. The Panthers, who play an independent schedule, feature a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging over nine points per game. Sophomore Melody Bongiorno leads the Panthers at 14.1 points per game, while senior Caroline Jensen averages 12.4 points per game. Katy Barstow averages a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game.

After a 2-2 start to the season, the Panthers have won 21 of their last 23 games with both losses coming to NAIA Division I foes in Westmont (Calif.) and Biola (Calif.) Chapman was one of seven �Pool B� selections to the tournament as an independent and is the only to survive the first two rounds and reach the sectional.

Lutes Update:

Pacific Lutheran advanced to its second sectional in four years and avenged its 1999 �Elite Eight� loss with a 60-54 home win over St. Benedict on Saturday. The Northwest Conference champion Lutes were led by 20 points from Becky Franza and Jessica Iserman�s 15 rebounds.

Iserman hauled in a school-record 23 rebounds earlier this season in a victory over Western Baptist (Wash.) and averages 9.2 per game. She also averages a team-leading 12.5 points per game. She is a two-time All-Northwest Conference selection. Franza averages 11.6 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Lutes and has been named All-Conference three times in her career.

This is the third NCAA tournament in four seasons for Pacific Lutheran, which is seventh in Division III in scoring defense this season at 49.6 points per game. The Lutes have held opponents under 50 points in 15 of their 25 games. Only one opponent has scored more than 64 points against Pacific Lutheran, coming in a 79-72 overtime win over Whitworth.

Record-Setter:

UW-Stevens Point�s game with Webster Friday night will mark the first time the Pointers have ever played 30 games in a single-season. The Pointers are also one win away from tying the school record for single-season victories, which was set with a 27-2 mark during the 1987 national championship season.

NCAA Rematch:

UW-Stevens Point also reached the Sweet 16 round in women�s soccer this year and did so by beating Webster 2-0 in the previous round. Two players from that game will square off head-to-head at the point guard position on the basketball court as Gorloks� goalie Tara Fortschneider averages 11.7 points per game and Pointers� all-conference soccer defender Tara Schmitt averages 7.0 points per game in basketball.

Title Meetings:

UW-Stevens Point has never played Chapman nor Pacific Lutheran in women�s basketball, but has faced both schools in national championship games. The Pointers and Pacific Lutheran tied in the 1987 NAIA football championship and UW-Stevens Point beat Chapman in the 1998 Division III softball championship game.

Game Notes:

     UW-Stevens Point has won 24 consecutive games over non-WIAC opponents with the last loss coming 55-49 on Nov. 27, 1999 at home to Wisconsin Lutheran. The Pointers are 11-0 against non-WIAC foes this year and were 8-0 last year�The Pointers� win over Washington marked their 16th victory in their last 17 games away from home. The only loss was this season at UW-Stout�No host school won a sectional tournament last year and only one (Washington, Mo.) did the previous year. In fact, only one host men�s team (Ohio Northern in 2001) has won a sectional in the past two years.

     UW-Stevens Point seniors Carry Boehning, Kari Groshek and Amie Schultz are all four-year starters and will add to their shared school record for career games played by each playing in their 105th career game Friday�Pointers� freshman Amanda Nechuta automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships in the shot put despite competing in just two meets, but will miss this weekend�s national meet in Ada, Ohio�The Pointers have forced opponents into 18 or more turnovers in every game except the WIAC semifinal loss to UW-Oshkosh when the Titans had 14 miscues�UW-Stevens Point is one of four teams in the Sweet 16 that has been to a Final Four. Scranton (Pa.), Hope (Mich.) and Ohio Wesleyan are the others.