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Pointers Down
Titans to Reach WIAC Finals
Box Score
Apparently home
court advantage in UW-Stevens Point and UW-Oshkosh�s postseason women�s
basketball series isn�t all that important.
Meeting in the
semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament
for the fourth time in five years, the road team delivered another
victory, but this time it was UW-Stevens Point winning 68-58 on Wednesday
at Oshkosh.
The Pointers,
who avenged home semifinal losses to the Titans in 2002, 2003 and 2005,
advanced to their second WIAC tournament championship game and will play
at UW-Stout on Saturday. UW-Stevens Point is now 20-7 overall, marking its
sixth consecutive 20-win season, while UW-Oshkosh, which lost for the
first time in seven semifinal appearances, ended the year at 19-8.
�We didn�t even
talk about that,� Egner said of the previous tournament losses to the
Titans. �We hadn�t ever lost in this building until this season, but we
didn�t talk about that either. We just wanted to come over here and play
well.�
The two teams
were meeting in the tournament for the fifth straight year and sixth time
in seven years. UW-Stevens Point prevailed at home in its only previous
title game appearance in 2004 and lost in Oshkosh in the 2000
quarterfinals, which also was the last time the Pointers played a road
game in the tournament.
After a
sluggish start, the Pointers had just six points in the first 10 minutes
of the game and fell behind early at 19-10, but rallied with nine straight
points to tie the game and eventually take a 26-24 halftime lead.
�We didn�t play
well in the first half,� Egner admitted. �But we came back and did some
good things in the second half. That says a lot about our kids.�
UW-Stevens
Point used numerous spurts to build its lead in the second half, but the
Titans had an answer every time. The Pointers twice went up by five points
early in the half and UW-Oshkosh rallied each time, taking a 36-35 lead
with 15:20 left.
The Pointers
used another run of their own to push the lead to 45-38 with 12:48 left.
The Titans scored the next five points, but again, UW-Stevens Point scored
seven straight points for a 52-43 lead with 10:08 left. Ten straight
points from the Titans capped by back-to-back inside baskets by Brittany
Herrick put UW-Oshkosh ahead 53-52 with
4:30
left.
Immediately
following a timeout, Cassandra Schultz took the inbounds pass for the
Pointers and sliced down the baseline for a go-ahead layup. UW-Oshkosh
missed its next three shots and the Pointers had turnovers on their next
two possessions before freshman Janell Van Gomple drained just her second
three-pointer of the season to put UW-Stevens Point ahead 57-53 with
2:36
left.
Van Gomple,
making her first career start in place of injured forward Chelsea Kranz,
had 11 points and four rebounds while playing a team-high 33 minutes.
�That�s a kid
with a lot of heart,� Egner said. �She was tight early but once she got
through that, she came up big for us.�
Meanwhile, the
Pointers smothered the Titans� shooters on the other end, holding them to
one-for-eight shooting in the final four minutes.
Pointers� guard
Haley Houghton followed with a driving layup down the middle of the lane
for a 59-53 lead with 1:55 remaining. Laura Neuenfeldt then made two free
throws with 1:04 left for an eight-point lead that capped a 9-0 run before
the Titans� Shannon Eggers hit a three-pointer with 49 seconds left to cut
the lead back to five. Cassandra Schultz missed a bonus free throw for the
Pointers with 29 seconds left, but Nathalie Lechault rebounded the miss
and scored the putback for a 63-56 lead.
Neuenfeldt led
the Pointers with 19 points and Houghton added 14 for the Pointers.
Lechault totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds and Schultz had nine points and
eight assists for UW-Stevens Point, which made 19 of 23 free throws,
including five of its last six in the final 24 seconds.
Becky Knapp had
19 points for the Titans, but was saddled by foul trouble much of the game
and totaled 23 minutes. Another key was the Pointers� defensive effort
against Titans� sharpshooter Kelly O�Keef, who ranks second in the NCAA
Division III in three-point shooting, but was held to just two points.
UW-Stevens
Point will make a return trip to UW-Stout where it lost by 26 points less
than two weeks ago. However, the Pointers beat the Blue Devils by 31
points in January. Each team played without its leading scorer in its
respective loss.
�I thought our
kids competed hard (tonight) and we�ll see if we have enough left in the
tank for Saturday,� Egner said. �It should be another hard-fought game.� |
