|
Pointers See Home Win Streak
End to Falcons
Box Score
The top defensive team in
the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference proved superior to the
league's top shooting team on Saturday as UW-River Falls shut down
UW-Stevens Point for a 68-44 women's basketball victory at Berg Gym.
The Pointers shot just
25.0 percent in the game, including seven-for-33 in the second half for
21.2 percent in seeing their school-record 22-game home winning streak
snapped. UW-Stevens Point entered the game ranked second in the NCAA
Division III in field goal percentage at 48.0 percent, while UW-River
Falls led the WIAC by holding foes to just 33.6 percent shooting.
In fact, it was rare for a
visiting team to have any success whatsoever at Berg Gym as 21 of the 22
games during the streak were decided by double figures. UW-River Falls
was also the last visiting team to win a regular season game at Berg
Gym, taking a victory on Feb. 15, 2005 that snapped a 12-game home win streak
at the time.
It was the Pointers'
largest margin of defeat at home since a 52-28 loss to UW-Oshkosh on
Jan. 5, 2000. The game was also the Pointers' lowest point total since a
59-43 loss to UW-Platteville on Feb. 5, 2000.
Both teams were cold at
the start as UW-River Falls led just 14-8 over the first 11:46 of the
game. The Falcons led the entire first half and took their biggest lead
of the period when Traci Reimann scored an inside basket with 40 seconds
left that gave them a 26-18 halftime lead.
Melanie Preiner took over
from the outside in the second half for UW-River Falls, hitting all four
three-point field goal attempts, including three in the first four
minutes. Her third long-range shot put the Falcons ahead 37-25.
UW-Stevens Point
clawed to within 10 points on three different occassions, but couldn't
mount any comeback with its frigid shooting as the Pointers opened the
second half missing 17 of 20 shots, including 11 straight at one point.
They trailed 41-31 with 9:45 left when Preiner again delivered from
behind the arc as UW-River Falls made its next five shots on an 11-0
spurt over the next four minutes for a 52-31 lead.
Preiner led all scorers
with 19 points and was five-for-six from three-point range. In fact, the
Falcons were seven-for-10 behind the arc despite entering the game at
25.4 percent for the season on three-pointers. They were 12-for-18 from
the field in the second half.
UW-Stevens Point had
no players in double figures and was led by Katie Webber with eight
points.
|
