|
Pointers Put Scare in Badgers
With Halftime Lead
Box Score
UW-Stevens Point women�s basketball coach
Shirley Egner was just hoping her team would make a competitive showing
Thursday night in its exhibition contest with Wisconsin at the Kohl
Center in Madison.
The Pointers did much more by putting a scare
into the Badgers with a halftime lead before eventually wearing down in
a 77-58 defeat in front of 5,063 fans.
�We got a lot from the game,� Pointers� coach
Shirley Egner said. �The purpose was to find our strengths and
weaknesses and see what we�re made of. We played a Big Ten team and, for
20 minutes, we were toe-to-toe.�
UW-Stevens Point made its first four shots of
the game, including a pair of three-pointers, and led by as many as 13
points in the first half. The Pointers led the entire first half as they
made five of seven three-point shots in the half.
Katie Webber and Haley Houghton each hit
three-pointers to give the Pointers an early 8-3 lead. A layup by
Jesirae Heuer with 12:47 remaining put UW-Stevens Point ahead 19-6.
�Give Stevens Point credit,� Wisconsin coach
Lisa Stone said. �Shirley brought her team in to play and they came
ready to play. They made us make adjustments and halftime and that�s
what these games are about. It was a good experience for them and us.�
Wisconsin�s leading scorer, Jolene Anderson, a
preseason all-Big Ten selection, was held scoreless by Pointers� junior
Laura Neuenfeldt until scoring on a short jumper with 6:24 left in the
half. Anderson�s shot came just before the Pointers went ahead 32-22
with 3:47 remaining before halftime on another three-pointer from
Houghton, who surpassed her career-high scoring output with 21 points in
a game that will not count in career stats.
Anderson helped the Badgers come to life,
scoring eight points during a 10-0 run to tie the game. She finished the
night with 14 points in 31 minutes played. Webber capped the Pointers�
first half by making a short jumper to give UW-Stevens Point a 34-32
halftime advantage.
�I think we were surprised a little,� Webber
admitted of the halftime lead. �But we knew they would come out fired up
in the second half because we knew they were getting chewed out by their
coach at halftime.�
Wisconsin, picked for sixth in the Big Ten
preseason media and coaches� polls, forced two fouls on Pointers� 6-2
center Nathalie Lechault in the first 25 seconds of the second half,
giving her four for the game. Danielle Ward had a free throw and an
inside basket as the Badgers took their first lead of the game at 35-34
while opening the second half by scoring the first seven points.
Wisconsin continued to pound the ball inside
to extend its lead into double digits and led by 14 points before a
four-point spurt by the Pointers brought them within 58-48 with under
eight minutes left. UW-Stevens Point had the ball and a chance to trim
the lead further, but a turnover led to a six-point run by the Badgers
that put the game away. Wisconsin�s lead stayed under 20 points with the
exception of a 12-second span in the final minute.
�It seems strange, but I think we were more
nervous in the second half,� Webber said. �You�d think we would have
started the game nervous, but we were real relaxed at the start.�
Wisconsin guard Jenese Banks had 13 of her
team-high 17 points in the second half to lead the Badgers. UW-Stevens
Point was six-for-10 from three-point range, but was outscored inside
42-10. The Pointers were also hampered by 26 turnovers and gave up 17
offensive rebounds.
�We couldn�t match their strength and speed in
the second half and we found a lot of things we need to work on,� Egner
said. �We just wanted everyone to enjoy the experience and with our
performance tonight I think that happened.� |
