Sports
Women’s basketball on to NCAA Sweet Sixteen
The Pointer
rnech142@uwsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point women’s basketball team displayed an arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons during both rounds of the NCAA Division III tournament in Berg Gym on Friday and Saturday.
A neatly executed come-from-behind win against Concordia University in the second round of the tournament ushers the Pointers into the Sweet Sixteen on Friday, when they take on undefeated, number one-ranked Illinois Weslayan in the NCAA Sectionals.
“It doesn’t matter, ” Head Coach Shirley Egner said regarding the upcoming game against the highly successful Illinois Wesleyan team. “You want to be the best; you’ve got to beat the best, so let’s lace them up and go.”
Different players excelled during the weekend on both sides of the ball for the Pointers.
“We’ve changed our system because of who we have right now,” Egner said. “We typically have been smash-mouth, ‘throw-the-thing-and-go.’ My job is to find kids who are going to fit in and take their strengths and use them to our advantage, as we still continue to work on our weaknesses.”
The team is fourth-ranked on D3hoops.com with a 26-3 overall record going into the third round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Egner recently received her third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award.
Champions of the regular season title and the WIAC Championship tournament, UW-SP made a sweep of the conference on their way to the NCAA Division III tournament. Further accolades include players Britta Petersen, Janell Van Gomple and Katie Webber earning First Team All-WIAC honors. Senior Jessi Sporle was named to the Honorable Mention All-WIAC team.
ROUND 1:
The Pointers beat Maryville, MO., 77-62 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Berg Gym at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 6.
By halftime the Pointers built a 41-24 lead with the assistance of a 17-point scoring streak. With seven minutes left in the competition, Maryville pulled within eight points of the Pointer lead, but was not able to capitalize on the possible comeback.
“It’s a great win for our program.Our community got behind us. The crowd lifted us those last five minutes when we needed them,” Egner said after the game.
Petersen led UW-SP with 22 points and four rebounds and Janell Van Gomple earned 16 points during the matchup. UW-SP scored a total of 19 points off turnovers during the game.
“We certainly would have liked to have a higher seed. We showed tonight that we deserved that, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way,” Maryville Coach Chris Ellis said.
ROUND 2:
Taking on the Concordia, Falcons left the Pointers with a 78-58 victory and a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday, March 7, in Berg Gym.
Concordia built a 13-6 lead early in the first half, but the Pointers turned on the jets to score 27-8 that earned them a comfortable lead.
“I was a little disappointed with how we started the game, but we have to credit Concordia with that. They had nothing to lose coming in here and playing on our home floor and they just really played hard,” Egner said. “We just put it into overdrive in the second half.”
Sophomore Andrea Flease led the team with a spectacular performance of 22 points and two 3-point baskets, only missing one shot during the entire game.
Sporle had 17 points and Petersen scored 16 points and six rebounds to contribute to the victory.
The Pointers will play in the NCAA Division III sectionals on Friday, March 13, at Illinois Wesleyan with tip-off at 8 p.m.
