Conference co-champion, and fourth ranked, UW-Whitewater fell to third seeded, and nineteenth ranked, UW-Stevens Point 79-71 Thursday night in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal in Kachel Gym of Williams Center.

Box Score

The Warhawks' lone lead in the game was 21-20 at 8:48.  Over the next four minutes the Pointers out-scored UW-W 18-6 to up the margin to 38-27 at 4:27.  The half ended with UW-SP leading 43-33 on 53% shooting from the floor, including 5-6 from three point range.

Whitewater opened the second half with six straight points, pulling within four at 43-39.  It still was four, 45-41 at 17:31, but a 10-4 Point streak  made it 55-44.  On two other occasions Whitewater pulled within six in the second half, but the Pointers also had a double digit advantage six times in the second half. 

UW-SP senior guard Haley Houghton scored 23 to lead all scorers.  Junior forward Jessi Sporle added 14 and senior forward Chelsea Kranz 10.  Houghton also led the Pointers with eight rebounds.  Junior center Tiffany Morton (Beloit/Memorial) led Whitewater with 19 points, and senior center Lindsey Buechner (Cross Plains/Middleton) contributed 15.  Morton made it a double double with 12 rebounds.

The Pointers wound up shooting 85%, 6-7, from beyond the arc.  They also hit 93%, 15-16, from the line.  Whitewater was 3-15 from long range, many coming in a effort to cut the deficit, and 16-24 (67%) from the line. 

Whitewater and Point split their games during the conference season.  UW-W won 75-71 December 1 in Whitewater, and the Pointers won 64-62 February 16 at UW-SP.

UW-Stevens Point, 23-4, will travel to conference co-champion UW-Eau Claire for the WIAC Tournament championship Saturday.  The Blugolds defeated UW-Stout 86-61 in Thursday's other semifinal in Eau Claire.  The winner of the WIAC Tournament, not the regular season, earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA III championship tournament. 

UW-W finishes the regular season 24-3.  Bids to the NCAA III championship tournament, which begins play Wednesday or Friday depending on seeding, travel and teams in the field, will be announced Monday morning, March 3.

For additional information:
Keri Carollo, UW-W coach
WIAC women's basketball site