UWSP women rally to force overtime against Pioneers; Pointers early lead evaporates at UWEC
For the Gazette
STEVENS POINT/EAU CLAIRE – The UW-Stevens Point women’s basketball team overcame a sluggish second quarter to force overtime before falling to UW-Platteville in the extra session, 65-62.
Taylor Greenheck (Sauk Prairie) scored a team-high 18 points and had a team-best eight rebounds. Jessica Slowik (Elcho) added a career-high 12 points and grabbed six boards. Greenheck and Slowik were each 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the game.
Kellan Schmidt (Edgerton) scored the game’s first six points as the Pointers held the Pioneers off the board for more than six minutes. Bailee Collins (Milton) added four and Amber Baehman (Plainfield) hit a three late as UWSP led 15-6 after one.
The tide turned quickly as the Pioneers went on a 17-0 run spanning from late in the first until the 3:48 mark of the second quarter. Greenheck stopped the run with a layup, but a Jamie Pfeifer (Wisconsin Dells) jumper in the final minute was the only other field and saw UWSP trailing 29-20 at the half.
Greenheck and Carly Cerrato (De Pere) combined for UWSP’s first seven points of the third as the Pointers began the rally. Cerrato nailed a three as the Pointers tied the game at 33-33 with 4:02 remaining in the quarter. Slowik scored five points down the stretch, but a ticky-tack foul at the buzzer gave the Pioneers a 43-40 lead after three.
The Pointers amped up the defense in the fourth and were able to tie the game at 50-50 on a Slowik layup with 2:24 remaining. After a Platteville make, Greenheck again tied it up with 1:04 remaining. Both teams missed their next shot and the Pioneers held for the final shot. UWSP’s defense was up to the task and forced overtime.
The Pioneers scored the first five points in overtime, but six-straight by the Pointers changed the lead. The one-point edge flipped back and forth as Cerrato and Greenheck continued to make free throws. UWSP trailed by one with 13 seconds remaining and a jumper by Cerrato was off the mark as the Pioneers snagged the rebounds and prevailed.
The Pointers travel to Eau Claire to face the Blugolds on Saturday (Jan. 18). Tip-off is slated for 5:00 p.m.
The Pointer women’s basketball team (7-9, 2-3) saw a close game get away with host UW-Eau Claire (9-6, 4-1), pushing a one-point lead after one to a 10-point halftime advantage in a 57-44 win by Eau Claire.
Cerrato was the lone UWSP player in double figures with 12 points. Greenheck added eight points and tied Pfeifer for the team high with seven rebounds.
Cerrato drilled three three-pointers early to give UWSP a 13-6 lead at the midpoint of the first quarter. The Blugolds closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run over the final 5:23 to hold a 14-13 edge after one period.
UWEC put up eight-consecutive points to open the second quarter until Pfeifer ended the 16-0 run with a layup. Baehman and Greenheck made back-to-back buckets as the Pointers cut the deficit to three with six minutes left in the half. Another eight-point burst by UWEC was halted by Pfeifer, but UWSP trailed 32-22 at the break.
Collins hit a pair of early free throws in the third quarter, but by the time she scored with 3:17 left in the quarter, UWSP’s deficit had reached 17. Baehman nailed a pair of triples late, but UWSP trailed 50-35 heading to the fourth.
Neither team was able to reach double digits in the fourth quarter as UWSP’s defense held the Blugolds to just 1-for-12 from the floor. Cerrato’s three-pointer accounted for a third of UWSP’s points in the fourth.