UW-Stevens Point Pointers (4-1 overall)
at Lakeland University Muskies (2-2 overall)
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021 7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/UWSP Game Notes PDF
Lakeland University continues a regular non-conference women's basketball series from recent years when it hosts the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium Tuesday night.
Broadcast Information:
Live video & live statistics:
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Andy Damp is again calling the play-by-play for all Lakeland home basketball games this year.
Radio:
http://921wpcn.com. WPCN Radio 92.1 FM in Stevens Point also will be on hand, with UWSP play-by-play broadcaster Scott Krueger calling the action.
Series history: 11th meeting, UW-Stevens Point leads 7-3
The series between the Muskies and Pointers has become a regular in recent years, with this marking the seventh time in eight years the teams have met, with the only break coming last season when schedules were shortened and scrambled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UWSP won the last time the teams played, holding on for a 57-50 win in Stevens Point Nov. 20, 2019 after Lakeland cut a 17-point deficit to four in the final quarter. The Muskies' last win over the Pointers came exactly one year before that at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium, as this time it was Lakeland holding on for a 68-65 win.
Megan Will made two free throws with 48 seconds left to put the Muskies ahead for good as they bounced back after Stevens Point had erased a 17-point third quarter deficit to take the lead late.
Lakeland last time out: Defeated Blackburn 75-59 Thursday
The Muskies won on the road for the first time this season, salting the game away in the fourth quarter at the free throw line with 21 of their 29 points in the final stanza coming at the charity stripe.
Kacey Gardner posted career highs with 20 points and 16 rebounds and made 12 of 18 free throw attempts.
Alexa Yost (14 points) and Breanna Jones (11 rebounds, four assists) also both added career highs and Lakeland held the Beavers to 23.5% shooting for the game and dominated inside, outscoring Blackburn 42-12 in the paint and also outrebounding the hosts 52-42.
UWSP last time out: Defeated Luther (Iowa) 70-46 Saturday
The Pointers returned from a weeklong layoff to handily defeat the Norse on the strength of big second and third quarters. Stevens Point led by just a point after one quarter but outscored Luther 33-16 over the next two periods on the way to its most decisive win of the season. Jamie Pfeifer scored a career-high 20 points, making 7 of 9 shots from the field and all six of her free throws, and also added eight rebounds. Taylor Greenheck also scored 14 points including a trio of three-pointers and Jessica Slowik added 10 points plus six rebounds off the bench. The Pointers also held the Norse to 31.7% shooting and forced 24 turnovers.
About the Pointers: UW-Stevens Point is off to a 4-1 start that has included a trio of games against Lakeland's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference rivals. The Pointers handled St. Norbert 67-49 in their season opener, lost to Benedictine 71-68 in overtime in their home UWSP Tip-Off Tournament, and then defeated Concordia Wisconsin 65-55 a day later in the tourney consolation game. UWSP also already surpassed its win total from the 2020-21 season played in February and March, when the Pointers finished 3-6 playing exclusively Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes. UWSP finished 10-16 in 2019-20 in its most recent full season and was picked to finish fifth of eight teams in the WIAC's preseason poll. The Pointers are led by Shirley Egner, who is in her 33rd season as head coach and is the winningest coach in WIAC women's basketball history with 565 career wins.
Muskies busy at charity stripe: Lakeland has spent considerable time at the free throw line in its first four games, shooting 103 foul shots, 23 more than their opponents.
Kacey Gardner (19-for-28) and
Brianna Jones (12 of 19) have combined for nearly half-47-of those attempts. While the Muskies have spent plenty of time shooting free throws, they are making just 57.3% of their foul shots so far, a number that ranks well below the team's 68.5% rate in 2020-21, 12th of 14 teams in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and 346th of 422 NCAA Division III teams.
