Pioneers return to court after weekend off

Platteville, Wis-The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneer basketball teams return to the court on Feb. 5 as the men host UW-La Crosse in a 7 p.m. contest on Bo Ryan Court, and the women's team will travel to UW-La Crosse for a 7 p.m. contest.  Both teams are coming off overtime wins, the women needing only one to defeat UW Oshkosh 69-65 on Jan. 29, while the men needed two to knock off the Titans 91-87.

Feb. 8 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) as the Pioneer women host UW-Stout at 3 p.m. on Bo Ryan Court.  The UW-Platteville Athletic Department will be hosting its annual NGWSD event for girls in second through seventh grade.   For more information and details on registration please click here.  The men will travel to UW-Stout on Feb. 8 for a 3 p.m. contest.

Heckert leads Pioneers in overtime win over McNiff's Alma Mater

Head coach Kelly McNiff and the UW-Platteville women's basketball team defeated UW Oshkosh for the first time since Jan. 25, 2012.  Sophomore Allison Heckert hit a three-pointer with .2 seconds left to force overtime.  The Titans scored first in overtime before the Pioneers went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.  Heckert finished with a career-high in points with 15.  Sophomore Kaite Asche played a career-high 30 minutes and scored a career-high 14 points in the victory.  Junior Maiah Domask recorded her league leading ninth double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.  Senior Morgan Horstman scored 10, pulled down six boards and dished out three assists.  Senior Rachel Emendorfer led the Pioneers with four assists.  McNiff is in her first year as head coach of the Pioneers after spending the previous six as lead assistant for the Titans.

The Pioneers are 11-8 overall and 3-5 in the WIAC.  Domask leads the WIAC in rebounding, pulling down 8.9 boards a game and second in scoring, with 15.4 points per contest.   Emendorfer leads the WIAC in steals per a game with 2.32 and fourth in assists per a game with 2.68.

Karen Middleton is in her fourth season as the UW-La Crosse head coach, with a career record of 131-152.  The Eagles defeated the Pioneers 53-48 on Jan. 18.  Domask led the Pioneers with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Hannah Iverson is in her second season as head coach at UW-Stout with a career record of 30-16.  The Pioneers feall at UW-Stout on Jan. 4, 65-41.  Domask led the Pioneers with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Voelker tops 1,000 career points

Senior Carter Voelker became the 34th member of the 1,000-point club at UW-Platteville.  Needing five points to reach the mark, Voelker knocked down his second three-point shot with 1:09 remaining in the first half against UW Oshkosh.  Voelker played 47 of the 50 minutes and finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists.  Junior Quentin Shields led the Pioneers with 28 points and five assists.  Shields was 13-14 from the free throw line going 5-6 over the final 47 seconds to finish off the thrilling victory.  Junior Justin Stovall recorded his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Stovall also had a team-leading four blocks.  Sophomore Kyle Tuma played 48 minutes and had a team-high four steals to go along with 12 points and seven rebounds.  In the thrilling double-overtime victory, the Pioneers finished off the regular season sweep of the defending national champions Titans.

The Pioneers are currently ranked #12 in the latest d3hoops.com national poll with a 16-3 record and are tied in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the Titans at 6-2. 

Jeff Gard is in his 11th season at UW-Platteville with a career record of 173-114.  Gard is tied for 22nd on the WIAC all-time wins list with former UW-Stevens Point coach Dick Bennett. 

Voelker leads the Pioneers in scoring at 15.3 points per contest, good for eight in the WIAC.  Shields is 10th in the WIAC in scoring, averaging 15.1.  Stovall is the Pioneers' leading rebounder at 6.6 boards a game, good for fourth in the conference.  Voelker is fifth in the conference with 6.5 boards a game.  Shields is second in the WIAC in free-throw percentage, shooting .866 (71-82) from the charity stripe.

Kent Dernbach is in his third year at UW-La Crosse and has a career record of 54-31.  The Pioneers erased an 18-point deficit on Jan. 18 to defeat the Eagles 69-67.  Voelker led the Pioneers with 18 points.  The Eagles are ranked #18 in the latest d3hoops.com national poll with 16-3 overall record and 5-3 in the WIAC. 

Jim Lake is in his second season as head coach at UW-Stout with a career record of 11-33.  The Pioneers defeated the Blue Devils 89-67 on Jan. 4.  Stovall scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the victory.

Wrestling to "Throwdown in Theatre"

Coach Mike DeRoehn and the Pioneer wrestling team will host its annual "Throwdown in the Theatre" match when they welcome UW Oshkosh to the Center for the Arts stage at 7 p.m.

The Pioneers competed in the stacked Pete Willson Wheaton invite this past weekend.  Junior Lucius Rinehart took home second place in the two-day event in the 285-pound class.  Rinehart pinned his first two opponents, picked up a major decision in the quarters, before a 5-4 victory to reach the finals.  Rinehart fall 4-0 to undefeated and No. 1 ranked wrestler Drew Kasper of Otterbein University. 

Junior Nick Dado finished fourth in 174-pound class, and sophomore Isaac Wiegel finished eighth place at 125-pounds.

The Pioneers are currently ranked #23 in the latest national poll.

Track and Field host first indoor of season

Coach Chris Rotzenberg and the Pioneer track and field teams hosted the Pioneer Invite on Feb. 1.  Senior Charlie Gifford took home first in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.25 seconds and finished second in the 200m dash.   Freshman William Carlson (2:03.31) and freshman Colton Johnson (2:05.20) finished 1-2 in the 800m race.  Senior Caitlyn Ifft won the women's mile with a time of 5:34.46.

Senior Noah Steiner took home first place in the high jump clearing 6.46m (6-9.5 ft.).  Jordan Meciej cleared 3.35m (10-11.75 ft.) to take home top place in the women's pole vault.  The women's 4x400m relay team consisting of sophomore Jessica Buss, junior Haley Ott, sophomore Kirstie Ramsey, and senior Johanna Meister won the event with a time of 4:18.02.  The men's 4x400m also won the event in 3:32.37, the team consisted of sophomore Jacob Downing, junior Sean Komro, freshman Braden Meyers and freshman William Carlson.

The Pioneers will travel to Ripon College to compete at the Red Hawk Invitational on Feb. 8.