Pioneers suffer overtime loss to Blue Devils

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team (11-10, 3-7 WIAC) suffered a narrow 76-70 overtime defeat to UW-Stout (14-7, 5-5 WIAC) Saturday afternoon on Bo Ryan Court. The close WIAC contest saw a tied score at the end each half along with eight lead changes and 19 ties.

First half

• UW-Stout pulled out to a 4-0 lead, but the Pioneers bounced back and stacked up six unanswered points to lead 6-4 at the 5:41 mark.
• Neither team led by more than four points for the remainder of the period and UW-Stout held a 15-12 lead going into the second quarter.
• UW-Stout pulled away 17-12 to start the quarter, but after neither team led by more than three points as the teams saw two lead changes and eight ties.
• The Pioneers and Blue Devils went to the locker room locked 29-29.
• Overall, UW-Platteville shot 44.0% (11-of-25) from the floor and was 26.6% (2-of-7) from three-point territory. The Blue Devils shot 44.0% (11-of-25) from the field and were 0-of-4 from behind the three-point arc.

Second half

• The Pioneers went on a 9-0 run to start the second half and had their largest lead of the night 38-29 at the 7:21 mark in the third quarter.
• The Blue Devils charged back with a 14-2 run and by 2:50 left in the period, the teams were once again tied 43-43.
• The third quarter concluded with UW-Stout holding a 47-44 lead.
• The Pioneers took the lead once again with a 12-4 run and led the Blue Devils 58-53 with 3:34 remaining.
• The fourth quarter saw five ties with one lead change and the Pioneers held a two-point lead with 00:19 left in the fourth, but UW-Stout's Shannan Watkins' made layup at 00:03 tied the game 63-63 to take the teams to overtime.
• UW-Platteville shot 40.0% (14-of-35) from the field while shooting 25.0% (3-of-12) from three-point range. UW-Stout closed the half shooting 39.4% (13-of-33) from the field and 25.0% (2-of-8) from behind the three-point arc.

Overtime

• UW-Stout won the jump ball and fired off a three-point basket followed by two layups to take a 70-63 lead with 3:28 remaining.
• The Pioneers closed in within two points trailing 72-70 with 00:19 remaining, but UW-Stout sealed the win with four made free-throws as Katie Christopherson was a perfect 6-of-6 in overtime from the free-throw line.

Notables 

• UW-Platteville falls to 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the WIAC.
• UW-Stout improves to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
• Both teams saw strong showings from reserves with UW-Platteville's first responders dishing out 36 points while UW-Stout's bench put together 30 points.
• The night saw eight lead changes and 19 ties.
• Freshman Kaylee Meyers had a team high 18 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
• Junior Maiah Domask put together her tenth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 boards along with four assists and three steals.
• In the first half, Jai Clemons dished out nine points as she went 3-of-5 from the floor with 2-of-4 from behind the three-point arc.
• Overall, UW-Platteville shot 38.2% (26-of-68) from the field with 22.7% (5-of-22) from three-point territory. UW-Stout shot 42.9% (27-of-63) from the field and was 21.4% (3-of-14) from behind the three-point arc.
• The Pioneers finished 56.5% (13-of-23) from the free throw line while the Blue Devils were 76.0% (19-of-25). 

Remarks from Coach McNiff

After the game head coach Kelly McNiff said, "I love the effort our players give. The effort we give has been putting us in positions to be successful. However, when we don't execute on offense or we have mental breakdowns on defense, it puts us in a tough spot. We just have to keep working to get over the hump."

Up next

The Pioneers host No. 6 UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. on Bo Ryan Court.