Pioneers Fall to Pointers in Tale of Two Halves

STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team fell to UW-Stevens Point Friday night, 64-59, at Quandt Fieldhouse in Stevens Point.  The win gave the Pointers a sweep of the two-game series the teams played this week and dropped the Pioneers' record to 1-3 on the season.

A better fate looked to be in store for Platteville out of the gates.  The Pioneers blitzed their hosts, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in less than two minutes.  Allison Heckert (Jr. Whitewater, Wis.) opened the scoring with a three-pointer while Maiah Domask (Sr.  Waupun, Wis.) followed with a traditional 3-point play moments later.  The scoring barrage did not end there as the Pioneers' continued to build its lead up to 27-15 by the end of the quarter.  The 27 points marked a season-high in a quarter for Platteville.  Sharing was the key to the offense as the team dished out 8 assists on 11 made baskets.

After the high scoring first quarter, defense ratcheted up for both teams in the second.  Despite combining to shoot just 7-29 in the frame, Platteville was able to stretch out its advantage to 16 by halftime, 38-22.  Two nights earlier, the Pointers were able to pull out a victory due in large part to advantages in Points off Turnovers and Fast Break Points.  By halftime on Friday night, they were only able to muster 2 and 0 points respectively in those same categories.

The third quarter saw a change in fortunes for both teams.  The Pointers came out re-committed to getting the ball to their All-WIAC forward, Bailey Collins.  Held to just a single point in the first half, Collins responded with an 11-point third quarter.  By the time there was only 2:30 remaining in the frame, the Pointers were on an 18-0 run and had completely erased their halftime deficit.

The two teams would jockey for position throughout the fourth quarter with the Pioneers never able to regain the lead but Pointers not able to fully pull away.  With 2:06 remaining, suffocating defense by Jai Clemons (Sr. / Chicago, Ill.) led to a steal and a breakaway layup that brought Platteville to within 57-56.  It remained a one possession game until Pointer point guard Josie Neis stepped to the line with :25 on the clock and made two free throws to put Point up 63-59.

The win moves the Pointers to 2-2 on the season.

Domask led all scorers with 18 points while also pulling down 10 rebounds.  Brianna Leahy (Jr. / Schullsburg, Wis.) chipped in 11.

Platteville will be back in action next Wednesday, February 17th when they return to Bo Ryan Court in Williams Fieldhouse to take on the 2-2 UW-Whitewater Warhawks.  Gametime is set for 7pm.