Pioneers look to finish strong in regular season

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's and women's basketball team have two high-stake games left in the regular season.  The men will finish off the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a pair of road games as they attempt to clinch a league championship.  The Pioneers will travel to UW-Eau Claire on Feb. 19 for a 7 p.m. contest, before closing out the regular season Feb. 22 at UW-Stevens Point at 7 p.m.  The women's team will welcome UW-Eau Claire to Bo Ryan Court on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 22 for senior day at 3 p.m.

The track and field teams will compete in Dubuque Friday, while the wrestling Pioneers are prepping for the upcoming NCAA III regional meet.

Pioneers keep playoff hopes alive with road win

Kelly McNiff and the Pioneer women's basketball team picked up a big road win, defeating UW-River Falls 69-61 on Feb. 15, to move into a tie with UW-Stevens Point for the sixth and final spot in the WIAC postseason tournament.  Junior Maiah Domask led three Pioneers in double figures with 15 points as the Pioneers erased a 21-7 first quarter deficit.  Sophomore Kaite Asche tied a career high in points and rebounds with 14 points and six rebounds.  Senior Morgan Horstman chipped in with 13 points.  Domask led the Pioneers with eight rebounds. 

The Pioneers dropped a tightly contested home game 59-55 to the d3hoops.com #4 ranked UW-Whitewater Warhawks on Feb. 12.  Domask picked up her league leading 11th double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

McNiff is in her first season at UW-Platteville (12-11, 4-8).  Domask leads the Pioneers and is third in the WIAC in scoring with 15.3 points a game.  Horstman is fourth in the WIAC averaging 15.1 points a game.  Domask leads the WIAC in rebounding with 9.2 boards a contest.  Senior Rachel Emendorfer leads the league in steals with 2.04 thefts a game and third in assists with 2.70 a game

The Pioneers welcome the Blugolds to Bo Ryan Court for a 7 p.m. "Think Pink" contest on Wednesday.  The Pioneers will have a silent auction for pink jerseys along with a miracle minute.  All proceeds will be donated to the Grant County Cancer Coalition. Fans are encouraged to fill the stands with pink.  The Blugolds defeated the Pioneers 73-58 on Jan. 11.  The Pioneers led at half 33-29 before a slow start in the second half downed the Pioneers.  Horstman led the Pioneers with 13 points. 

Tonja Englund is in her 20th season as head coach of the Blugolds, with a career record of 343-200.  The Blugolds are 15-8 overall, with a 9-3 WIAC record.  Hallee Hoeppner leads the Blugolds in scoring with 15.3 points per game.

The Pioneers will honor three seniors on Feb. 22 when they welcome the Pointers to Bo Ryan Court for a 3 p.m. contest.  Horstman, Emendorfer and Maddy Williams will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.  McNiff picked up her first WIAC victory at UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 15 with a thrilling 65-62 overtime victory.  Domask had a career-high 26 points, to go along with 11 rebounds.  Emendorfer had a career-high eight steals.  Horstman hit two free-throws with :02 on the clock to give the Pioneers a three-point cushion. 

Shirley Egner is in her 31st season as head coach and is the WIAC's all-time winningest women's coach with a 557-273 career record.  The Pointers are 9-14 overall and 4-8 in the WIAC. Taylor Greenheck leads the Pointers in scoring, averaging 10.9 points a game.

Pioneers set school record for three-pointers in senior day victory

Jeff Gard and the Pioneers stayed in first place of the WIAC with a pair of conference victories.  The Pioneers defeated UW-Whitewater 70-68 on Feb. 12. The Pioneers trailed most of the game, taking the lead for the first time at the 7:51 mark of the second half.  Voelker paced four Pioneers in double figures with 21 points.  Sophomore Kyle Tuma tied a career-high with 18 points.  Sophomore Blake McCann scored 12 in his second start of the season.  Junior Justin Stovall picked up his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pioneers defeated UW-River Falls 94-54 on Feb. 15.  Prior to the game, the Pioneers honored three student-managers and three student-athletes.  The Pioneers set a program record, hitting 19 three-pointers.  The previous high of 16 was accomplished twice in the 2017-18 season.  Voelker tied a school record with three-point makes, hitting 7 of 8 from behind the arc.  Voelker led the Pioneers in scoring with a career-high 30 points.  Junior Drew Gunnink also had a career-high with 19 points, going 5-7 from behind the arc.  The victory clinched a first-round bye in the WIAC postseason tournament. 

Voelker was named the WIAC Kwik Trip men's basketball athlete of the week.  This is Voelker's third weekly award of the season, and fourth of his career.

The Pioneers are currently ranked #7 in the latest d3hoops.com national poll and ranked #1 in the Central Region with an overall record of 20-3.  They sit atop the WIAC standings at 10-2. They can clinch at least a WIAC title tie with a victory Wednesday.

Gard is in his 11th season as head coach, with a career record of 177-114.  Voelker leads the Pioneers in scoring with 15.8 points a game, sixth in the conference.  Junior Quentin Shields ranks 10th in the WIAC with 14.7 points a contest.  Stovall leads the WIAC in blocks with 1.52 and fourth in the WIAC in rebounding with 6.7 per contest.  Voelker is fifth with 6.1 boards a game.  Voelker is fourth in the conference in assists with 3.39 per game, and leads the WIAC in assist to turnover rate at 1.81.  Gunnink leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage, shooting a .492 clip (31-63).

The Pioneers will travel to UW-Eau Claire on Feb. 19 for a 7 p.m. contest.  The Pioneers defeated the Blugolds 60-53 on Jan. 11.  Voelker led the way with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Matt Siverling is in his eight season as head coach of the Blugolds with a career record of 109-95.  The Blugolds are 17-6 overall and 8-4 in the WIAC.  Cole Ravedeaux leads the Blugolds in scoring, averaging 20.5 points a game.

The Pioneers travel to UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 22 for a 7 p.m. contest, the Pointers knocked off the Pioneers 66-64 on Jan. 15.  Voelker recorded a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Bob Semling is in his 15th season as the Pointers head coach, with a career record of 315-98.  The Pointers are 14-9 overall with a 6-6 conference mark.  Ethan Bublitz leads the Pointers in scoring with 17.2 points a game.

Track and Field gearing up for WIAC Indoor Championship

Chris Rotzenberg and the track and field programs welcomed six teams to Williams Fieldhouse for the UW-Platteville Invitational.  Senior Johanna Meister won the 800-meter race with a season best 2:19.08. Junior Jordan Meciej won the women's pole vault competition, clearing 3.36m (11-0.25).

Senior Charlie Gifford won the 60-m hurdles with a season best, finishing in 8.19 seconds.  Senior Cole Eastlick won the shot put with a distance of 14.88m (48-10).

The Pioneers will make the short trip across the river for the University of Dubuque Spartan Invitational on Friday, Feb. 21.  The UD Spartan Invite is the last meet before the Pioneers compete in the WIAC Indoor Championships.  Following the meet Friday, the UW-Platteville Athletics Polar Plunge team will travel to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin for the Polar Plunge.  Athletes and coaches have raised $1,773 to support Special Olympics Wisconsin and their mission to provide organized sporting opportunity to special needs athletes.

Rinehart wins WIAC title in wrestling.

Mike DeRoehn and the Pioneer wrestling team finished fourth at the WIAC Championship meet Feb. 14.  The Pioneers placed six wrestlers into the semi-finals, junior Lucius Rinehart and freshman Nathan Wynsma made it to the finals.

Rinehart pinned three of the four opponents to win the 285-pound individual title.  This is Rinehart's first individual title for the Pioneers.  Rinehart pinned his first two opponents, won by decision (3-0) in the semi-finals before pinning Dylan Uzumecki of UW-Whitewater at the 5:18 mark in the finals.

Wynsma, competing in his first WIAC Championship, received a bye into the quarterfinals.  Wynsma pinned his first opponent in 2:37, won by major decision (12-3) in the semi-finals, before dropping the title bout 6-2.

Junior Luke Pradel and Alexander Strueder took home fourth place finishes, sophomore Isaac Wiegel and Nic Dado finished fifth. 

The Pioneers have the week off before the NCAA Regionals start Friday Feb. 28.