Buchholz's fourth-quarter burst lifts Pioneers to win at UW–Stevens Point

STEVENS POINT — Sophomore Kassie Buchholz (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) scored eight straight Pioneer points early in the fourth quarter to key UW–Platteville's tide-turning 10–2 run.

Buchholz finished with a career-high 14 points, two rebounds and two assists to lead the Pioneers to a gritty 67–63 victory at UW–Stevens Point Wednesday night.

Senior guard Morgan Hartman (Rochester, Minn.) and sophomore point guard Morgan Horstman (Bangor) also scored 14 points each as the Pioneers defeated coach Megan Wilson's alma mater for the fifth time in the past seven regular season meetings between the two schools.

Hartman also had five rebounds and three assist, while Horstman grabbed a team-high eight boards and four assists. Sophomore center Allison Prestegaard (Amboy, Ill.) added five points, four rebounds and a game-high six blocks. Sophomore guard Cassie Hamer (Platteville) chipped in seven points, two assists and two steals off the bench.

Lauren Anklam had 16 points and six steals to lead UW–Stevens Point. Taylor Douglas had a double–double of 14 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

Wilson's Pioneers improved to 6–10 on the year and 2–3 in the WIAC, while her former coach Shirley Egner's Pointers fell to 11–5, 3–2.

Wednesday's meeting featured six lead changes and eight ties. The Pioneers stayed close early on by blocking 10 shots, forcing 15 turnovers and holding UWSP to a miniscule 29.3 percent (22 of 75) shooting from the field. UW–Platteville also took much better care of the ball, committing just 14 turnovers after three straight games of 20-plus giveaways.

UWSP took its biggest lead of the game at 45–40 midway through the third quarter on a free throw by Katy Heine and led until Abby Luedtke's (Larsen/Winneconne) buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close out the quarter tied the game at 49–49.

The Pointers scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but Hartman tied the game with a layup 20 seconds later. A Buchholz layup gave the Pioneers a two-point lead, then the sophomore guard buried a 3-pointer a minute later to make it 56–51. After a pair of Point free throws, Buchholz struck again from downtown and immediately came up with a steal. Horstman sank a jump shot on an assist from sophomore forward Lexis Macomber (Lanark, Ill.) with 6:11 left to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the game at 61–53.

Buchholz hit another key jump shot with 3:43 left to keep the UW–Platteville lead at seven, 65–58.

Hamer made 1 of 2 from the line with 44 seconds left to make it a six-point game at 66–60, then after a UWSP 3-pointers, Hartman made it a two-possession game with a free throw with 35 seconds left.

Coach Wilson's Pioneers will travel to UW–La Crosse Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. tipoff. The Eagles (9–7, 3–2 WIAC) are coming off a 57–44 win at UW–River Falls (5–11, 0–5) Wednesday night.

By Jason Nihles, UW–Platteville Athletics