Pioneers Ratchet Up Defense for Win

RIPON, Wis. --  Maiah Domask (Sr./Waupun, Wis.) pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds to compliment her 22 points as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team defeated Ripon College Wednesday night, 65-58.  Playing in its third of seven straight road games to begin the season, the Pioneers improved to 2-1.  The Red Hawks fell to 1-2.

Wednesday night proved to be a tale of two halves.  Early on it was Red Hawks in control.  Playing in its first home game of the season and first time in front of fans in nearly two years, Ripon took it to the bigger Platteville squad, pulling down six offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone and turning them into 10 second chance points.  The Midwest Conference members built a lead of nine points, 18-9, midway through the frame.  Layups by Lily Guerra (So./Yorkville, Ill.) and Lara Anger (Jr./DeKalb, Ill.) in the final minute of the opening stanza helped the Pioneers cut its deficit to 18-14 at the first break.

The first five minutes of the second quarter played out in a similar fashion with Ripon as the aggressors.  The Red Hawks forced Pioneer turnovers on five straight possessions and pushed its lead back out to eight, 29-21.  Finally, in the half's final 5:00, head coach Kelly McNiff's team seemed to settle down.  It started with defense.  The Pioneers clamped down and turned Ripon away on six straight possessions.  This helped lead to a quick 6-0 run, highlighted by a corner three from Caya Apostolou (Jr./Niles, Ill.).  The Red Hawks hit only one field goal in the final 5:31, a three-pointer from Alison Leslie with :28 remaining.  A jumper from forward Sarah Mueller (So./Stevens Point, Wis.) just ahead of the buzzer pulled Platteville to within 34-32 at halftime.

Out of the gates in the third quarter, the Pioneers flexed its defensive muscle even more.  Platteville held Ripon scoreless in its first nine possessions of the second half.  Meanwhile, a Guerra three pointer at the 7:20 mark gave the visitors its first lead of the night, 35-34.  Red Hawk point guard Kiana Fell's layup with 5:07 remaining pulled her team back to within 37-36.  However that would be the only field goal Ripon would score in the third.  By the end of the quarter, the Pioneers forced as many turnovers (6) as they allowed points (6).  Offensively, the team began to impose its will inside, holding an 8-2 advantage in the paint on its way to building a 46-40 lead through three.

In the fourth quarter, Platteville expanded its lead to as many as nine and did not trail the rest of the way.  A couple of Leslie late three's got Ripon as close as six points with :38 remaining, but free throws from Guerra and Mueller down the stretch closed the door on any hopes of a comeback.

"I'm most proud of the defensive intensity and effort we came out with to start the second half," said McNiff, "we talk about having a defensive identity as a team and that is exactly the type of performance we want to hang our hats on."

Platteville was hot from behind the arc, finishing the game 5-10 (50%) on three's led by Guerra's 2-2 from long range.  Platteville held a 20-13 advantage in bench points buoyed by Mueller's 13 point performance on 5-7 shooting.  The double-double for Domask was her second in three games.  The fifth-year senior is currently averaging 12.0 rebounds per game on the young season.  

Platteville returns to action this weekend when it travels to Waverly, Iowa on Saturday to face Wartburg College.  That game is scheduled to begin at 6:30p.