Pioneers beat Clarke in semifinals
Dec. 29, 2004
In her first year as UW-Platteville's head coach, Tina Kuhle has her Pioneer team in the championship game of the Clarke College Holiday Tournament she helped begin.
The Pioneers beat Kuhle's former school 66-40 to advance to Friday's championship game of the eight-team tournament. UWP will play either undefeated (13-0) Concordia, Neb. or once-beaten Luther at 3:30 p.m. New Year's Eve.
Kuhle, who coached Clarke from 1996 to 2002, saw her current squad race out to a 35-17 halftime lead and never look back. The margin was at least 15 points the entire second half.
The Pioneers won their semifinal game thanks to a dominating interior game. The Pioneers outscored Clarke 32-12 in the paint and held a commanding 48-27 advantage on the boards. Three Pioneers collected at least 10 rebounds, helping the Pioneers to a 30-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Holly Kaiser scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, tying her career high for points, to pace the Pioneers. She earned her second straight player of the game honors from the tournament officials.
Shannon Boatman, who was an all-conference player at Clarke as a freshman before transferring to UWP, had 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Rachel Korth grabbed 10 boards. Liz Tesch added nine points as the Pioneers improved to 8-2 with their sixth straight win.
Clarke, coached by former Pioneer assistant Joan Steffen, was led by Jessi Briggs's 12 points and Lacey McCabe's 11. The Crusaders fell to 4-7 overall.
UW-Platteville will play in its third championship game and seek its first gold trophy. The Pioneers were runners-up in both the 1997-98 inaugural tournament and in 2001.
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