Pioneers move into 6th with win
January 31, 2009
UW-Platteville surged past UW-River Falls into sixth place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by beating the Falcons 61-43 Saturday on Bo Ryan Court.
The Pioneers, winners of consecutive games for the first time all season, moved to 4-7 in the WIAC and 7-12 overall. The Falcons, who beat the Pioneers by 23 on Dec. 13, fell to 3-7, 9-9.
"The intensity level is something we haven't seen all year," Pioneer Coach Tina Kuhle said. "They played hard for all 40 minutes. When River Falls made a run, we didn't get rattled. We balanced things up and got into our offense. Of course, when Lisa Grantman has 16 points and 15 rebounds, that helps, too."
Grantman recorded her eighth career double double and broke her previous career high for rebounds by one. The Pioneers' lone senior also moved into ninth place on the school career scoring list at 963 points.
Brianna Klas added 14 points, and Ashley Wolf had 8 for the Pioneers, who led 34-26 at the half. Klaas scored the first basket of the second half, and Charity Stotmeister made two free throws for a 38-26 lead, and UWP never allowed the deficit under 10 points the rest of the way.
Taylor House scored 13, and Alise Holst had 10 for the Falcons. Freshman guard Tiffany Gregorich, who had 29 points in the 78-55 Falcon win in December, was held to seven points on 2-7 shooting.
"We watched a lot of video from that first game, and we wrote down on paper what we needed to do defensively, especially against her and the big girls in the post," Kuhle said. "I thought Lisa Grantman, Dru Schneider and Mallory Mau all executed the post game plan very well. They stuck with what we did in practice, and good things happened."
The coach was especially pleased with her team's passing and court recognition. The Pioneers did perhaps their best job of the year against full-court pressure and staying patient on offense.
"They're starting to see things better," she said. "Instead of just three-point shot after three-point shot, wer'e getting the ball inside. It's not always going to get a shot, but it's going to create other shots for open players on the other side."
UWP played in front of one of the largest Alumni Day gatherings, and for the first time in Kuhle's five years as the head coach, the Pioneers won on Alumni Day.
"It feels great; I'm not going to lie," she said.
The Pioneers return to action Wednesday at UW-La Crosse, then begin a three-game homestand vs. UW-Whitewater Feb. 11.
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