Pointers Hold Off Washington to Reach
Elite Eight
Box Score
Cassandra Schultz isn�t supposed to be the
player taking the shots down the stretch for the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point women�s basketball team, though nobody on the
Pointer team is complaining.
The sophomore, making just her fourth start of
the season, hit two huge baskets in the final three minutes and finished
with a game-high 24 points to lift UW-Stevens Point to an 83-76 win over
Washington University (Mo.) on Friday at the Quandt Fieldhouse, putting
the Pointers in the NCAA Division III Elite Eight for the second time in
three years. UW-Stevens Point will host Hardin-Simmons (Texas), which beat
Eastern Mennonite (Va.) 91-64 in the first game.
After Washington grabbed its first lead of the
second half at 69-68 with 2:50 remaining, Schultz drove the side of the
lane and banked in an off-balance layup to put the Pointers back ahead.
Later, with the Pointers holding a 74-71 lead with one minute remaining,
Schultz drained a fade away jumper with the shot clock running out.
�I like to take shots like that, not that I
necessarily should,� admitted Schultz, who scored 12, 28 and 16 points in
her previous three starts. �On the first one, I saw an open lane and was
able to get a layup. On the second one, there was five seconds left on the
shot clock, so I put it up.�
Schultz played the final nine minutes of the
game with four fouls in a game that both teams battled foul trouble all
night. Two players fouled out and seven others finished with four fouls in
a physical contest that saw 51 fouls and 67 free throws attempted.
The loss marked just the second time in the last
seven years that Washington failed to reach the Elite Eight round. The
Bears, who won four straight national titles from 1998-2001, finished 22-5
and also lost to the Pointers in the second round of the 2002 tournament.
The past six years that Washington has faced a Wisconsin Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference team in the NCAA tournament, the winner has gone on to
win the national championship.
�This was a great
basketball game,� said Bears coach Nancy Fahey, whose team trailed 38-29
at halftime and by as many as 11 points in the second half before rallying
back. �That�s what games like this are all about. I didn�t think our team
was going to fold and I knew Point wasn�t going to fold.�
Washington scored the
game�s first six points and held the lead for most of the first half
before the Pointers closed the first half with a 13-3 run as the Bears
missed their final eight shots before halftime.
UW-Stevens Point led
55-47 with 12:18 left and Washington went on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to
56-54. The Pointers pushed the lead back to 68-60 with 5:40 left when the
Bears scored nine straight points capped by a rebound basket by Leslie
Hawley to take their first lead of the half.
�We kept fighting them
off and I really didn�t think they�d get over the hump,� Egner said. �When
they did, I thought, �Oh God,� we really need to settle down and get one
before (Schultz) hit that big basket.�
Amy Scott, who finished
with 20 points for UW-Stevens Point, hit two free throws to extend the
lead to 72-69. Schultz had a steal on the Bears� next possession and Tara
Schmitt was fouled with 1:37 left. She hit both free throws to extend the
lead to five points and Hallie Hutchens scored for the Bears to cut the
lead to 74-71 before Schultz�s big jumper put the Pointers ahead by five
in the final minute.
Amanda Nechuta and
Andrea Kraemer combined to make five of six free throws in the final 31
seconds to seal the victory. UW-Stevens Point was 30-for-38 from the line
and Washington made 26 of 29 free throws.
Hawley led the Bears
with 16 points, while Hutchens added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Schmitt
totaled 15 points and had just one turnover while playing all 40 minutes
at point guard. She also played the entire game the last time the two
teams met two years ago.
�I couldn�t afford to
bring her out,� Egner said of her senior guard. �She�s a competitor and
she�s in good shape.�
The Pointers also played
the fourth straight game without senior Cassandra Heuer, who was injured
in the conference tournament quarterfinals. Only seven players saw action
for UW-Stevens Point and WIAC Player of the Year Amanda Nechuta also
struggled at three-for-13 from the field with 11 points.
�I think it really shows
we�re not a one-dimensional team in Amanda Nechuta,� Egner said. �She�s a
great player that just couldn�t get in rhythm. For us to be able to go out
and do this against a great team like WashU without Heuer and Nechuta
struggling says so much about this team.�
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