GAME COVERAGE: Live Stats |
Live Video
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: Fresh off a five-game road trip that included a two-game stint in Texas, the
Blue Devils (7-6, 1-3 WIAC) return home this week to host
UW-Eau Claire (7-6, 2-2 WIAC), Thursday, Jan. 3, at Johnson Fieldhouse. In the rare weekday men's and women's doubleheader, the women's game will follow the men, and are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. The men's matchup between Stout and Eau Claire will begin at 6 p.m.
MARK THOMAS INTERVIEWS: Throughout the season, Jimmie Kaska of Sports Radio 1400 AM will speak with head women's basketball coach
Mark Thomas about the season. Listed are each of the interviews throughout the season. |
Listen to Interviews
WEBCASTS: All UW-Stout home games will be available in a live video stream by
Blue Devil Video, with Adam "Big Country" Lehnertz on the call. WMEQ 880 Radio, with Jason Kenyon, Rob Silvers, Dan Schultz, Jimmie Kaska or Jake Bostrom, will broadcast and provide a live audio stream of away conference games and all Saturday WIAC doubleheaders. Stout will provide
Live Stats for all home games. Check the Blue Devil Webcast page or under details of the schedule page to see broadcasts and Live Stats available when Stout is on the road.
|
THIS WEEK BY THE NUMBERS |
|
.316 |
Stout's all-time winning percentage against UW-Eau Claire, their lowest against any WIAC opponent. |
|
7-0 |
Stout's record this year with a positive rebound margin. |
|
0-6 |
Stout's record this year with a negative rebound margin. |
|
5 |
Consecutive Stout games in which the losing team relinquished a halftime lead. |
THE BLUE DEVILS (7-6, 1-3 WIAC): What we are finding lately is it may not be a good thing to have a lead at halftime. Sunday's loss against East Texas Baptist University marked the fifth straight game in which the team leading at halftime ended up with a loss. Stout was on the wrong end of three of those games, relinquishing leads to ETBU, UW-River Falls, and UW-Platteville. In the other two, Stout turned halftime deficits into wins over Concordia Texas and Marian University. Stout's rebounding margin also remains a perfect indicator of their success, as they out-rebounded Concordia, 49-23, in the win, but lost the battle of the boards, 43-40, in their loss to ETBU...Although she had a relatively quiet weekend in Texas, senior
Whitney Rawdon continues to lead this young Blue Devils squad. Rawdon's season averages of 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game each lead the team and both rank among the best in the WIAC. In the past six games, she has averaged 7.8 rebounds per game and has led the team in that category in five of the six contests.
Brea Boomer scored a collegiate-high 22 points, Sunday, on 9-of-13 shooting. At one point during the contest, Boomer scored 10 straight points for Stout to help them stretch their lead to double digits. She is averaging 11.8 points per game which trails only Rawdon, and her .576 shooting clip is second best in the conference.
Sami Schoeder had a good showing in Texas, scoring 16 and 17 points in their two games. On the weekend, Schoeder was 8-for-18 (.444) from beyond the arc after entering the trip 27-of-52 (.327).
Katelynne Folkers hit a bit of a rough patch shooting the ball down in Texas, going 2-for-16 from the field, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. She still, however, leads the team in steals and assists and trails only Rawdon with 5.5 rebounds per game. Five Blue Devils are averaging at least four rebounds per game as they are out-rebounding their opponents, 43-39, on average. |
2012-13 Statistics
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: Stout is returning from their winter break trip in Texas, where they split a pair of games at CTX Fieldhouse in Austin, Texas. In the first game, Stout used a 9-2 run late in the second half to earn their second straight comeback victory, a 78-74 win over Concordia University Texas, who hosted both games. Trailing 63-62 with six minutes remaining in the game, Stout tightened up the defense, and got buckets from five different players to secure the win. The victory marked the second straight game that Stout turned a halftime deficit into a victory. The Tornados had a six-point lead with two minutes to play in the half, but Stout scored seven of the half's final nine points, giving themselves a much more manageable, one point deficit at half. The Tornados had multiple five point leads in the second half, but Stout stayed within striking distance, much like they did in the first half. Their 9-2 run gave them a 72-64 lead with under two minutes to play, setting up crucial free throws that Stout hit to secure the game.
Sami Schoeder led Stout with 16 points while
Katelynne Folkers grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. |
UW-Stout 78, Concordia Texas 74 | In the second game, it was just the opposite; Stout led at halftime, but relinquished the lead in a 72-69 loss to East Texas Baptist University. Between the final two minutes of the first half and the first nine of the second, ETBU put together a 23-5 run to spark a comeback victory in which they trailed by as much as 11. Stout did hold multiple leads inside the game's final few minutes, but the Tigers hung tough and were eventually the ones to deliver the knockout blow.
Brea Boomer finished the game 9-of-13 for a game-high 22 points.
Sami Schoeder used 5-of-10 shooting from downtown to score 17 points after she delivered 16 the night before.
Whitney Rawdon led all players with seven rebounds. |
ETBU 72, UW-Stout 69
|
PLAYERS TO WATCH |
|
UW-Stout |
|
#11 - Whitney Rawdon, F, 5-11 |
13.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 10 blks (all team highs) |
|
#32 - Sami Schoeder, G, 5-6 |
Last 2 games: 16.5 ppg, .444 3-pt.% |
|
UW-Eau Claire |
|
#33 - Courtney Lewis, F, 5-10 |
11.5 ppg, 5 games with 17+ points |
|
#24 - Sarah Bingea, F, 6-0 |
12.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2 dbl-dbl's |
SCOUTING UW-EAU CLAIRE (7-6, 2-2 WIAC): UW-Eau Claire has two separate three-game win streaks accounting for most of their wins. Sprinkled amongst the win streaks are losing skids of two and three games. They are 4-2 at Zorn Arena, but are just 1-4 in away games, and will be searching for their first road conference victory at Johnson Fieldhouse on Thursday. Wins against cellar dwellers UW-La Crosse and UW-Platteville surprised no one, nor did losses to UW-Whitewater and UW-Superior, who are a combined 7-1 (only loss a Superior loss to Stout). Most recently, the Blugolds return from their Ohio road trip with two wins and a loss. They mopped up in Westerville, Ohio last weekend, winning their two games by a combined 47 points, but lost their final game of the trip, a 62-54 decision at Capital University...Courtney Lewis and Sarah Bingea have been a two-headed monster for the Blugolds, combining for about 40 percent of the offensive output and 36 percent of the team's rebounds. Bingea and Lewis are averaging 12.8 and 11.5 points per game, respectively, and Bingea is pulling down a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game, which is second best in the conference. Two other Blugolds average over four boards per game, including Lewis (4.2 rpg). Cady Roedl has started all 13 games from the point guard position and leads the team with 51 assists. That average of 3.92 per game is second best in the WIAC, while her 3.15 steals per game average is fourth best in the conference. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-EAU CLAIRE'S LAST TIME OUT: This past weekend, Eau Claire competed in the Smokey Ballenger Classic in Westerville, Ohio, but hardly saw any real competition. They ended their Ohio road trip with a stop at Capital University, where they ended their three-game win streak with a 62-54 loss. They dominated both games in Westerville from start to finish, earning non-conference wins of 74-56 and 72-43. In the 74-56 victory over Thiel (Penn.), Sarah Bingea delivered a dominating 12-rebound performance combined with eight points in 35 minutes of play. Teisha Wegner led the Blugolds with 15 points, all of which she scored in 18 minutes off the bench. Kelly Barzak recorded a double-double (20 pts, 11 reb) in a losing effort for Thiel. | UW-Eau Claire 74, Thiel 56 | Their second and final game of the tournament was even more of a rout, a 29-point victory over Frostburg State (Maryland). En route to their largest margin of victory this season, Eau Claire shot 50 percent from the field and had double up Frostburg State, 42-21, at halftime. Nobody played more than 26 minutes as many reserves got a chance to log some playing time. Sarah Bingea finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Teenie Lichtfuss led the team with 14 points. | UW-Eau Claire 72, Frostburg State 43 | At Capital University, Eau Claire grabbed a lead early in the second half, but Capital went on a 10-0 run to go up by nine. The Blugolds got the lead down to four, but that was as close as they would get, as Capital came away with the win. Sarah Bingea scored a season-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, which tied Rachel Egdorf and Courtney Lewis for a team-high. | Capital University 62, UW-Eau Claire 54
THE SERIES: UW-Eau Claire leads the series, 54-25, overall, and has dominated recently as well. They have won the past four meetings, and have won nine of the past 11. Stout's all-time winning percentage against UW-Eau Claire is .316, which is the lowest against any WIAC opponent.
LAST TIME THEY MET (Feb. 11, 2012): UW-Stout found themselves down by only six points at halftime, but UW-Eau Claire outscored the Blue Devils, 19-6, over the first 10 minutes of the second half and the Blugolds went on to a 72-40 win at Johnson Fieldhouse. 6-foot, 5-inch Ellen Plendl led the way for the Blugolds througout the game, but especially during the first 10 minutes of the second half. Plendl scorched the Blue Devils for 10 points in that stretch. Plendl finished the game with a game-high 18 points, racking up a double-double with 11 rebounds. She also had five blocked shots. The Blue Devils played the Blugolds nearly even in the first first half. After falling behind early when Eau Claire scored the first 10 points of the game. Stout got on the board at 15:34 of the first half on a basket by Kaitlynn Folkers (Fr, Fall Creek). Brea Boomer lit the fire for Stout, as the Blue Devils pulled to within 15-9 as Boomer scored five points in the stretch. Whitney Rawdon drained a pair of free throws, then, following a four points by Plendl, made a jumper to cut the lead to 19-13. A bucket and a free throw by Boomer made it 19-16, the closest Stout would get during the rest of the game. Boomer had another three-point play later in the half to cut into an eight point Eau Claire lead. Stout shot only 19.2 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting 22.6 percent. The Blugolds went the other way, shooting at a 68.2 percent second half clip and finished the game shooting 52 percent. Boomer paced Stout with 13 points and Rawdon finished with nine points and eight rebounds. | Story and Stats
TRADITION: In 10 of the last 13 seasons, Stout has been either the first or second leading scoring team in the WIAC. In the final team standings, Stout has finished no lower in the conference than fourth in 11 of the last 14 years. Last year broke the trend, however, as they finished second to last in scoring and eight out of nine teams in the conference standings with a final league record of 3-13.
JOHNSON FIELDHOUSE: The “cozy confines of Johnson Fieldhouse” has proven to be quite an advantage for the Blue Devils. Since the 2000-01 season, Stout has posted a 120-33 (.784) record at home. In conference games at Johnson Fieldhouse since 2000-01, Stout has a 74-25 (.747) record. Throw in the conference tournament games, and Stout has an 88-25 (.779) overall record against WIAC opponents at home.
THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Mark Thomas (428-251) is in his 26th year as the coach of the Blue Devils. Thomas has led his teams to 10 national playoff berths, nine times in the NCAA. A six-time WIAC coach of the year, the Blue Devils have won five conference titles and four conference tournament championships. His teams have twice been to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Thomas is the first WIAC coach to have reached 400 career wins. Thomas also has the most wins of any Stout basketball coach, either men's or women's. Dwain Mintz coached the men's basketball program for 27 years and compiled a 385-280 record. |
UW-Eau Claire: Tonja Englund is in her 14th year as the Blugolds' head women's basketball coach. Englund has guided her team to five NCAA tournament appearances, including her 2003 squad that finished third in the NCAA tournament. She ranks fifth all time in wins among coaches in the WIAC, and has won four WIAC championships. After starting her playing career on a full scholarship at the University of Wyoming, Englund finished at the University of St. Thomas, where she led the Tommies to a national championship.
CONFERENCES: Stout and
UW-Eau Claire are members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Superior and UW-Whitewater.
UP NEXT: Stout will remain at home next week as they welcome UW-Stevens Point to Johnson Fieldhouse for a 7 p.m. WIAC affair, Wednesday, Jan. 9.
