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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: UW-Stout (10-13, 4-10 WIAC) will close out their regular season schedule this week with a road game at 23rd-ranked UW-Stevens Point (18-5, 10-4 WIAC), Wednesday, Feb. 13, before they host UW-Oshkosh, Saturday, Feb. 16, for the regular season finale. Play in Stevens Point will get underway at 7 p.m. while Stout will square off with the Titans at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Johnson Fieldhouse.
WIAC STANDINGS: Stout is in a three-way race for the sixth and final qualifying spot for the WIAC Tournament. Eau Claire currently occupies that spot with a conference record of 5-9, a game ahead of Stout and La Crosse, who are each 4-10. The Blue Devils split their season series with both teams, complicating any potential tiebreaker situations, but one thing is certain: Stout will need to at least knock off either Stevens Point or Oshkosh to keep their playoff hopes alive.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: UW-Stevens Point enters Wednesday's contest ranked 23rd in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, while UW-Oshkosh received votes, but not enough to crack the top 25.
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.
This week's interview |
Listen to Interviews
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THIS WEEK BY THE NUMBERS |
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8-2 |
Stout's record with a positive rebounding margin. |
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40% |
Stout is 8-2 when they shoot at least 40 percent from the field, and are just 2-11 when they do not. |
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3-10 |
Stout's record in their last 13 games against UW-Stevens Point (have lost the past five meetings). |
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13 |
Rebounds by Kayla Windt on Saturday, the highest single-game total of any Blue Devil this season. |
THE BLUE DEVILS (10-12, 4-9 WIAC): Despite the loss to Eau Claire on Saturday, Stout's playoff hopes remain slim but existent. They will need to knock off at least one of their opponents this week, both of whom rank among the best in the conference. Furthermore, they will need help around the league, including at least one Eau Claire loss. In what many viewed as a must-win game against Eau Claire, the Blue Devils found themselves trying to claw their way back into the game for much of the contest. Stout grabbed a slim margin with 13:11 left in the first half, but trailed from that point on. With the victory, Eau Claire grabbed sole possession of sixth place in the conference and now control their own destiny for a playoff spot, a position Stout would have occupied with a win...After two straight games in which they shot over 40 percent, Stout relapsed to shoot .328 from the field against Eau Claire, dropping to 2-11 when they shoot under 40 percent. Conversely, they are 8-2 if they reach that .400 mark...
Brea Boomer followed up her 14-point game against La Crosse with a 16-point performance at Eau Claire. Although she was just 3-of-11 from the field, Boomer made 10 free throws and has now scored at least 10 points in four of Stout's last five contests. Boomer leads the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game and her field goal percentage of .511 is the second best in the WIAC...
Katelynne Folkers had a slow night at Eau Claire, but remains one of Stout's most consistent contributors across the entire stat sheet. She leads the team in rebounds (5.0 rpg), steals (58) and assists (50), and is second in scoring (9.0 per game)...
Sami Schoeder, who has been hit or miss all year, had a good game at Eau Claire (4-of-10 3-pt FG), and remains Stout's best option from beyond the arc...
Kayla Windt pulled down 13 boards at Eau Claire, the highest single-game total of any Blue Devil this season. |
2012-13 Statistics
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout seemed to play catch-up all evening and could never quite do it as the Blue Devils fell, 81-70, to UW-Eau Claire Saturday at Zorn Arena. The Blue Devils trailed for nearly the entire evening, moving ahead of the Blugolds only briefly in the first half. Eau Claire carried a 35-23 halftime lead into the locker room. The Blugolds' Cady Roedl led all players with 18 points. Eau Claire got 16 points from Leah Rempert and 13 points from Sarah Bingea.
Brea Boomer led Stout with 16 points. Boomer drained 10-of-17 free throws for the majority of her points.
Sami Schoeder dropped in four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points. Stout won the battle of the boards, 45-42, one of the few times this season Stout has pulled down more rebounds than their opponent and lost. Stout's
Kayla Windt came down with a career-high 12 rebounds and also had nine points. |
Story and Stats
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PLAYERS TO WATCH |
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UW-Stout |
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#15 - Brea Boomer, F, 5-8 |
Last two games: 15 ppg, 5.5 rpg |
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#34 - Katelynne Folkers, G, 5-8 |
5.0 rpg, 58 steals, 50 assists all lead team |
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UW-Stevens Point |
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#22 - Sam Barber - G, 5-9 |
WIAC-high 18.9 ppg; 33 pts vs. Stout in Jan |
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#42 - Myranda Tyler - F, 6-1 |
9.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, second on team for both |
SCOUTING #23 UW-STEVENS POINT (18-5, 10-4 WIAC): Stevens Point enters Wednesday ranking second in the WIAC in both scoring offense (69.7 ppg) and scoring defense (55.2 ppg). Not surprisingly, those numbers result in a conference-best scoring margin of +14.5, nearly 18 points better than Stout's current margin. The Pointers lead the conference in field goal percentage and three point percentage, and rank first defending both of those categories as well. If Stevens Point has a weakness, it would be their free throw percentage, but even that would be a stretch, as they rank sixth out of the nine WIAC teams. You would be hard-pressed to find any statistical category where Stevens Point does not appear near the top. Sam Barber is the anchor of the Pointers' offense and is undoubtedly one of the premier players in the league. Barber leads the league in scoring with an average of 18.9 points per game and, even standing at 5-9, ranks third in rebounds (7.5 per game). Myranda Tyler is second on the team in both categories, contributing 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. When they came to Johnson Fieldhouse back in January, Barber scored 33 points while Tyler scored nine and dished out six assists. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-STEVENS POINT'S LAST TIME OUT: Stevens Point came out on the short end of a tight battle with UW-Oshkosh, falling, 56-53, in the final seconds at Oshkosh. Stevens Point was in control for much of the first half and a buzzer-beater by Sam Barber made the score 31-22 at the break. Oshkosh reclaimed the lead about four minutes into the second half, but they could only extend it to four points, midway through the half. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the game and Oshkosh snuck away with the win when Katie Kitzke hit a three pointer with three seconds left on the clock. Sam Barber led all players with 24 points and 14 rebounds. | Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-Stevens Point leads the series, 39-28, and has won the past five meetings. They have also won 10 of the past 13, including both WIAC Tournament meetings between the teams, in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
EARLIER THIS SEASON (Jan. 9, 2012): Brea Boomer matched a career-high when she scored 22 points, but she was outdone by UW-Stevens Point's Sam Barber, who led the 15th ranked Pointers to a 31 point win over UW-Stout at Johnson Fieldhouse. Boomer did her best to bring the Blue Devils back, scoring 16 of her 22 points in the second half. For the game, she shot 8-13 from the field and 6-9 from the charity stripe. Barber finished the night with 33 points and scored 20 points in the first half, leading the Pointers to a 41-28 lead. Barber scored six points, hitting a pair of three-pointers, in an early 8-0 run that gave Stevens Point a 15-6 lead five minutes into the game. The Pointers jumped out to a 19-8 lead before Stout cut the lead to six points on a layup by Boomer and a three-pointer by Kyleigh Hebert to cut the lead to 19-13. The Pointers went on a 7-0 run to go up 26-13 and Stout got the lead under 10 points only once during the rest of the game. Stevens Point was hot from the floor all night, shooting 55.6 percent compared to Stout's 30.8 percent (20-65). | Story and Stats
THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Mark Thomas (430-255) 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-Stevens Point: Shirley Egner is in her 24th season as head coach of the Pointers and is the all-time winningest coach in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history. She entered the season with a winning percentage of .703, and has averaged 23 wins per season through her first 23 seasons. During the 2001-02 campaign, Egner led her squad to a NCAA DIII National Championship, and finished the season with 30 wins, becoming just the eighth team in DIII history to win 30 games in a season.
CONFERENCES: Stout, Stevens Point and
Oshkosh are both members of the nine-team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) along with UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Superior, and UW-Whitewater.
UP NEXT: It remains to be seen if Stout's season will extend to the postseason. They will need at least one win this week and get help in order to advance to the WIAC Tournament.
