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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: UW-Stout (10-12, 4-9 WIAC) will head to UW-Eau Claire (9-13, 4-9 WIAC), Saturday, Feb. 9, where they will look to complete the season sweep of the Blugolds, the only remaining WIAC team who they have not lost to this season. Tip-off at Zorn Arena is set for 5 p.m.
WIAC STANDINGS: With their win on Wednesday, Stout moved into a two-way tie for sixth place in the WIAC with UW-Eau Claire. The winner of Saturday's game will sit alone in sixth place, the final qualifying spot for the WIAC Tournament, with one remaining week of regular season play.
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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8-1 |
Stout's record with a positive rebounding margin. |
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2 |
Consecutive games in which Stout shot over 40 percent from field. Team is 8-2 when doing so, 2-10 when they do not. |
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1-5 |
Stout's record in their last six trips to Zorn Arena. |
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.525 |
Brea Boomer's field goal percentage, the best in the conference. (6-for-8 on Wednesday vs. La Crosse) |
THE BLUE DEVILS (10-12, 4-9 WIAC): After losing six straight and all but one game in January, Stout has started to find their stride, winning their first two games this month. Consecutive home victories over UW-Platteville and UW-La Crosse have moved Stout back into the playoff hunt, putting even more importance on their game with Eau Claire on Saturday. The Blue Devils and Blugolds are currently in a tie for the last qualifying spot for the WIAC Tournament, and the winner of Saturday's matchup will sit alone in sixth place with a week of regular season play remaining. Stout defeated Eau Claire in early January (their only win in January), but have lost five of their last six games at Zorn Arena. Stout dominated La Crosse, Wednesday, shooting 44 percent compared to the Eagles' 35 percent, and won the rebound battle, 43-30. With the positive rebounding margin, Stout improved to 9-1 when they win the battle of the boards, while they are 1-11 with a negative rebounding margin. Furthermore, they improved to 8-2 with a shooting percentage of .400, while they have gone just 2-10 when they shoot under 40 percent. Their .444 clip against the Eagles was their best shooting performance in 11 games (.474 vs. Marian, 12/15/12) and was their second straight game with a shooting percentage above 40 percent...
Brea Boomer returned to the headlines, Wednesday, with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting against La Crosse. After her field goal percentage had been slowly declining with each game, her high-percentage night boosted it back to .525, which is the highest in the conference. She leads the team in scoring with 11.5 poitns per game and has scored at least 10 points in three of the last four contests...
Katelynne Folkers continued her consistent production across the entire stat sheet on Wednesday, with four points, nine boards, and five assists, the latter two of which led the team. She leads the team in rebounds (5.2 rpg), steals (58) and assists (49), and is second in scoring (9.2 per game). In the absence of
Whitney Rawdon,
Shelby Sterba's minutes have increased and she has responded well. In the past six games, Sterba has twice recorded nine rebounds and scored a career-high 14 points against River Falls. She recorded six points, five boards, and two blocks on Wednesday, playing 28 minutes, which trailed only Folkers' 29 minutes. |
2012-13 Statistics
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout captured their second win in as many games, Wednesday night, when they used a big first half to defeat UW-La Crosse, 69-57, at Johnson Fieldhouse.
Brea Boomer shot 6-of-8 from the floor to score 14 points and Stout used 44 percent shooting to run away from the Eagles, capturing their first win against La Crosse in their last seven meetings. The game began back-and-forth, with neither team able to gain a substantial lead early. Stout grabbed the first sizeable lead of the game after an 8-0 run put them up, 14-9, with 12:25 to play in the half. The Eagles cut the lead back to one point, but another scoring spurt by Stout put them back up by six. With just over three minutes to play in the half, Stout went on a 10-2 run to close the half, turning a two point lead into a 36-26 Blue Devil advantage at the break. Although the Eagles never led in the second half, it was all but a coast to victory for Stout. After La Crosse got their deficit back to single digits quickly, they slowly but consistently chipped away at the lead and, with 12:30 left to play, used a 7-0 to tie the game at 46 apiece. Erin Levenhagen, who led all players with 18 points, scored all seven points during the run. Stout built their lead back up to eight, but Tricia Van Dusseldorp hit a three to cut it back to five points with 5:30 to play. That was as close as the Eagles would get, however. Their last bucket came with 2:40 left on the clock, after which Stout scored the game's final five points to finish the game with their largest lead of the night. |
Story and Stats
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PLAYERS TO WATCH |
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UW-Stout |
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#32 - Sami Schoeder, G, 5-6 |
36 3-pt FGM; scored 19 pts vs. EC in Jan. |
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#34 - Katelynne Folkers, G, 5-8 |
5.2 rpg, 58 steals, 49 assists all lead team |
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UW-Eau Claire |
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#24 - Sarah Bingea, F, 6-0 |
7.6 rpg; 12 pts, 10 reb vs. Stout in Jan. |
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#31 - Teenie Lichtfuss, G, 5-10 |
7.6 ppg; 22 pts, 10 reb vs. Stout in Jan. |
SCOUTING UW-EAU CLAIRE (9-13, 4-9 WIAC): After opening their conference schedule 4-4, the Blugolds have lost their last five to drop to sixth place in the WIAC. Among those five games were losses to UW-La Crosse and UW-River Falls, who were each below .500 in the WIAC at the time of the game. Eau Claire is averaging under 57 points per game this season, and was held to even less than that when they visited Johnson Fieldhouse in early January. An interesting trend all season has been the team's success compared to their high scorer. 12 times this season, Eau Claire's leading scorer recorded over 15 points. In those 12 games, the Blugolds are 2-10. In the remaining 10 games (where the leading scorer scored 15 points or less), Eau Claire is 7-3. Sarah Bingea is scoring 12.5 points per game and collecting 7.6 boards per game, ranking her seventh and second in the conference, respectively. Bingea was one of two players to record a double-double (12 pts, 10 reb) against Stout earlier this year. The other was Teenie Lichtfuss (22 pts, 10 reb), who is averaging 7.6 points per game. Courtney Lewis, the only Blugold to start all 22 games, is averaging 9.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, ranking second and third on the team, respectively. Rachel Egdorf trails only Bingea in rebounds, recording 4.5 per game. | 2012-13 Statistics
UW-EAU CLAIRE'S LAST TIME OUT: Four UW-River Falls Falcons scored in double digits, Saturday, as River Falls defeated Eau Claire, 61-53. River Falls led for much of the game as they evened their conference record back to .500. The Falcons dominated early and built as much as a 13-point lead with 6:15 left in the first half. The Blugolds battled back, however, and a 20-6 run to end the half gave them a 32-31 lead, their first and only lead of the game. The second half was much closer, but once River Falls grabbed a lead shortly after the break, they never trailed the rest of the game. Kristin Sahr led all players with 23 points while Sarah Bingea added eight points and seven rebounds. | Story and Stats
THE SERIES: UW-Eau Claire leads the series, 54-26, overall, and has dominated recently as well. They have won four of the past five, and have won nine of the past 12.
EARLIER THIS SEASON (Jan. 3, 2012): UW-Stout held UW-Eau Claire to less than 30 percent from the field to defeat the Blugolds for the first time since 2010, a 69-55 win, at Johnson Fieldhouse. Winners of the past four meetings between the nearby rivals, UW-Eau Claire could not continue the trend tonight as they shot just 21-of-71 from the field for the contest. Meanwhile, Stout shot 46 percent from the field and used a 14-1 first-half run to give them a lead they held the rest of the night. In her first game with the Blue Devils after joining the team over winter break, Kyleigh Hebert sparked the charge that gave Stout control of the ballgame. A free throw and a jumper from Hebert began a run that turned Stout's early three-point deficit into a 10-point lead with six minutes to go in the first half. Sami Schoeder, who finished with a team-high 19 points, ended the run with back-to-back three pointers. After Eau Claire had trimmed their nine-point halftime deficit to just five shortly after the break, Stout put together an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 13, their largest lead up to that point. Midway through the half, Schoeder hit two more three pointers in a matter of four Stout possessions to keep Stout's lead a comfortable run, as Eau Claire was putting together a run of their own. Schoeder's fifth and final three of the game gave Stout a 12-point lead with six minutes to play. They were able to extend that lead to as much as 16 as they coasted to an easy victory, only their third win in the teams' last 12 meetings. | 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-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
Eau Claire are both 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 stay on the road following their trip to Eau Claire, as they travel to UW-Stevens Point, Wenesday, Feb. 13, then close out the season, Saturday, Feb. 16, with a home game against UW-Oshkosh.
