Women's Basketball Preview: It's Alumni Day as Stout hosts Pioneers

• The Blue Devils have nine returners, with four starters back for the 2017-18 season. Stout has one senior, five juniors, five sophomores and 12 freshmen.
• Either Bailey Diersen or Kyncaide Diedrich has led Stout in scoring this season in all but two games, and Diedrich leads the WIAC in scoring with 16.4 points per game and Diersen is currently third in the WIAC in scoring with 15.4 points. The duo ranks first and second in the league in steals, with Diersen topping the league with 2.56 thefts and Diedrich right behind with 2.47 steals. Diedrich is third in the league in rebounds (7.1), third in assists (3.18), sixth in free throw percentage (.766) and eighth in 3-point shots made (1.53). Diersen is 10th in the league in 3-pointers (1.22), and 10th in free throw percentage (.694). Amber Fabeck is averaging 8.8 points and is third in the WIAC in blocked shots with 22 (1.22). The Blue Devils have pumped in 119 3-pointers, compared to 74 for their opponents. Stout has actually increased their 3-point output since starting league play. In all games, Stout is averaging 6.61 treys, but in conference games-only are averaging 7.14.
• Stout leads the WIAC in steals, averaging 10.72 per game. Diersen and Diedrich are first and second in the conference with steals..
• Stout is averaging 66.6 points as a team and giving up 68.1.
• 2017-18 Statistics

• The Blue Devils are projected to finish seventh in the WIAC according to a WIAC preseason poll by conference coaches and sports information directors.

• UW-Stout held the lead for much of the first two periods, but UW-La Crosse went on a 16-4 run to end the second quarter and take a one-point lead at halftime and went on to a 79-64 win over the Blue Devils Wednesday at Mitchell Hall. La Crosse jumped out to a 49-41 lead with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter. Stout got a pair of buckets by Kyncaide Diedrich to cut the lead to four points, 49-45, before the Eagles went off on a 9-1 run to take a 58-46 lead with 1:42 left in the quarter. Stout did pull to within five points on a 3-pointer by Bailey Diersen early in the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as they got the rest of the way. The Eagles' Elise DeNoyer led all scorers with 25 points. Delaney Schoenburger dropped in 16 points, and Kyle Marks and Taylor Nelson each scored 10 points. Diedrich led Stout with 23 points and Diersen finished with 17 points.
• Game Story and Statistics
• Stout lost to UW-Eau Claire, 94-62, Jan. 17, and the came back from a huge fourth quarter deficit but dropped an overtime contest, 94-89, to UW-River Falls, Jan. 20.
• UW-Stout trailed by 18 points early in the fourth quarter but fought back to force overtime where UW-River Falls ultimately captured a 94-89 win. Stout scored 39 points in the fourth quarter. Kyncaide Diedrich scored a career-best 34 points and notched a career-best 11 rebounds. Bailey Diersen contributed 16 points, Haley Seifert a career-best 15 points and Amber Fabeck 10 points.
• UW-River Falls Story and Box Score
• UW-Eau Claire jumped out to a big lead over UW-Stout in the first period and went on to a 94-62 win over the Blue Devils Wednesday at Johnson Fieldhouse. The Blugolds took a 17-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Stout did outscore Eau Claire 15-11 in second period to pull to within nine, 36-27, at halftime. That would be as close as Stout would get for the remainder of the game.
• UW-Eau Claire Story and Box Score

• After dropping their conference opener to UW-Eau Claire, the Eagles have won four of five games. Elise DeNoyer is averaging a team-best 13.4 points and leads the WIAC in rebounds with 7.8 caroms. DeNoyer scored 27 points in a one-point win over Luther College and pulled down 13 rebounds in a win over Dubuque. DeNoyer leads the team in assists (2.47). Dani Craig is scoring 10.1 points per game.
• Eagle Statistics
   

• The Eagles snapped a 12-game losing streak to 14th-ranked UW-Whitewater with a 66-62 victory at  Kachel Gymnasium. The win was the Eagles' first victory over the Warhawks since a 71-68 overtime win December 7, 2011 in La Crosse. It is UWL's first win at UW-Whitewater since a 73-66 victory February 3, 2011. Elise DeNoyer led four players in double figures with 14 points while Dani Craig finished with 13. Delaney Schoenenberger and Taylor Nelson each had 11 points for the Eagles. DeNoyer also led the team with eight rebounds and three assists.
• Game Story and Statistics

• UW-Stout met a strong defensive front from UW-La Crosse in Johnson Fieldhouse Feb. 15, 2017, as they fell to the Eagles, 72-50, on Senior Day.  Lone Blue Devils senior Jenna Goldsmith finished with 12 points and four rebounds in her final game on Dewey Mintz Court.
• Game Story and Statistics

• Allison Prestegaard leads the WIAC in blocked shots with 49 (3.27/game) and is the team's leading scorer with 9.8 points and 6.3 rebounds, returning to action Wednesday after missing three games. Maiah Domask has come off the bench in half the games to lead the team in rebounds with 6.8. She is averaging 6.9 points. The Pioneers are averaging 65.9 points and are giving up 72.7.
• Pioneers Statistics
   

• UW-Platteville took a six point lead into the half against UW-Whitewater, but were outscored by 15 in the second to fall 58-67 to the No. 24 team in the country Wednesday night on Bo Ryan Court. After missing three games, Allison Prestegaard returned to score a game high 14 points. Lexis Macomber scored 13 off the bench for the Pioneers and Kassie Hansen added 12. Trailing 13-17 after the first quarter, the Pioneers heated up in the second shooting over 53 percent and outscoring the Warhawks 22-12. After reaching the bonus with over three minutes remaining in the half, Prestegaard, Macomber, and Kassie Buchholz went a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line to give UW-Platteville a 35-29 halftime lead.
• Game Story and Statistics
• Platteville fell 83-61 to a hot shooting UW-Stevens Point team Saturday afternoon in Williams Fieldhouse The Pioneers put up their most points since the WIAC opener against UW-Stout, but were outpaced by the Pointers who shot 57.1 percent from the field including 60 percent from beyond the arc. Shooting over 70 percent early in the contest, UW-Stevens Point put up 48 points in the first half. Jai Clemons had a career high 10 points for the Pioneers while Miranda Meland and Kassie Hansen each had 9. Carly Cerrato led all scorers with 19 for UW-Stevens Point.
• Game Story and Statistics

• UW-Platteville's 6-4 center Allison Prestegaard scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, while UW-Stout's 5-5 guard Kyncaide Diedrich scored a then career-best 23 points and had eight rebounds. But the Pioneers outscored the Blue Devils 28-18 in the fourth quarter to take an 83-75 conference-opening win Jan. 3 in Platteville.
• Trailing 31-29 at halftime, Diedrich scored nine points in the third period to spark the Blue Devils to a two point 57-55 lead at the end of the period. Diedrich also scored nine points in the final quarter, but the Pioneers outscored Stout 28-18 in the fourth to take the win.
• Game Story and Statistics

• While the Blue Devils and the Pioneers are not in the middle of the conference battle at this point, the conference race has turned into a real dogfight as the league finished it's first round of play Wednesday. Five teams are currently in a five-way tie for first place all posting 5-2 league records - UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater, UW-River Falls, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse.

• If the Blue Devils were smarting after seeing a 10-game winning streak stopped last season against Northland College, Stout made the Lumberjills pay for the transgression Dec. 2 with a 68-26 win in Johnson Fieldhouse.
• The 26 points by the Lumberjills was the fewest points Stout has allowed during the Mark Thomas era. The school mark stretches back to the 1970s when women's basketball games were not nearly as high scoring on either side, with both teams at times scoring in the 20s and 30s. During the 1976-77 season, Stout defeated UW-Barron County by scores of 40-19 and 62-26. The next year, the Blue Devils defeated Barron County, a two-year school, 53-26.During the 1972-73 season, Stout's wins of the season came in back-to-back wins over a pair of two-year UW schools, a 38-16 win at UW-Waukesha, followed by a 36-18 win over UW-Fond du Lac. The 16 points is the fewest allowed in school history.
• During Thomas' 31 seasons, the fewest points allowed by Stout was 33 in a 95-33 win over Crown College, Nov. 15, 2011.

• Mark Thomas (472-339) is in his 31st year as the coach of the Blue Devils and is the longest tenured head coach in Blue Devil history. Terry Petrie coached the Blue Devil baseball team for 30 seasons.
• 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 under Thomas' tutelage. 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. .

• Karen Middleton (90-138, overall; 27-17, at UWL) is in her eighth season overall and her second at UW-La Crosse). During her first season at La Crosse, the Eagles advanced to the WIAC Championships Semifinals in 2016-17 for the third time in school history, including their first appearance since 2011.  A native of Jefferson, South Carolina, Middleton served as associate head coach at Cal State Fullerton University in 2015-16, overseeing the day-to-day aspects of the women's basketball program for the Titans. 

• Megan Wilson (63-132) is in her eighth season at UW-Platteville. Wilson led the Pioneers to two of their best back-to-back seasons in school history in 2013-14 and 2014-15.  In 2014-15, the Pioneers finished 15-11 and finished tied for fourth in the WIAC for the second season in a row, a feat that has been accomplished only one other time in program history.  The Pioneers hosted the first home WIAC tournament game in program history.   The Pioneers shattered the single-season turnover average, limiting themselves to just 12.9 turnovers-per-game, which was good for eighth best in Division III.

UW-Stout Collegiate Career Highs (Updated January 28, 2018)

The Last Time...A Stout Team...
Scored 105 points: 106, vs. Crown, (11/28/12); 111, vs. St. Scholastica (1/6/04)
Scored 100-104 points: 103, vs. Finlandia (12/11/07)
Had six players score in double digits: vs. UW-Platteville, Feb. 20, 2016 - Sarah Schoch (17), Jenna Goldsmith (17), Kyncaide Diedrich (13), Shannan Watkins (10), Bailey Diersen (10), Anna Brown (10);
Had five players score in double digits: vs. UW-Platteville, Jan. 28, 2017 - Bailey Diersen (17); Kycaide Diedrich (15); Jenna Goldsmith (15); Carolyn Feddema (13); Anna Brown (10).
Had four players score in double digits: vs. UW-Platteville, Jan. 27, 2018 - Kyncaide Diedrich (21), Bailey Diersen (15), Anna Brown (13), Carolyn Feddema (13);  vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 20, 2018 - Kyncaide Diedrich (34), Bailey Diersen (16), Haley Seifert (15), Amber Fabeck (10); . UW-River Falls, Feb. 8, 2017 - Jenna Goldsmith (15), Anna Brown (15), Kyncaide Diedrich (14), Bailey Diersen (10); vs. UW-River Falls, Jan. 25, 2017 - Kyncaide Diedrich (19), Bailey Diersen (15), Jenna Goldsmith (14), Anna Brown (14).
Recorded 60 rebounds: 68, vs. North Central, (11/15/13)
Recorded 55-59 rebounds: 55 vs. University of Dubuque, (12/10/16)
Won 10 or more consecutive games: 15, 1993-94 season
Lost 5 or more consecutive games: 8, 2017-18 season

The Last Time...A Stout Individual Opponent...
Scored 25-plus points: 25, Elise DeNoyer (1/24/18)

The Last Time...A Stout Opponent...
Scored 105 points: 107, vs. Millikin (12/30/99)
Was held to less than 50 points: 26 vs. Northland College, (12/2/17)
Held Stout to less than 50 points: 46 vs. Trine University (12/28/17)

UW-Stout Individual Game Records
Most Points: 39, Cindy Hovet vs. UW-Platteville, 1/22/94
Most Rebounds: 26, Yonna Grey vs. Valley City State, 11/19/94
Most FG Attempted: 30, Julie Maki vs. UW-Eau Claire, 1993
Most FG Made: 15, Cindy Hovet vs. UW-Platteville, 1/22/94
Most 3Pt FG Made: 8 (2x) Staci Anderson vs. UW-La Crosse, 1/20/00; Shannon Berg vs. Northwestern College, 12/17/98
Most FT Attempted: 17, Andrea Bresette at UW-Superior, 1/15/00
Most FT Made: 14, Andrea Bresette at UW-Superior, 1/15/00
Most Assists: 11, Amanda Geissler vs. UW-Platteville, 1/20/07
Most Blocked Shots: 10, Kelsey Duoss vs. UW-Whitewater, 1/27/07
Most Steals: 11, Cindy Hovet vs. Marian College, 1991