UW-Stevens Point 77, UW-Stout 69
STEVENS POINT (January 23, 2019) - When UW-Stout defeated UW-Eau Claire at Zorn Arena, it looked like the Blue Devils had perhaps shaken off their road demons. But the road woes resumed Wednesday as UW-Stevens Point sent the Blue Devils packing with a 77-69 decision at Berg Gym.
Stout (14-4, 4-3 WIAC) has successfully defended Johnson Fieldhouse so far this season, but lost conference road games at UW-Oshkosh and UW-Platteville before picking up the Eau Claire win Saturday. Now, Stout's three conference losses have been on the road.
The Pointers (5-12, 2-5 WIAC) didn't look like a 12-loss team, jumping out to early first quarter leads before Stout held brief leads in the low scoring quarter, a quarter that Stevens Point led 10-9 at the break. The Pointers cranked up the offense in the second quarter, outscoring Stout 24-13 in the quarter, with Amber Baehman scoring 10 points and Bailee Collins scoring eight points and Stevens Point led 34-22 at halftime. Stevens Point stretched the lead to 16 points, 58-42 by the end of the third quarter.
Stout put together a solid scoring quarter in the final stanza, outscoring the Pointers 27-19 behind
Kyncaide Diedrich's 11 fourth quarter points. Stout crawled to within four points, 64-60 on a three-point play by
Amber Fabeck with three minutes left.
The Pointer held off Stout from the free throw line, making 9 of 14 in the final quarter and 20 of 30 for the game.
Shannan Watkins led Stout with a season-high 19 points.
Amber Fabeck and Diedrich each contributed 15 points.
The Pointers had four players in double figures, led by Baehman's double-double, with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Carly Cerrato had 18 points, Taylor Greenheck 15 and Collins 11.
Stout shot 35.5 percent (27-76) from the floor, 23.1 percent (3-13) from 3-point range and 60 percent (12-20) from the line. The Pointers shot 46.3 percent (25-54) in field goals, 43.8 percent (7-16) from 3-point range and 66.7 percent (20-30) from the line. The Pointers held a 51-34 advantage in rebounds.
Stout returns to Johnson Fieldhouse this Saturday, Jan. 26, to host UW-Platteville at 3 p.m. Saturday is Alumni Day and the Blue Devils are scheduled to play an alumni game at 11 a.m. The day will also be used to raise funds for the Amanda Geissler Memorial Fund.
