Eau Claire knocks off Pointer men's and women's teams Eau Claire dampened the Pointers' hopes for a WIAC title Wednesday, handing them a 72-53 loss. UW-SP led 33-32 at the half but the Pointers missed their first 12 shots of the second half as Eau Claire opened the half on a 13-0 run. Eau Claire led by as many as 22 points at 66-44, improving the Blugolds record to 8-0 on Wednesday nights in WIAC action. Joe Zuiker (Port Edwards) led the Pointers with 17 points and Brent Larson (Ladysmith) added 14. SP shot 21 percent in the second half and finished the game under 40 percent for the first time this year. The Pointers had been tied with UW-Eau Claire for third place in the WIAC behind UW-River Falls and UW-Whitewater, but the Pointers fell to 15-6 overall and 7-6 in the WIAC. UW-SP had climbed back to within one game of first place with four games remaining after beating UW-Platteville 72-61 Saturday. The Pointers were the only WIAC team to finish 2-0 for the week. UW-Oshkosh, 6-6 in the conference before Wednesday's action, visits the Quandt Fieldhouse Saturday in the Pointers'final home regular season game. Josh Iserloth (Plymouth) had a big first half against UW-Platteville to spark the Pointers. He scored 17 points on seven-for-nine shooting from the field in the first half, finishing with 25 points. Zuiker scored 19 points, including 17 in the second half. The Pointers held UW-Platteville scoreless over the final 5:29 of their victory on Saturday, beating the Pioneers for the fourth straight time. The Pointers host UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Quandt Fieldhouse. Women's Basketball The Pointers' five-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday, as they fell to UW-Eau Claire, 67-48. The Pointers had led 27-25 at halftime, and the game was tied, 36-36, with 13 minutes left when Eau Claire went on 12-0 run over the next four minutes. The Pointers were two-for-21 from the field in the final 13 minutes. Andrea Kraemer (Waukesha) and Cassandra Heuer (Two Rivers) led the Pointers with 11 points each. UW-SP is now 16-5 overall and 8-5 in the WIAC. The Pointers had been away from home quite a bit the past few weeks but were red hot, winning five straight games, including four on the road. The last time UW-SP won five straight in the WIAC was 1992-93 when they won the last five in the 1991-92 season and the first two the following fall. The last time the Pointers won four straight league road games was 1986-87 when they won the WIAC and Division III titles. The Pointers play an important game at No. 9 UW-Oshkosh on Saturday. The Pointers and UW-Eau Claire had been tied for third in the WIAC at 8-4. UW-Oshkosh is 11-1 and UW-River Falls is 10-2. The Pointers smashed UW-Platteville, 70-48, Saturday. Heuer scored 16 points in the win over UW-Platteville and Kraemer limited the Pioneers' leading scorer to just two points in an outstanding defensive effort. Men's Hockey The Pointers enter the final weekend in fourth place in the NCHA, but could finish anywhere from second to fifth place as the league features a group of five teams within four points of first place. UW-Stevens Point beat UW-Stout, 9-1, on Friday and then lost to UW-River Falls, 5-2, on Saturday. The Pointers face rematches with both teams this weekend. UW-River Falls is 8-4 in third place in the NCHA, while the Pointers and UW-Stout are tied for fourth place at 7-5. Ryan Maxson (Bloomington, Minn.) had a big weekend for the Pointers with three goals and two assists. He had two second period goals to break a 1-1 tie and start the scoring onslaught against UW-Stout before adding a short-handed goal against UW-River Falls. Maxson now leads the NCHA with 21 goals for the season. Matt Interbartolo (Toronto, Ont.) extended his point-scoring streak to 14 games. Nick Glander (Brookfield) and Zenon Kochan (Madison) each added two goals in the win over UW-Stout. The Pointers, 15-8 overall, will host UW-River Falls at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, and UW-Stout at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 at Willett Arena. Women's Hockey The Pointers dropped a 6-2 decision to defending Division III runner-up Augsburg in a non-conference game Tuesday. Jessica Barrick (Mosinee) and Ashley Gregory (SPASH) scored the Pointers' goals in the third period after Augsburg had taken a 6-0 lead. The loss dropped the Pointers to 12-8-1 overall. They're 9-2-1 in the NCHA. UW-SP completed a season sweep of UW-Eau Claire with 4-1 and 3-2 road victories over the weekend. The Pointers are still in second place in the NCHA with four league games to play and are assured of at least the third seed in the four-team playoffs. UW-SP has the bye in league play this weekend. Julie Rochford (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had a goal in each game over the weekend and added three assists in the two-game sweep of UW-Eau Claire. The Pointers fell behind in each game, but rallied for both victories. Becky Humphreys (Roseville, Minn.) broke a 1-1 tie in Friday's win and Lea Haas (Sparta) broke a 1-1 tie as the Pointers scored three straight goals in Saturday's victory. Swimming And Diving UW-Stevens Point suffered its first dual meet losses of the season as the Pointer men lost to UW-Green Bay, 139-93, and the women suffered a 154-84 loss to the Phoenix. The Pointer men and women both completed their dual meet seasons at 6-1 for the second straight year, having lost their only duals last year to UW-Green Bay as well. UW-Stevens Point will next compete at the WIAC championships Feb. 15-17 in Oshkosh. Randy Boelk (Embarrass, Minn.) won the 200 individual medley in 1:56.25 and the 100 backstroke in 52.06 seconds. Chris Hansman (Neenah) captured the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, while John Green (Madison) won the 50 freestyle in 22.04 seconds. On the women's side, Christine Sammons (Hastings, Minn.) was second in the 200 individual medley in 2:17.84 and second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.57. Indoor Track And Field The Pointer men's team won for the second straight week, claiming the Eastbay Invitational with 242 team points, easily defeating second place Carthage with 118 points. The UW-SP women's team had 114.33 points and finished third behind Carthage and UW-Eau Claire. On the men's side, the Pointers won the 4x200 relay in 1:32.16, the 4x400 relay in 3:20.92 and the distance medley relay in 10:09.57. Individual winners included Craig Gunderson (Waupaca) in the 400 meters in 49.38 seconds and Jesse Baumann (Verona) in the 800 in 1:57.42. Cory Lesperance (Sheboygan) won the long jump with a jump of 22 feet, 3.75 inches, Noah Eschenbach (Rosholt) claimed the weight throw with a throw of 56 feet, 4.5 inches and Aaron Carley (Lodi) captured the triple jump with a leap of 45 feet, 11.75 inches. Leah Juno (Brillion) was the lone Pointer women's winner in running events, setting a school record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:57.48. Jenny Todd (Schofield) won the long jump at 17 feet, 11.5 inches and was second in the 55 meters at 7.61 seconds. The distance medley relay also won with a time of 12:15.37. Complete Eastbay Invite results are available at: http://www.uwsp.edu/athletics/track/results/2001/FEB3.HTM/ Saturday, Feb. 10, the teams compete at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational. Wrestling The Pointers have a busy weekend scheduled as they host their final three dual matches of the season, including a doubleheader of WIAC opponents on Saturday. The Pointers are 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the WIAC. UW-SP will take on the nation's top-ranked team, Augsburg, at 7 p.m. Friday at the Quandt Fieldhouse before hosting UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire Saturday in Berg Gym. The River Falls meet begins at noon and the Eau Claire meet at 4 p.m. The Pointers recorded a big victory last week, toppling UW-Parkside, which was ranked 19th in the NCAA Division II by a score of 25-24. Brady Holtz (Oconto Falls) scored 10 points in the third period, including a near fall with four seconds left, to rally from a 3-1 deficit for a major decision and give the Pointers the needed team points in the final match. Mitch Gehring (Slinger) added a pin and Nathan Preslaski (Pulaski) also won for the Pointers. UW-Stevens Point placed fourth of six teams at the Luther Invitational over the weekend as the top three teams are all ranked in the top eight of the country. Holtz, Wes Kapping (Spring Valley) and Yan White (Antigo) all placed second at their respective weight classes.