Pointer women's team beats Whitewater; men falter Lately, every game for the Pointers men's basketball team has been a showdown in the WIAC standings. Tuesday was no exception, as the Pointers fell to UW-Whitewater, 66-62, at the Quandt Fieldhouse, dropping them to 5-5 in the WIAC and 13-5 overall. The Warhawks are 7-3 in the WIAC and 14-4 overall. The Warhawks jumped out to a 21-8 lead and never trailed again, holding a 35-24 lead at halftime. UW-SP went 6:37 without a point in the second half, missing 10 straight shots, but then the Pointers made 10 of their next 11 shots. The Pointers trailed, 49-31, with 10 minutes left and closed the lead to two points four times, but the Warhawks' Andre Hicks hit jumpers on three of the ensuing possessions, holding off the Pointers. Senior Brent Larson (Ladysmith) led the Pointers with 15 points and freshman Neal Krajnik (Manitowoc) added 13. Entering the game, the Warhawks were tied with UW-River Falls for first place at 6-3, while the Pointers and three others were all 5-4, making six teams within one game of first place in the standings. The Pointers had a chance to join the tie atop the standings Saturday night, but fell in overtime at UW-Stout, 95-89. Larson scored a career high 24 points, but it wasn't enough in the road loss. Women's Basketball The Pointers climbed back into the WIAC title chase with a pair of conference victories last week over UW-Whitewater and UW-Stout. The Pointers improved to 6-4 in the WIAC and 14-4 overall with a 63-53 victory over Whitewater. The score was tied 26-26 at halftime and the Warhawks went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 36-30 lead. The Pointers held the Warhawks without a field goal from 8:15 left in the game until 1:20 remained. After trailing, 45-44, with 6:25 left, the Pointers went on an 11-2 run over the next five minutes. Freshman Cassandra Heuer (Two Rivers) scored 13 second half points and had her consecutive free-throw streak snapped at 20. She finished with 16 points, the same total collected by Junior Carry Boehning (Auburndale). They were the only Pointers in double figures. The Pointers were solid on both ends of the court in an 82-60 win over UW-Stout on Saturday. The Pointers are beginning a stretch of three straight road games. Junior Kari Groshek (Rosholt) scored 22 points in the victory over UW-Stout. Freshman Tara Schmitt (Waukesha) added 13 points. Men's Hockey The Pointers moved into a four-way tie for second place in the NCHA race with a 4-3 victory over Lake Forest Tuesday night at Willett Arena. They are 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the NCHA. Jim Westergaarad, Nick Glander, Matt Interbartolo and Mikhail Salienko scored the goals for the Pointers. Lake Forest closed the gap to the final score with 30 seconds left in the contest. A crucial weekend lies ahead for the Pointers with two key games in the NCHA race. The Pointers face rematches with UW-Superior and St. Scholastica over the weekend. Last weekend, UW-Stevens Point beat St. Scholastica, 7-0, on Friday, before falling to UW-Superior, 4-1, Saturday. Senior Pierre Nicolet (Anchorage, Alaska) scored a hat trick in the win over St. Scholastica as the Pointers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two periods. Nicolet scored goals in each period and on power play, shorthanded and even-strength situations. Interbartolo scored the lone goal in Saturday's loss to UW-Superior, extending his point-scoring streak to nine games. His second period goal with 42 seconds left tied the game at 1-1, but the Yellowjackets broke the tie with eight seconds left in the period and added a shorthanded goal in the third period for the win. Women's Hockey The Pointers remained red-hot with a weekend sweep of Lake Forest by scores of 3-2 in overtime and 4-1, extending their winning streak to five straight games. UW-SP has now won seven of its last eight contests and rests comfortably in second place in the NCHA with a non-conference series ahead at St. Thomas this weekend. The Pointers have 15 points in the standings, while first place UW-Superior has 18 points and third place UW-River Falls has 10 points. The victories last weekend clinched UW-Stevens Point a berth in the first-ever NCHA postseason tournament on March 3-4 in River Falls. Nicole Busse (Stevens Point) scored just 11 seconds into overtime on Friday night as the Pointers squeaked out a victory, despite outshooting the Foresters 45-17. Busse scored the first two goals of Saturday's win, including the game-winner that broke a 1-1 tie with 18:05 left in the third period. Naomi Morris (Onalaska) had four assists for the weekend and has now scored points in eight straight games. Diane Sawyer (Stillwater, Minn.) made 30 saves in Saturday's win. Swimming And Diving The Pointer men captured the team title at the "Get to the Point" Invite and the women finished second in the 11-team invitational. UW-SP now focuses on continuing its dual meet success with a pair of WIAC contests this weekend. Saturday's dual with UW-River Falls marks the Pointers' final home meet of the season. Randy Boelk (Embarrass, Minn.) won three individual events to lead the men's team in the Point Invite. The senior won the 200 individual medley in 1:56.13, the 100 backstroke in 52.67 seconds and the 200 backstroke in 1:55.95. In addition to the winning 200 freestyle relay, other men's individual winners included Wyatt Jansen (Aurora, Ill.) in the 200 butterfly in 2:01.88, Anthony Harris (St. Paul, Minn.) in the 100 butterfly in 53.17 seconds and John Green (Madison) in the 50 freestyle in 21.79 seconds. The women also won the 200 freestyle relay and received individual titles from Christine Sammons (Hastings, Minn.) in the 200 breaststroke in 2:29.09 and Jen Randall (Wisconsin Rapids) in the 50 freestyle in 25.25 seconds. Complete results from the Point Invite are available at: http://www.uwsp.edu/athletics/. Track And Field UW-SP hosts the first of four home indoor meets this season with a quadrangular Saturday at the Multi-Activity Center. The Pointer women participated at Friday's UW-River Falls Open and were led by Jody Butkowski (Stevens Point), who won the triple jump with a leap of 11.04 meters. Jenny Todd (Wisconsin Rapids) was second in the long jump at 5.21 meters and also finished third in the 55 meter dash in 7.64 seconds. Bridget Frederick (Michigan City, Ind.) was third in the 800 meters in 2:29.07 and April Halkoski (Schofield) was third in the 3,000 meters in 10:48.48. No team scores were kept at the eight-team meet. Wrestling The Pointers defeated Lawrence, 25-21, Tuesday after falling 34-3 to fourth-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) on Saturday. UW-SP, which is ranked 14th in the latest NCAA Division III rankings, had pins from Brady Holtz (Oconto Falls), Yan White (Antigo) and Mitch Gehring (Slinger) in the win over Lawrence. Nathan Preslaski also picked up a decision. Wes Kapping (Spring Valley), who is ranked seventh in the nation at 174 pounds, was the lone winner in the match at Wartburg. The Pointers have a dual WIAC match against UW-Whitewater Saturday. UW-SP defeated UW-Whitewater earlier this season at the NCAA Division III duals.