Pointer women beat Eau Claire; men lose UW-Eau Claire scored the last eight points to defeat UW-Stevens Point's men's basketball team Wednesday, Jan. 3, 70-60. The score was tied 59-59 with 2:46 when Todd Marks hit a three-pointer for the Blugolds to spark the victory. Josh Iserloth led the Pointers with 19 points and Joe Zuiker and Rich Steif added 12 each. The score was tied eight times in the game, but the Pointers' last lead of the game was 8-6. The loss dropped the Pointers to 2-2 in the WIAC and 10-2 overall, while Eau Claire is 3-2 in the WIAC and 9-4 overall. The loss ended a 14-game winning streak at home for the Pointers and was the first win for Eau Claire in the Quandt Fieldhouse since Feb. 11, 1994. The Pointers travel to UW-Platteville Saturday, their first visit there since they snapped the Pioneers' 96-game home regular season winning streak last season. The Pointers became the first team to sweep UW-Platteville since 1991. UW-Eau Claire or UW-Platteville have appeared in the past three national title games. The fifth-ranked Pointers defeated Wisconsin Lutheran Saturday night, 75-49, on the strength of a big second half. Joe Zuiker had 14 points and Josh Iserloth scored 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Pointers outscored the Warriors 46-27 in the second half. Women's Basketball UW-SP's Tara Schmitt hit two free throws with four seconds left to break 81-81 tie and give the Pointers an 83-81 victory over UW-Eau Claire in Eau Claire Wednesday. The victory was the Pointers first win over Eau Claire since 1994, snapping a 13-game losing streak while also ending Eau Claire's 21-game WIAC win streak. The Pointers trailed, 58-43, with 12:45 left but came on strong at the end. The Pointers Kari Groshek led the way with 26 points, 19 of them in the second half. Carry Boehning added 19 points and Cassandra Heuer had 12. The Pointers are now 10-2 overall and 2-2 in the WIAC. UW-Stevens Point pulled out a thrilling 62-61 win over Carroll late Friday night in the Sentry Classic in a game that ended at 11:30 p.m. The Pointers rallied from a 10-point deficit with six minutes left by outscoring the Pioneers 12-0 over the next four minutes. Carroll regained the lead, but Nikki Seaman hit a three-pointer with under one minute left to give the Pointers a 61-59 lead. Carroll cut the lead to one point and missed a shot at the buzzer as the Pointers escaped with the victory. Carry Boehning had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Pointers. The Pointers finished with an 8-0 record against non-conference foes. The Pointers host UW-Platteville Saturday, Jan. 6, at 3 p.m. in a WIAC contest. Men's Hockey The Pointers (8-4 overall, 2-1 NCHA) return to action after a three-week layoff with last season's NCAA Division III runner-up St. Thomas in a non-conference game on Friday, Jan. 5. UW-Stevens Point, which is ranked sixth in the Division III rankings, will host St. Mary's the following afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Willett Arena. Women's Hockey The Pointers (5-4-1 overall, 3-2-1 NCHA) continues their break this week before returning to action with a rare Monday-Tuesday series in Minnesota. The Pointers are in third place in the five-team NCHA and will travel to St. Benedict and St. Olaf in non-conference games on Jan. 8-9. Swimming and Diving The swimmers are currently enjoying much warmer weather than any of the other Pointer sports in the midst of their two-week training trip to Hawaii. They are taking part in the annual Rainbow Classic this week and the results were unavailable at press time. The Pointer men are ranked fourth in the country and the women are ranked eighth and are off next week. Wrestling The wrestlers just returned from the warm weather after finishing 10th of 24 teams at the Florida Duals in Orlando. Four wrestlers went undefeated for the weekend as the Pointers finished with a 3-2 record. Chet Zdanczewicz (Avoca, Wis.) at 141 pounds, Nathan Preslaski (Pulaski) at 157 pounds, Ben Kureck (Delafield) at 184 pounds and Yan White (Antigo) at 197 pounds all went 5-0 for the Pointers, who are now 4-3 overall and ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III rankings. UW-Stevens Point opened with a 22-17 loss to 14th ranked John Carroll (Ohio) as Preslaski and Kureck each recorded major decisions. Wes Kapping (Spring Valley) also picked up a victory at 174 pounds and finished 4-1 for the two days. The Pointers rallied with a 23-15 win over Simpson (Iowa) as 133-pounder Brady Holtz (Oconto Falls) recorded the team's only pin of the tournament. UW-Stevens Point beat UW-Whitewater 22-13 and then topped 24th ranked Buena Vista (Iowa) 26-18. The Pointers dropped the ninth-place match to 18th ranked Ohio Northern 20-19 as the Polar Bears earned 12 of their 20 points due to two Pointer forfeits. The Pointers next match is at home on Wednesday, Jan. 17, against UW-Oshkosh at 6 p.m. in the Berg Gym.