Pointer notes Men's basketball: (20-5 overall, 11-5 WIAC): The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UW-SP) claimed a share of their third straight WIAC Championship with a pair of wins last week. It is the first time the Pointers have won three straight conference championships since they won six straight titles from 1982 to 1987. On Saturday, Feb. 16, the Pointers hit 11 of 17 three point attempts to crush UW-Superior 83-56. The Pointers made five straight threes to turn a 16-10 deficit into a 25-21 lead, and never trailed again. The Pointers had three players in double figures with Ron Nolting (Preston, Iowa) and Josh Iserloth (Plymouth) leading the way with 13 points each. Tamaris Releford (Beloit) hit all four of his three point attempts and finished with 12 points. The Pointers got four points in the last 22 seconds from Kalonji Kadima (Milwaukee) as UW-SP rallied to defeat UW-River Falls, 77-74, on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Kadima finished with a game-high 24 points, on four-for-six shooting from the three-point line. The Pointers are the second seed for the WIAC Tournament. The team defeated UW-Platteville, 72-57, in the first round of the WIAC Conference Tournament on Tuesday Feb. 19. The Pointers will face UW-Whitewater on Thursday, Feb. 21, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23. The WIAC Tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA, Division III Tournament. Women's basketball: UW-SP defeated UW-River Falls and UW-Superior to finish with the most regular season wins in school history with 23. The Pointers had already clinched the second seed for the WIAC Tournament. The Pointers traveled to UW-River Falls Wednesday, Feb. 13, and downed the Falcons 78-55. Kari Groshek (Rosholt) scored 19 points on eight-for-11 shooting. Tara Schmitt (Brookfield) contributed 13 points. Amie Schultz (Appleton) had eight points, five assists and five steals in the game. On Saturday, Feb. 16 the Pointers concluded the regular season with an 86-46 rout of UW-Superior. Andrea Kraemer (Waukesha) was a perfect seven-for-seven from the field and finished with 18 points. Groshek scored 16 points for the winners. Cassandra Heuer (Two Rivers) hit all five of her shots and finished with 13 points. The Pointers opened the WIAC Tournament by defeating UW-River Falls, 78-34, on Monday, Feb. 18. The team faced Oshkosh in the semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Berg Gym with the championship game set for Saturday, Feb. 23. The WIAC Tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. Men's hockey: (17-8-2 overall, 8-4-2 NCHA): UW-SP extended their unbeaten streak to nine games by sweeping the NCHA Quarterfinal series from UW-Stout two games to none. The Pointers advance to the NCHA Finals on March 1-2 in DePere. On Friday, Feb. 15, Mike Brolsma (Appleton) broke a 2-2 tie with 5:25 remaining, scoring his 18th goal of the year. The Pointers added two insurance goals to claim a 5-2 victory. Bryan Fricke (Edina, Minn.) scored two goals for the Pointers, while Bob Gould (Eagle River) made 15 saves for the victory. Saturday, Feb. 16, the Pointers raced out to a 5-2 lead after two periods. The Blue Devils then scored three times in the first 12 minutes of the third period to tie the game. However, Randy Enders (Madison) scored his second goal of the game with 3:29 to go, and Brolsma added an empty net goal to give the Pointers a 7-5 win. Gould turned back 21 shots. Women's hockey: (24-1 overall, 15-1 NCHA): The Pointers clinched the NCHA Regular Season Championship with a pair of convincing victories at UW-Eau Claire. The Pointers rolled over the Blugolds by scores of 7-1 on Friday, Feb. 15, and 10-2 on Saturday, Feb. 16. Jackie Schmitt (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) scored four goals on Friday to set a new school record for goals in a game. Schmitt scored twice in the first period and twice more in the third. Ashley Howe (Lakeville, Minn.) assisted on three of Schmitt's goals and scored one herself. Goalie Shannon Kasparek (South Lyon, Mich.) made 20 saves. On Saturday, Schmitt, Ann Ninnemann (Rosemount, Minn.) and Liz Goergen (Apple Valley, Minn.) each scored two goals to lead the Pointers. Diane Sawyer (Stillwater, Minn.) and Amanda Senn (Wisconsin Rapids) combined to make 14 saves for the Pointers. The Pointers will host the NCHA Playoffs next weekend at Willett Arena. The Pointers face UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 5 p.m. If they win, they will play the winner of the UW-Superior/UW-River Falls game in the championship at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24. Swimming and diving: (Men 5-0, Women 4-1 in WIAC duals): The Pointers will travel to Whitewater on Thursday, Feb. 21, for the WIAC Championships. Both the men's and women's team are considered strong contenders for the WIAC title. Track and field: The Pointer men and women both won the team titles at the Pointer Open Invitational No. 1 in Stevens Point. The men were the best of 10 teams, while the women were first out of six. Jesse LaLonde (Park Falls) and Chris Pfaffenroth (Oshkosh) placed first and second in the mile run, with LaLonde winning in 4:31.29. Ryan Shepard (Cornell) won the high jump, clearing 1.90 meters, and the triple jump covering 12.64 meters. Paul Steffeck (Amherst) won the shot put with a toss of 15.46 meters, and Noah Eschenbauch (Rosholt) claimed the weight throw with a mark of 17.23 meters. Tom Rutkowski (Greenfield) was first in the pole vault clearing 4.45 meters, and Cory Lesperance (Sheboygan) won the long jump with a leap of 6.71 meters. On the women's side, the Pointers swept the top four spots in the long jump, with Lisa Brownie (Wisconsin Rapids) claiming the title at 5.17 meters. Brownie also won the triple jump, going 10.65 meters. Megan Lundahl (Sturgeon Bay) won the weight throw with a toss of 14.99 meters. Becky Clarke (Antioch, Ill.) was first in the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 8.87 seconds, while Becky Lebak (Burlington) won the 3,000-meter run in 10:24.07. Jenny Todd (Wisconsin Rapids) won the 55-meter dash in a time of 7.56 seconds and Missy Kraemer (Elkhart Lake) won the 200-meter run in 27.17 seconds. Both Pointer teams will be home this weekend for the second of two Pointer Open Invitationals. Wrestling: (5-5 overall, 4-2 WIAC): The Pointers finished third at the WIAC Championships last weekend at UW-River Falls. The Pointers accumulated 110 points, to trail UW-La Crosse (147 points) and UW-Platteville (117 points). Yan White (Antigo) won both his matches to claim the conference title at 197 pounds. White was named the John Peterson Wrestler of the Meet, and is the only Pointer to qualify for the NCAA III Championships. Cody Koenig (Underwood, Iowa) at 165 pounds and Mark Burger (Merrill) in the heavyweight class came home with second-place finishes.