Pointer notes Men's basketball (16-5 overall, 7-5 WIAC): The Pointers finished a crucial three-game road trip by defeating the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 73-66, on Saturday, Feb. 2. The win puts the Pointers alone in fourth place with three of their remaining four games at home. The UW-Stevens Point (UW-SP) trailed the Pioneers by 11, but used a 21-4 run spanning over halftime to claim a 39-31 lead they never relinquished. Freshman Jason Kalsow (Huntley, Ill.) had his second-straight game with 20 or more points, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Kalonji Kadima (Milwaukee) returned to the starting line-up and scored 16 points. On Wednesday, Jan. 30, the Pointers lost at UW-La Crosse, 84-72. The Pointers fell behind by nine at halftime, and could get no closer than four points the rest of the way. Kalsow led the way with a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds. UW-SP, which is ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III, was scheduled to face UW-Eau Claire at home on Wednesday, Feb. 6, before traveling to a big showdown with second-place UW-Oshkosh on Saturday, Feb. 9. Women's basketball (19-2 overall, 10-2 WIAC): The Pointers moved into sole possession of second place in the WIAC with a pair of wins last week. The Pointers still trail UW-Stout which leads the league with a mark of 12-1. Saturday, Feb. 2, sophomore Tara Schmitt (Brookfield) scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Pointers to an 80-65 victory over UW-Platteville. The Pointers began the game with a 13-4 run and held off many challenges by the Pioneers. Kari Groshek (Rosholt) and Cassandra Heuer (Two Rivers) chipped in with 12 points and 10 points respectively. Andrea Kraemer (Waukesha) had seven assists. On Wednesday, Jan. 30, the Pointers made 10 three-point baskets, their highest single game total in 12 years, to crush UW-La Crosse, 93-63. Heuer scored 17 points and Groshek added 15 points, eight rebounds and eight steals. This week, the 10th-ranked Pointers have a pair of showdowns with two of the WIAC's top teams. The Pointers were scheduled to travel to UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and return home for a game with UW-Oshkosh at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9. Men's hockey (14-8-1 overall, 7-4-1 NCHA): The Pointers maintained sole possession of third place in the NCHA by picking up a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over Lake Forest, and a 4-4 tie with St. Norbert College. The Pointers have 15 points, and trail Friday, Feb. 5's, opponent UW-Superior by one point in the standings. UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire are close behind the Pointers with 14 and 13 points respectively. The Pointers trailed Lake Forest, 3-1, midway through the second period, but tallied a goal late in the second and three more in the third to win the game. Joel Strassman (Madison) tied the game with 15:21 remaining, and Zenon Kochan (Madison) scored the game winner with 6:04 to play. Kochan was the hero on Saturday, Feb. 2, as well. Kochan scored the game-tying goal with 7:31 to play off an assist from Ryan Kirchhoff (Fairway, Kan.) to force a 4-4 tie with St. Norbert. The Pointers trailed, 4-2, going into the third period, but Kirchoff scored his second goal of the weekend to cut the Green Knights' lead to one. The Pointers can clinch home-ice advantage for the NCHA Quarterfinal series with two games this weekend. Friday, Feb. 8, the team will play UW-Superior at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Feb. 9, it faces St. Scholastica, also at 7:30 p.m. Women's hockey (20-1 overall, 11-1 NCHA): The Pointers extended their shutout streak to five games last Friday, Feb. 1, night in a 2-0 victory over UW-River Falls. On Saturday, Feb. 2, a Pointer opponent finally found the back of the net after 363 scoreless minutes, but the Pointers still claimed the victory over the Falcons, 2-1. Ashley Howe (Lakeville, Minn.) scored an unassisted goal in the second period, and Emily Teachout (Edina, Minn.) added an empty net goal in the Friday, Feb 1, win. Diane Sawyer (Stillwater, Minn.) made 13 saves and improved her season record to 9-0. On Saturday, Jackie Schmitt (Buffalo Grove) scored her eighth game-winning goal of the season in the second period to give the Pointers a 2-1 victory. Teachout scored her 13th goal of the season in the first period. Goaltender Shannon Kasparek (South Lyon, Mich.) moved to 11-1 on the year, making 18 saves. UW-SP, ranked fifth in the nation, will travel to seventh-ranked UW-Superior this weekend for a key NCHA series. The winner of the series will have the inside track to host the NCHA Playoffs as both teams are tied for first place. The teams will play Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9. Both games are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Swimming and diving (Men 5-0, Women 4-1 in WIAC duals): The Pointers swimming and diving teams split a dual meet with UW-La Crosse on Friday, Feb. 1. The Pointer men downed the Eagles, 140-101, while the women fell, 155-82. Erik Johnson (Albert Lea, Minn.) was a double individual winner for the Pointer men, taking both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle events. Johnson was also part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team. Aaron Marshall (Cambridge, Minn.), Eric Sands (South St. Paul, Minn.) and Scott Bowe (Austin, Minn.) gave the Pointers a one-two-three finish in the 50-yard freestyle. On the women's side, Christine Sammons (Hastings, Minn.) and Katie Siebert (Stevens Point) finished first and second in the 200-yard breaststroke. Alyssa Bartz (Beloit) won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.03 seconds. The 400-yard medley relay team also won. On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Pointers traveled to face Division I opponent UW-Green Bay. The Pointers dropped both meets, with the men losing 143-92 and the women falling 153-74. Johnson was the only Pointer to win an event, taking the 100-yard freestyle in 46.99 seconds and the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.78. The Pointers will take a week off from competition as they prepare for the WIAC Championships later this month. Track and field: Both the Pointer men and women won team titles as they hosted the Eastbay/Pointer Invitational over the weekend. The women were first of seven teams with 209 points, while the men were first of nine teams with 267 points. Becky Clarke (Antioch, Ill.) and Bridgette Lorrigan placed one-two in the 55-meter hurdles. Nicki Merten (Fond du Lac) and Lindsey Fowler (Verona) both achieved provisional qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships in the weight throw. Merten was first with a throw of 15.17 meters, and Fowler was second at 13.98 meters. Jody Butkowski won the triple jump with a NCAA provisional qualifying jump of 11.29 meters. For the men, Noah Eschenbauch (Rosholt) won the weight throw and Luke Hilgers (Nekoosa) was second, both with NCAA provisional qualifying throws. Hilgers was also second in the shot put with a provisional qualifying toss. Andrew Schliepp (Wild Rose) won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.99 seconds, and Tom Rutkowski (Greenfield) claimed the pole vault, eclipsing the provisional qualifying mark with a vault of 4.60 meters. The Pointers will travel to Kenosha on Saturday, Feb. 9, for the WIAC/CCIW Dual. Wrestling (3-4 overall, 2-2 WIAC): The 24th-ranked Pointers claimed the championship of the UW-Eau Claire Invitational over the weekend. The Pointers had 87.5 team points to outdistance Augsburg which had 70.5. UW-La Crosse was third with 69 points. Nathan Preslaski (Pulaski) and Yan White (Antigo) both claimed individual championships. Preslaski defeated UW-La Crosse's Tade Kemnitz 7-1 to win the 157-pound weight class. White, ranked fourth in the nation at 197 pounds, pinned UW-Eau Claire's Nick Campbell to win his title. Jared Esala (Ashland), Joel Burdick (Racine), Cody Koenig (Underwood) and Jason Bavlnka (Germantown) all placed second in their respective weight classes. Wednesday, Jan. 30, the Pointers lost a dual match to Division II powerhouse UW-Parkside, 27-9. Bavlnka claimed the only victory on the mat for the Pointers winning 3-2. The team next travels to Augsburg College (Minn.) on Friday, Feb. 8, and will compete in a pair of events, at UW-River Falls at noon and at UW-Eau-Claire at 4 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 9.