Men's basketball (12-2 overall, 3-2 WIAC): The Pointers picked up a pair of WIAC wins last week by beating the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 72-62, and UW-Platteville, 78-71, in overtime. Wednesday's win was UW-Stevens Point's first victory in Eau Claire since 1994 and Saturday's win was the Pointers' fifth-straight regular season victory over UW-Platteville.
This week, the Pointers take on two squads that are also 3-2 in the WIAC standings. On Wednesday, Jan. 9, the Pointers were scheduled to play, UW-River Falls, which is 10-3 overall, while UW-Oshkosh brings an 11-2 mark into the game Saturday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Quandt Fieldhouse.
Josh Iserloth (Plymouth) scored 25 points in 22 minutes in the win over UW-Eau Claire. He also had 22 points against UW-Platteville and had a stretch where he connected on 14 of 15 three-point shot attempts.
Neal Krajnik (Manitowoc) had a career-high 17 points at Eau Claire and added six assists against UW-Platteville. Jason Kalsow (Huntley, Ill.) had double-doubles in both games with 10 points and 14 rebounds against UW-Eau Claire and 12 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday.
Women's basketball (13-1 overall, 4-1 WIAC): UW-SP is coming off a pair of victories over both participants of last year's WIAC championship game and now prepares for a showdown at first place UW-Oshkosh at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12. The Pointers were also scheduled to play UW-River Falls Wednesday, Jan. 9.
Last week, the Pointers used a pair of stifling defensive efforts to beat UW-Eau Claire, 62-44, and UW-Platteville, 57-41. UW-SP forced 37 turnovers against UW-Eau Claire and limited UW-Platteville to 19 percent field goal shooting.
Andrea Kraemer (Waukesha) led the Pointers with 14 points against UW-Eau Claire and also had six points and nine rebounds at Platteville. Cassandra Heuer (Two Rivers) had 11 points against UW-Eau Claire and six points and eight rebounds on Saturday. Kari Groshek (Rosholt) was the leading scorer at UW-Platteville with 12 points.
UW-River Falls was 8-6 overall going into Wednesday's contest, while UW-Oshkosh is 12-2 overall and 5-0 in the WIAC.
Men's Hockey (8-7 overall, 3-3 NCHA): The Pointers split a pair of games last weekend against Minnesota opponents, beating St. Mary's, 5-2, on Friday, Jan. 4, and losing to St. Thomas, 5-4, on Saturday, Jan. 5. This week, UW-SP plays its last two non conference games of the season with a home-and-home series against Marian College of Fond du Lac. On Friday, Jan. 11, the team plays at Marian at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Jan. 12, the game is at 7:30 p.m. at Willett Arena.
Zenon Kochan (Madison) scored the first two goals against St. Mary's and Bob Gould (Eagle River) made 28 saves to become the third goalie in UW-SP history to win 40 career games. Freshman Ryan Kirchhoff (Fairway, Kan.) scored goals in both games for the Pointers.
Three former Stevens Point Area Senior High School players scored the first goals of their collegiate careers this weekend as Adam Kostichka scored against St. Mary's and Nick Molski and David Lee both scored against St. Thomas.
Women's hockey (12-1 overall, 5-1 NCHA): UW-SP returned to action from the holiday break on Sunday, Jan. 6, and claimed a 3-1 victory over St. Benedict at Wisconsin Rapids. Freshman Jackie Schmitt (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) scored two goals, including her national-best seventh game-winning goal of the season. It marked the sixth-straight Pointer victory that Schmitt has scored the game-winner.
Liz Goergen (Apple Valley, Minn.) also scored for the Pointers and Emily Teachout (Edina, Minn.) had two assists. Shannon Kasparek (South Lyon, Mich.) made 15 saves in goal.
The Pointers are now 7-0 against Minnesota competition this season. The team was scheduled to play Wednesday, Jan. 9, against St. Olaf in Faribault, Minn. UW-SP returns to NCHA play with two games at defending league champion UW-River Falls. The first game is at 7:05 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, and the second game is set for 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12.
Swimming and diving (both 3-0 in WIAC duals): Christine Sammons (Hastings, Minn.) placed third in the 200 breaststroke to lead the Pointers at the Aileene Soule Classic last week in Honolulu.
The meet featured primarily Division I schools such as Wisconsin, Brigham Young, Michigan State, Hawaii and Iowa State. No team scores were kept.
Sammons posted a time of 2:28.10 and Katie Siebert (Stevens Point) was seventh in the same event at 2:37.24. Sammons also placed seventh in the 200 individual medley in 2:20.14 and was a member of the 400 medley relay that finished fourth in 4:11.76. Alissa Bartz (Beloit), Mary Thone (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Amy Rockwell (Zeeland, Mich.) joined Sammons on the relay.
Melanie Luke (Stillwater, Minn.) was fourth in the 1000 freestyle in 11:50.41. Rockwell teamed with Jen Randall (Wisconsin Rapids), Jean Hughes (Brooklyn Center, Minn.) and Erica Janssen (Oshkosh) on the 400 freestyle relay that was also fourth with a time of 3:50.73.
The men's team was led by the 400 freestyle relay team of Erik Johnson (Albert Lea, Minn.), Anthony Harris (St. Paul, Minn.), Aaron Marshall (Cambridge, Minn.) and Scott Bowe (Austin, Minn.) that finished fifth in 3:16.37.
The teams are next in action at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at UW-River Falls.
Wrestling (0-3 overall, 0-2 WIAC): UW-SP is off this week after suffering a defeat to another highly-ranked opponent. The Pointers are coming off a 35-3 loss to No. 2 ranked Wartburg and are now 0-3 overall with losses to the second-, third- and 17th-ranked teams in the country.
Freshman Cody Koenig (Underwood, Iowa) was the Pointers' lone winner with a 10-4 victory at 165 pounds. Freshman Justin Geitner (Kaukauna) also had a solid performance with a tight 4-1 loss to Wartburg's Tony Ganas, who is ranked sixth in the country at 149 pounds.
The Pointers return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 16, with a WIAC dual match at UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m.