By TYLER DRUMMOND
of The Gazette
As the men gear up for the NCAA Division III tournament, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UW-SP) women are doing so as well. After dispatching of Oshkosh, 91-77, in the WIAC tournament championship, the women have secured a spot in the tournament.
"Last year we didn't have a good enough record to get into the tournament as an at-large bid, so this year we wanted to take the decision of whether we make it or not out of the committee's hands," said head coach Shirley Egner. "It's the goal we've been working towards all year and it feels great!"
The women will host the winner of Ripon and Wheaton (Ill.) at 3 p.m. at the Berg Gym on Saturday, March 6.
The Pointers earned a first round bye and a number one seed in their regional, and are already scouting both teams.
"I've got tapes of both teams and I'll go and watch the Wheaton-Ripon game," said Egner. Though Egner sees the Pointers as a very talented basketball team, she thinks the team's toughest opponent this post-season could be themselves.
"If we play really good, tough basketball we're a hard team to beat," said Egner. "But when we start turning the ball over, not playing defense and not rebounding, we have a tendency to beat ourselves."
Even though the Pointers have accomplished all of their goals up to this point, they still have one left, and that's to win a national championship.
"I like our bracket and I'm not really worried about anybody else," said Egner. "We take it one game at a time."
Egner views playing as a team, one cohesive unit, as important, but some athletes for the Pointers are going to have to step up if they intend to go far in the post-season. Amanda Nechuta, the WIAC Player of the Year, will have to have some big games for the Pointers to advance. Nechuta, a junior from Mosinee, averaged 19 points per game this season and has been the leading scorer for the Pointers in 19 of their 28 games. In those contests, the Pointers are 17-2, with one of the losses coming in overtime to Oshkosh, 75-74, so it's important for Nechuta to play well.
Cassandra Heuer, Tara Schmitt and Andrea Kraemer are also vital parts of the Pointer offense. All four of the previously mentioned players have big game experience, as they were part of the 2002 Pointer squad that won the National Championship.
"These are all hard working kids," said Egner. "Anybody who comes out to watch us will see a pretty exciting basketball game."