PARKLAND - Wisconsin-Stevens Point, ranked No. 10 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 national poll, showed its talent and depth on Wednesday night, wearing down the host Pacific Lutheran Lutes, 74-53, in a non-conference women's basketball game played in Olson Auditorium.
The Pointers, who improved their overall record to 9-2, shot 51 percent from the field and got at least two points from 11 of the 13 players who saw action. Britta Petersen, an All-America forward, led the way with 14 points, including 10 in a row late in the first half when the Pointers pulled away from the Lutes. Cassie Bandow, Christin Coles and Alyssa Olp all added nine points for UWSP.
The Lutes stayed in the game for as long as they did with their three-point shooting, going 8-for-20 in the game. Melissa Pixler hit a pair of threes and led her team with 14 points, while Jordan Westering was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc while scoring 12 points. Shelly Kilcup, who came into the game shooting 49 percent from three-point range, hit both of her attempts and finished with 10 points.
UW-Stevens Point looked like the only team to show up in the early going, scoring the first 11 points before the Lutes finally got on the board on Mandy Wall's layup about 4 1/2 minutes into the opening half. The Pointers led by as many as 13 points in the first half, the final time at 19-6 on Olp's jumper with 10:37 left in the half.
PLU scored six consecutive points, including a pair of baskets by Kilcup, to cut a 10-point deficit to four points at 24-20, but Stevens Point regained the momentum behind Petersen's 10 straight points and took a 34-24 advantage into the intermission.
The Lutes got as close as eight points, 36-28, on Mandy Wall's three-point basket early in the second half, but the Pointers held a double-digit lead the rest of the way. They took their first 20-point advantage at 65-45 on a pair of free throws by Olp, and they eventually led by 23 points before settling for the 21-point win.
The Pointers were 15-for-29 in the first half and 15-for-30 in the second half to finish with 51 percent accuracy from the field. They also dominated in rebounding, 42-28, with Josi Schultz getting six to lead in that category. While the Pointers finished with 18 assists on their 30 baskets, including five by Andrea Flease, they were a bit sloppy with the ball, committing 23 turnovers.
PLU shot 20-for-55 from the field, 36 percent, and also committed 25 turnovers in the game. The Lutes finished with 17 assists on their 20 baskets, with Mahlet Tingley leading the team with four.
Pacific Lutheran, now 3-7 for the season, returns to action on Friday, Jan. 7, when they face the Whitworth Pirates in Spokane in a Northwest Conference game.
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