RIVER FALLS, Wis. – Taylor Douglas scored a career-high 21 points off the bench but No. 18 UW-River Falls outscored the No. 16 UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team 28-13 in the fourth quarter to defeat the Pointers 77-67 on Saturday afternoon at the Karges Center.
Douglas shot 6-for-12 from the field, including two three-pointers, and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line and surpassed her previous career-high of 13 in the first half alone. Her play helped UW-Stevens Point (16-5, 7-3 WIAC) open up 12-point lead in the third quarter before UW-River Falls (17-4, 8-2 WIAC) rallied in the fourth to move into a first-place tie with UW-Oshkosh.
The Pointers are game behind the Falcons and Titans with four regular-season games remaining. UW-Stevens Point was seeking its second win over a top-25 team this week and is now 6-4 against ranked teams this season.
UW-Stevens Point led by 12 twice in the third quarter with the second coming on a Lauren Anklam three-pointer with 3:58 remaining in the frame. However, UW-River Falls held the Pointers to one point the rest of the quarter and closed to within five, 54-49, headed to the fourth on an Ali Clark three-point play in the final minute.
The Falcons continued their run early in the fourth, beginning the quarter on an 8-1 run to take their first lead since the 3:48 mark of the second quarter at 57-55 on a three by Taylor Karge. The Pointers quickly reclaimed the lead on a pair of free throws by Katy Heine inside the final six minutes but UW-River Falls scored the next nine points to go ahead 66-59 with 3:34 left. The Falcons led by at least five the rest of the way.
Brynn Liljander keyed the decisive run with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer as part of her season-high 26 point-performance. Liljander was 6-for-13 from the field, 4-for-8 from behind the arc and 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.
In addition to Douglas' career-high 21 points, Anklam hit 3-of-5 three-pointers on her way to 11 points before fouling out. Eleven UWSP players scored in the game and the Pointers held a 35-16 advantage in bench scoring.
Karge and Clark both joined Liljander in double figures for UW-River Falls. Karge was 7-for-14 from the field for 16 points and six rebounds, while Clark pitched in with 12 points and seven boards off the bench. The Falcons shot 46.3 percent (25-for-54) from the field, 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from three-point range and 69.0 percent (20-for-29) from the free-throw line.
UW-Stevens Point shot 50.0 percent (14-for-28) from the field in the first half and took a five-point lead at the break behind 16 first-half points from Douglas. The Pointers cooled off in the second half to finish at 44.0 percent (22-for-50) and shot 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) from behind the arc and 16-for-25 (64.0 percent) at the line.
The Pointers look to get back in the win column by hosting UW-Stout on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in the team's Play4Kay game at Berg Gym.