Box Score

Stevens Point 58, Superior 56

The UW-Superior women's basketball team had a chance to make a little more history Saturday afternoon when they traveled to Stevens Point to face the Pointers in their regular season finale.

A victory would not only ensure the top-seed for next week's WIAC Tournament, it would also give the Yellowjackets their first outright league title in program history. Unfortunately, a last-second jumper by UW-Stevens Point's Jamie Destache provided the winning margin in a tightly contested 58-56 Pointers' win.

The loss came despite another strong game from Sally Linzmeier (Valders, Wis./Valders), who finished with a game-high 19 points on the afternoon.

UW-Stevens Point (13-12 overall, 8-8 WIAC) started fast in the opening half, jumping out to a 12-6 lead on two free throws by Joann Wolfenberg with 14:05 remaining in the opening half.

The Pointers continued to hold the edge for the remainder of the frame, taking their largest lead at 31-18 on a three-pointer by Lauren Anklam before a free throw and inside score by Carmen Watson (Milwaukee, Wis./James Madison) over the final minute brought UW-Superior to within 31-21 at the intermission.

UW-Superior (18-7, 12-4) rebounded in the second half, scoring 20 of the first 29 points of the frame to take a 41-40 lead after a layup by Amelia Leger (Andover, Minn./Andover) with 8:49 remaining in regulation.

The Pointers came right back to take a 48-43 lead on two free throws by Kaitlyn Jacobs with 5:10 showing on the clock.

UW-Superior refused to back down, rallying back to even matters 52-52 on a clutch three-point shot from Allyssa Lindberg (Marquette, Mich./Marquette) before Linzmeier's lay-in with 1:18 remaining in the second half gave the Yellowjackets a late lead at 54-52.

But the Pointers got two more free throws from Jacobs on the next possession for again even matters, this time at 54-54, in the final 55 seconds.

From there, the two sides traded free throws before Destache finished things off by knocking down an 18-foot jumper with just 0.2 seconds on the clock, sealing the win for UW-Stevens Point.

Along with Linzmeier's 19 points, the Yellowjackets got 11 points from Brynn Liljander (Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti).

UW-Stevens Point was paced by Ali Miceli with 15 points while Anklam finished with 11 points.

The Yellowjackets will host the WIAC Tournament Semifinals Friday at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can be heard live on 91.3 FM with Matt Johnson and Yellowjacket men's basketball team head coach Paul Eberhardt on the call.