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Terre Haute

Coverage of the women's
NCAA Tournament

2002 season

UW-Stevens Point 64, Pacific Lutheran 47

Kari Groshek cuts the nets down after the West Sectional championship.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — UW-Stevens Point's improbable dream season will live to see another weekend.

Seven days after shocking four-time defending national champion Washington U. on its home court, the Pointers posted their second win on their home court in consecutive days to earn a berth in the NCAA Division III Final Four.

Kari Groshek scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half as UW-Stevens Point outscored Pacific Lutheran (23-4) 37-22 in the second half on its way to a 64-47 victory. The Pointers advance to face Marymount in the national semifinals Friday in Terre Haute, Ind. DePauw and St. Lawrence meet in the other semifinal.

"It's just wonderful to coach a group of kids who are so unselfish and don't worry about their stats," said Pointer coach Shirley Egner who credited the team's three seniors, Groshek, Amie Schultz and Carry Boehning.

"These three seniors are the ones who got us here," Egner stated. "We're on a mission, and I'm glad I'm on a mission with these three seniors.

"These three kids have done a tremendous job of leading by example."

Cassandra Heuer, who had 13 in the first half, and Andrea Kraemer added 15 points apiece for the Pointers (28-3) who picked up their season-record 28th win and will make their first trip to the Final Four since winning the national championship in 1987.

The Final Four appearance for UW-Stevens Point comes just two seasons after finishing 11-14 and seventh place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Neither team led by more than five points in a closely contested first half. Pacific Lutheran held a 21-18 lead with 3:41 remaining in the first half when UW-Stevens Point went on a 9-2 run to take a 27-23 lead behind six points from Heuer.

With the Pointers leading 27-25 at halftime, Egner stressed to her team that the outcome would come down to who wanted it more.

"We talked about if we could go hard for 20 minutes, we would go to the 'big dance,'" Egner said. "Things just started to go our way and I have to believe it started on the defensive end."

UW-Stevens Point opening the second half on a 16-6 run over the first 8:24 to take a 43-31 lead. Following a 3-pointer by PLU's Katie Springer, the Pointers used a 10-1 run to stretch their lead to 53-35 at the 6:20 mark.

Pacific Lutheran hit just seven of 24 shots in the second half and could never mount a serious charge with its shots not falling.

"I thought we outplayed them in the first half and we were down two," Lutes' coach Gil Rigell said. "In the second half we just didn't hit our shots. They got into a flow, one that we never did get into."

With the victory, the Pointers became just the second team in three seasons to advance to the Final Four by winning on their home court, joining Washington U., which accomplished the feat in 2000.

For Schultz, being able to cut down the nets in her final game at Berg Gymnasium was a sweet feeling.

"It was an awesome feeling; an incredible experience," Schultz said. "It was great to be able to do it on our home floor."

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