University of Wisconsin - Stout

Blue Devils travel to UW-Eau Claire for semifinals

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: (February 27, 2008) - After Stout's (17-9) thrilling overtime win at home on Tuesday, they will be forced to go on the road and face off with number one seeded UW-Eau Claire (21-5), who is 11-1 at Zorn Arena.

WEBCASTS: The game will be carried in an audio webcast by WMEQ 880 AM radio, with Jake Bostrom on the play-by-play and Steve Schrantz on the color commentary.

THE BLUE DEVILS: After going 11-2 in their previous 13 games, the Blue Devils have hit a bit of an icy patch, going 3-3 in their last six. Two of those three losses came against each of the WIAC's co-champions, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater. The Blue Devils are led by Julia Hirssig (So, Rochester, Minn) who leads the team with 15.9 points and 8.9 rebounds. The sophomore slump has not applied to Hirssig, who leads the league in scoring and rebounds. Her shooting percentage of .654 (168-257) also ranks first in the league. Lindsey Geissler (Sr, Thorp) is averaging 8.8 points and is a league best 69-78 (.885) in her free throw attempts. Junior Charlee Edwards (Danbury) is averaging 7.9 points and Dani Boese (Jr, Alma) is averaging 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds. Stout posted a 23-6 overall record in 2006-07 and were 13-3 in the WIAC. Stout advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the third consecutive year, but were ousted in the first round by Simpson College, 91-86, last March. Stout was picked to finish fourth in the WIAC preseason poll.

BLUE DEVILS IN THE WIAC TOURNAMENT: Since the tournament started in 1999, Stout has never been seeded lower than fifth, and has earned four number one seeds, including the top seed in the past three seasons. The Blue Devils have never upset any team and have never been upset. Each of the four times they have been seeded first, they have ended up winning the tournament. Stout was ranked fifth once and lost to fourth-ranked River Falls in the first round. The other four seasons, Stout was ranked fourth. Each of those years, they defeated the five seed and then lost to the number one seed in the second round. The fourth-seeded Blue Devils will try to break the pattern this season and continue their 10-game winning streak in the WIAC Tournament, the longest streak in tournament history.

BLUE DEVILS' LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout hosted UW-La Crosse in the opening round of the WIAC Tournament. After nearly 45 minutes of basketball, it all came down to half a second. With 0.5 seconds left on the clock in overtime and the score tied 63-63, UW-Stout's Lindsey Geissler (Sr, Thorp) had to execute a pinpoint inbound pass to give her team a chance to win. Geissler hit an airborne Charlee Edwards (Jr, Danbury), who finished the alley-oop with a bank shot as time expired, giving Stout a 65-63 win at Johnson Fieldhouse in a WIAC Tournament quarterfinal game. With eight seconds remaining in regulation and La Crosse up by one, Julia Hirssig (So, Rochester, Minn.) was fouled and put on the line. She tied the game with the first free throw, but missed the second, giving the Eagles an opportunity to win it in regulation. Geissler took a charge on the Eagles' ensuing possession, which gave Stout a chance to win the game. Geissler then missed the first buzzer-beater attempt of the night, sending the game into overtime. With a minute and a half remaining in overtime, La Crosse's Sam Aspenson was sent to the line after a Hirssig foul. She hit two free throws, tying the game at 63. That would be the Eagles' final points of the night. Stout called a timeout with the ball with 15 seconds remaining and a broken play ended up in a jump ball with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. That set up Stout's second buzzer-beater win over La Crosse of the season. Hirssig finished the night with game highs in points and rebounds. She scored 20 points, all of which came after halftime, and pulled down 17 rebounds, which is her new career high. Edwards threw in 17 points and six rebounds to complement her late-game heroics. The Eagles had four players score at least 10 points, led by 18 from Mandy Stevens. Mackenzie Hunter and Lindsay Wahl each collected seven boards for La Crosse.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The top-seeded UW-Eau Claire Blugolds finished the season 21-5 overall, and 14-2 in conference play. As of Feb. 24, they were ranked 20th in the national polls. They lost just one game at home all season, and it was to a non-conference opponent. Eau Claire boasts the WIAC's best scoring defense along with the best rebounding defense in the league. If the Blugolds have a weakness, it is perhaps their inability to shoot consistently from three-point range or their lack of offensive rebounds. In both categories, they rank among the bottom three in the conference. The Blugolds' primary scoring threats come in senior Michelle Burns and junior Heidi Arciszewski. Burns leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 14.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Arciszewski follows her in both of those categories, scoring 13.8 points and grabbing 4.7 boards per outing. Junior guard Heather Witt completes Eau Claire's three-headed monster as she leads the team in assists, steals, three-point percentage and field goal percentage. Witt's 3.62 assists and 2.5 steals per game are both best in the WIAC.

THE BLUGOLDS LAST TIME OUT: The UW-Eau Claire women’s basketball team defeated UW-River Falls in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Quarterfinal by a score of 73-43 at Zorn Arena in Eau Claire. River Falls got on the board first with a three pointer, but it would be their last of the game. The Blugolds used an 18-0 run in the first half to take control of the game. The Blugolds took a 12 point lead, 31-19, into halftime. The Falcons started the half with a Kelli Hilt layup to cut the Blugold lead to 10, but the Blugolds answered with a Heidi Arciszewski jumper and a Heather Witt layup. Rachel Mueggenborg would get her fifth three pointer of the night at the 14:21 mark. Mueggenborg had her sixth three to get the Blugold lead to 19 points. The Blugold lead reached double digits with a Witt free throw. Mueggenborg tied her own record of seven threes with 9:11 left to play. The Blugolds then got five straight points from Kali Houselog, and Mueggenborg broke her own record of seven threes with her eighth of the night and made the score 64-35. Mueggenborg wasn’t done and had her ninth three pointer of the night with 4:29 left to play. The Blugolds got every player in the game and they closed the game with a 73-43 victory. Eau Claire shot 43 percent from the floor, 55 percent from three point range, and 73 percent from the free throw line. River Falls shot 34 percent from the floor, 7 percent from three point distance, and 67 percent from the line. Eau Claire outrebounded River Falls, 38-30 and had 14 offensive rebounds. River Falls was 1-14 from long distance compared to the last time these teams played when they were 12-22. The Blugolds were 11-20 from three point land. Mueggenborg led all scorers with 29 points, which ties her career high. She was 9-11 from the three point distance and also had two free throws. Arciszewski added 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Witt had 10 points, three assists, and two steals. Amanda Zenner was top rebounder with nine boards. Caitlin Hunstock led the Falcons with nine points.

THE SERIES: Eau Claire leads Stout in the all-time series, 47-23. Stout is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings between these WIAC rivals, but the Blugolds have taken three of the last five, including both of the teams' meetings this season. In the first matchup of the year - the first conference game of the season for both teams - Eau Claire controlled the first half of the game and took a 12 point lead into the locker rooms. Stout cut the lead down to just four, but could not contain Eau Claire's offense for long as they ran away with a 70-59 win. The Blugolds' Heather Witt led all scorers with 22 points, followed by Stout's Julia Hirssig, who put up 17. The teams met again for the last regular season game of the year. This was a closer game, but things fell Eau Claire's way again. The Blugolds built up as much as an eight point second half lead, then held off a Stout comeback for a 77-74 win. Heidi Arciszewski scored 30 points to lead the Blugolds and Michelle Burns added 22. Stout got 18 points from the WIAC's leading scorer, Julia Hirssig (So, Rochester, Minn). Hirssig recorded a double-double by pulling down 10 rebounds. Lindsey Geissler (Sr, Thorp) added 11 points for the Blue Devils. Geissler had a game-high eight assists.

JOHNSON FIELDHOUSE: The "cozy confines of Johnson Fieldhouse" has proven to be quite an advantage for the Blue Devils. Since the 2000-01 season, Stout has posted an 88-12 (.880) record at home. In conference games at Johnson Fieldhouse since 2000-01, Stout has a 57-8 (.877) record. Throw in the conference tournament games, and Stout has a 71-8 (.899) overall record against WIAC opponents at home.

THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Mark Thomas (372-189) is in his 21st year as the coach of the Blue Devils. Thomas has led his teams to 10 national playoff berths, nine times in the NCAA. A six-time WIAC coach of the year, the Blue Devils have won five conference titles and four conference tournament championships. His teams have twice been to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Thomas has the most wins of any WIAC women's coach. UW-Eau Claire : Tonja Englund is in her eighth season as the head women’s basketball coach at UW-Eau Claire. Englund has compiled an overall record of 164-59 during her tenure with the Blugolds. Prior to coming to Eau Claire, Englund was the head girls' coach at Roseville High School for six seasons. Englund earned her bachelor's degree in physical education and coaching in 1994 and then received her master's degree in athletic administration from St. Thomas in May of 1998.

WEBCASTS: All Blue Devil home games will be available on Live Stats and most home games will be video webcast live on Blue Devil Video, with Adam "Big Country" Lehnertz on the play-by-play and Scooter Aspen on the color commentary. WMEQ 880 AM radio, with Jake Bostrom and Steve Schrantz on the call, will broadcast all away conference games, all tournament games and all Saturday doubleheader games. iFan.tv will handle the webcasts for all Saturday doubleheaders, with Adam Lehnertz and Dave Fisher on the call. iFan asks for a very nominal donation to help defer their costs.

UP NEXT: The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of the UW-Whitewater/UW-Stevens Point game, Saturday, Mar. 1, in the WIAC championship game.