WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Blue Devils (1-1, 0-0) will finally get a chance to take on NCAA Division III opponents after a week of playing Division I and II teams. Stout will be at Northwestern College (2-0), Tuesday, Nov. 22, then will begin a four-game homestand when they host Northland College (0-1), Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. Last week: The Blue Devils split a pair of games with NCAA Division II foes at the Pepsi Tip-Off at Minnesota State, Mankato over the weekend. The Blue Devils defeated host Mankato, 89-86 in overtime, Nov. 18, and lost to No. 10 ranked St. Cloud State, 92-75, Nov. 19. Player of the week: Kelsey Duoss, Jr, Janesville, Wis. (Clinton)

MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Blue Devils (1-1, 0-0) will be at Macalester College (0-1), Monday, Nov. 21, then get nearly a week off before hosting Northland College (0-1), Sunday, Nov. 27 at approximately 3 p.m. Last week: The Blue Devils defeated St. Thomas, 91-90, in overtime in the opening game of the Al Van Wie Invitational at the College of Wooster, Nov. 18, then fell, 90-82, in the championship game against third-ranked Wooster. Player of the week: Greg Chaisson, Sr, Minneapolis, Minn. (Southwest)

HOCKEY
The Blue Devils (5-3-0, 2-0-0 NCHA, 2-0-0 WIAC) will take to the road for the next four games. Stout will be involved in the Division III College Hockey Showcase this weekend at Fogarty Arena in Blaine, Minn., and will face Bethel University (5-1-0), Friday, Nov. 25, at 4:30 p.m., then will take on either Hamline (0-4-2) or Finlandia (2-2-0), Saturday, Nov. 26, at 3:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. Last week: With two wins last week, the Blue Devils are currently in a tie for first place in the NCHA and the WIAC. Stout shutout UW-Eau Claire, 5-0, Nov. 18 and defeated UW-Stevens Point, 5-2, Nov. 19 in Stevens Point. Player of the week: Matt Koenig, Fr, Lakeland, Minn. (Stillwater)

Women's Basketball

DUOSS, OELTJEN NET DOUBLE-DIGIT POINTS, SCSU DOWNS STOUT

MANKATO, Minn (November 19, 2005) - UW-Stout led St. Cloud (Minn.) State University, an NCAA Division II program, 36-35 at intermission Saturday afternoon, but the Huskies flexed their muscles in the second half.

With Erika Quigley (18 points after the break) driving and Shannon Francis (12), along with Krystal Scott (11), riding shotgun, SCSU steadily pulled away from the Blue Devils following halftime, ultimately popping Stout, 92-75, at Minnesota State, Mankato's Pepsi Tip-off Tournament.

Stout - which edged Minnesota State, Mankato, 89-86, in OT Friday night - actually shot more accurately from the floor in the second half. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the Huskies' field goal shooting improved even more markedly during the second 20 minutes of action. The Blue Devils went 15-of-38 (.395) from the floor in the first half and 12-of-28 (.429) in the second. Meanwhile, St. Cloud State hit 18-of-40 (.450) second-half field goal attempts after going 12-for-41 (.293) in the first half.

Kelsey Duoss (Jr, Janesville), once again, paced Stout, pouring in team-best 17 points, pulling down a team-high eight caroms and blocking three shots. Duoss hit 7-of-13 field goals and distributed one assist.

Savanah Oeltjen (Jr, Spring Valley, Minn) - who connected on 2-of-4 treys and 6-of-6 freebies - also reached double figures in the scoring department with 12 points. She also pitched in four rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Steffanie Nemitz (Sr, Bloomington) (eight points), Char Edwards (Fr, Danbury) (seven), Jenny McDermid (Jr, Oconto Falls) (seven), Molly Hendricks (Sr, Blaine, Minn) (six), Liz Eldred (Jr, Wentworth) (five), Ali Burke (So, Eau Claire) (three), Courtney Oelkers (So, Arcadia) (three), Dani Boese (Fr, Alma) (two), Amanda Geissler (Jr, Thorp) (two), Brittany Stenseth (Fr, Menomonie) (two) and Joanna Bird (So, Boyceville) (one) also contributed scoring.

Edwards finished second on the team in rebounding, with six, while dishing out a team-best six assists. Geissler added five assists.

Quigley put on quite a show for the SCSU backers in attendance ... and for all the others watching, for that matter. Scorching the nets for a game-high 31 points, Quigley snared a game-best 22 rebounds (11 defensive, 11 offensive) and swatted seven Blue Devil shots. She connected on 14-of-26 shots from the floor and 3-of-4 free throws.

Sascha Hanson pitched in 22 points for the Huskies, while Francis finished with 19 points and Scott 11.

Both teams bottomed six 3-pointers, while the Huskies held a considerable edge from the free throw line. SCSU made 26-of-30 charity shots and Stout capitalized on 15-of-22 freebies.

SCSU outrebounded the Blue Devils, 57-37, and committed 13 turnovers to Stout's 20. The Huskies collected 15 steals. Both squads were whistled for 23 fouls.

Stout will continue its season Tuesday, when it travels to Northwestern (Minn) College for a non-conference contest slated to commence at 7 p.m.

MANKATO, Minn (November 18, 2005) - Kelsey Duoss (Jr, Janesville) scored 31 points and Molly Hendricks (Sr, Blaine, Minn) dished off 11 assists, tying a school record, as UW-Stout downed NCAA Division II Minnesota State, Mankato, Friday, at the Mavericks own Pepsi Tip-off Tournament.

Duoss started off the game with cold feet, scoring only six first half points, but exploded in the second half for 25 points to bring Stout back from a 38-34 halftime deficit. She connected on 12-of-15 field goals for the game and made 7-of-15 free throws.

Hendricks, the Blue Devils' shooting guard, had five assists in the first half and six in the second to break the tournament record for assists. Hendricks added five points and had two steals.

The Geissler sisters combined for 28 points with Lindsey Geissler (So, Thorp) finishing with 15 points and Amanda Geissler (Jr, Thorp) knocking down 13 points.

Mankato (1-1) got 25 points from Arin Andrews, 16 from Flecia Foster and 13 from Alanna Wahl.

Men's Basketball

BLUE DEVILS GIVE FIGHTING SCOTS QUITE A FIGHT

WOOSTER, Ohio (November 19, 2005) - Although it lost, 90-82, UW-Stout proved their mettle Saturday evening in sticking with the host school at Wooster (Ohio) College's Al Wie Invitational.

Wooster, ranked No. 3 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 poll, carried a 48-40 lead into halftime but the Blue Devils (1-1) didn't allow the Fighting Scots to pull away further after intermission.

So, after edging St. Thomas (Minn) University in OT Friday and playing a nationally-ranked team quite evenly, Eddie Andrist's Blue Devils should depart from Wooster with plenty of confidence to carry into its upcomsing games.

Especially confident should be Greg Chaisson (Sr, Minneapolis, Minn), Adam Chandler (So, Burnsville, Minn), Terry Farmer (Sr, Kenosha) and Ryan Stangl (So, Spring Valley), who each tallied double-digit points totals vs. the Fighting Scots.

Chaisson, who netted a team-high 15 points vs. Wooster, and Chandler, who lit the Fighting Scots up for 11 points, were selected to the event's all-tournament team. Farmer and Stangl added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Blue Devils against Wooster.

Jacob Nonemacher (Jr, Kalispell, Mont) (nine points), John Nonemacher (Jr, Kalispell, Mont) (eight), Kailus Coleman (Sr, La Crosse) (seven), Brian Buck (Sr, Minneapolis, Minn) (six) and Art Harris (Sr, Inkster, Mich) (four) also pitched in points for Stout.

Chaisson pulled down a team-high eight caroms, while Farmer and Jacob Nonemacher collected six each. Chaisson also led the team in assists, with seven. Jacob Nonemacher blocked three shots.

Tom Port, the tounament's MVP, netted a game-high 29 points for Wooster, while James Cooper, also an all-tourney pick, added 21 and Devin Fulk contributed 14. Stout, which hit 16-of-26 (.615) shots from the floor in the first half, connected on 32-of-59 (.542) field goals in the contest. Meanwhile, Wooster went 30-of-61 (.492) from the floor, 17-of-31 (.548) in the first half.

Stout buried a respectable eight 3-pointers. Unfortunately for Stout, Wooster had even better luck from behind the arc, draining 17 treys. Port went 8-of-15 from 3-point territory.

Stout went 10-of-20 from the charity stripe, Wooster 13-for-14. Stout outrebounded the Fighting Scots, 38-27 but committed 19 turnovers to Wooster's 12.

Stout will resume its season Monday, when it travels to St. Paul, Minn, to square off with Macalester College in a non-conference tilt scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

WOOSTER, Ohio (November 18, 2005) - UW-Stout got a balanced scoring attack from their starters with four of the five scoring in double-digits as the Blue Devils defeated St. Thomas, 91-90, in overtime in the first game of the Al Van Wie Invitational at Wooster College Friday.

Adam Chandler (So, Burnsville, Minn) led the way for the Blue Devils (1-0) with 20 points, including two free throws in the final seconds of overtime that held off the Tommies. Chandler's freebies gave Stout a four point lead - which would be needed because St. Thomas' Sam Sweeney hit a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer and Stout escaped with the one point win.

The Tommies (0-1) led for much of the first half, taking as much as an 11 point lead. Stout trailed 42-35 at the half, but cut into the lead and tied the game at 45-45 five minutes into the second half. The game would be tied for a total of 17 times, including the end of regulation when the Tommies' Isaac Rosefelt tipped in a shot at the buzzer.

Greg Chaisson (Sr, Minneapolis, Minn) nailed a 3-pointer with two minutes left in overtime to give Stout an 84-82 lead, a lead they would not give up.

The Tommies were led by Bryan Schnettler with 22 points. Rosefelt had 19 points, and Joey Shimek and Mike Keating finished with 17 points.

Men's Ice Hockey

BLUE DEVILS JUMP OUT TO BIG LEAD, DOWN POINTERS

STEVENS POINT (November 19, 2005) - For the second consecutive night, UW-Stout's Andrew Stearns (Jr, Wadena, Minn) scored within the first 30 seconds of the game and the Blue Devils went on to defeat UW-Stevens Point, 5-2, in front of more than 1200 rabid Pointer fans.

Stearns (5-3-0, 2-0-0 NCHA) scored off the face-off only 14 seconds into the game, again getting an assist from Justin Huth (Sr, Shakopee, Minn). Against UW-Eau Claire the night before, Stearns scored 26 seconds into the game.

The win moves Stout into first place of the NCHA along with UW-River Falls.

Freshman Jeff Wheeler (Bainbridge, Wash) wrapped up the scoring in the period with three minutes remaining.

The Pointers (3-4-0, 0-2-0) got to Blue Devil goalie Mike Stone (So, West St. Paul, Minn) in the third period, but Stout equalized that goal when Andy Wiesner (Jr, Rochester, Minn) a minute later. Wheeler assisted on Wiesner's goal and also assisted on Sikkink's goal. The Pointers added a goal with three minutes left in the game.

Stone finished the game with 39 saves. The Pointers outshot Stout, 41-24, but the Blue Devils chased starting goalie Bryn Davies with three goals and nine saves. Marcus Paulson allowed two goals and recorded 11 saves.

Stout will face Bethel University, Friday, Nov. 25 in Blaine, Minn., in a tournament. The Blue Devils will play either Hamline or Finlandia, Saturday, Nov. 26 in the second day of the tournament.

MENOMONIE (November 19, 2005) - Five different players scored goals and Matt Koenig (Fr, Lakeland, Minn) recorded his first collegiate shutout as UW-Stout defeated UW-Eau Claire, 5-0, in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) opener for both teams Friday at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

The Blue Devils (4-3-0, 1-0-0 NCHA) didn't take long to take advantage of the power play when Andrew Stearns (Jr, Wadena, Minn) scored only 26 seconds into the game, getting assists from Mike Kautz (Sr, Des Plaines, Ill) and Justin Huth (Sr, Shakopee, Minn).

Jeff DeFrancesca (Jr, Mt. Propect, Ill) doubled up the score early in the second period at 5:59, with an assist from Mike Elm (Sr, Falcon Heights, Minn).

Stout put the game on ice in the third period with three goals. Jake Erickson (So, Rochester, Minn) scored 35 seconds into the third, Andy Wiesner (Jr, Rochester, Minn) scored two minutes later and Adam Boche (Jr, South St. Paul, Minn) scored with six minutes left in the game.

Koenig made 19 saves as Stout outshot the Blugolds (0-4-2, 0-1-0) 30-19.

Football

BLUE DEVILS' JOE SEEP TO COMPETE IN AZTEC BOWL

MENOMONIE (November 18, 2005) - UW-Stout cornerback Joe Seep (Sr, Reedsburg) has been selected to play for the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) Division III all-star team that will represent the United States against the Mexican National Team in the 2005 Aztec Bowl, Dec. 17, in Toluca, Mexico.

Seep, a two-time all-WIAC selection, finished the season with a career-high five interceptions - tied for second in the WIAC - and his career with eight. He was in on 40 tackles, 26 of them solo, had a sack, three pass break-ups and recovered a fumble.

For the second consecutive season, Seep led the WIAC in punt returns, averaging 16.0 yards per return, a school record topping the mark of 15.2 set by Henry Waters in 1965. Seep also returned two punts for touchdowns, a 64-yard return against Waldorf College and a career-best 69-yarder against UW-River Falls. Seep averaged 21.3 yards per kickoff return while returning 13 kicks.

For his career, Seep finished with eight interceptions, 115 tackles, 90 solo, two fumble recoveries, 17 pass break-ups, two quarterback sacks and nine tackles-for-loss. Seep averaged 13.3 yards per punt return over his career, and returned two punts for touchdowns. He averaged 20.8 yards per kickoff return for his career.

Seep is one of 46 NCAA Division III seniors from around the country who will make up this year's team. Former Central (Iowa) College head coach Ron Schipper will again coach the squad.

Seep joins former Blue Devils Jeff Hazuga, Jamie Spielman, Ben Knepper and Luke Bundgaard who have played in the Aztec Bowl since 2000. The Aztec Bowl has been played 34 times.

For more information about the Aztec Bowl and information about the webcast of the game, go to www.afca.com or www.aztecbowl.com

MENOMONIE (November 16, 2005) - UW-Stout had 11 players named to the All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) football team, including five to the first team, four to the second team and two honorable mention.

Cornerback Joe Seep (Sr, Reedsburg) was a first team repeat selection to the first team defensive squad. He was joined on the first team by defensive lineman Travis Hoffmann (Jr, Schofield/DC Everest), running back Andy Reese (So, Lodi), wide receiver Jesse Wendt (Jr, New Auburn/Chetek) and kicker Evan Larsen (Sr, River Falls).

Named to the second team were offensive lineman Bill Bellingham (Jr, Faribault, Minn), cornerback Tony Fitts (Jr, Kewaskum) and linebackers Luke Steffen (Jr, Greenwood) and Steve Schils (So, Green Bay/Ashwaubenon).

Honorable mention picks were offensive lineman Robert Gill (Sr, Milwaukee/North Division) and defensive back Rob Weinstein (Jr, Racine/Horlick).

Seep, who was named the team's freshman of the year as a true freshman, has been a steady force with the Blue Devils since walking on campus. Seep finished the season with a career-high five interceptions - tied for second in the WIAC - and his career with eight. He was in on 40 tackles, 26 of them solo, had a sack, three pass break-ups and recovered a fumble.

For the second consecutive season, Seep led the WIAC in punt returns, averaging 16.0 yards per return, a school record topping the mark of 15.2 set by Henry Waters in 1965. Seep also returned two punts for touchdowns, a 64-yard return against Waldorf College and a career-best 69-yarder against UW-River Falls.

Hoffmann, the Blue Devils' nose guard, led all defensive linemen in tackles with 60, 33 of them solo. Hoffmann recorded 9.5 tackles for losses of 38 yards and was in on three sacks.

Reese stepped out of the shadows this season and stepped into the limelight. The shifty back led the Blue Devils in rushing with 979 yards on 204 carries for a 4.8 yards per carry average. Reese, who ranked fourth in the WIAC in rushing while playing in nine games, ran for five touchdowns and averaged 108.8 yards per game. He also caught 15 passes for 158 yards.

Wendt finished second in the WIAC in scoring with 66 points on 11 touchdowns. Wendt hauled in 54 passes for 702 yards. He averaged 13 yards per catch and 78 yards per game. Wendt averaged six catches per game.

Larsen was the most accurate place kicker in the league, making 11-of-14 field goals (78.6 percent) - including a career-long of 48 yards - and 30-of-31 extra points (96.8). His 63 points ranked him second in scoring among kickers and sixth overall. Larsen finished his career with 187 points, moving to second on the Stout all-time scoring list.

Bellingham anchored an offensive line at center that finished third in the WIAC in rushing with 190.6 yards per game. The Blue Devils were also second in the league in scoring, averaging 27.5 points per contest.

Fitts, who played cornerback opposite Seep, matched Seep with five interceptions. Fitts averaged 21.6 yards per interception return. Fitts had 27 tackles, 14 solo, broke up four passes and forced two fumbles.

Despite missing a game, Steffen finished second on the team in tackles with 70, 37 solo. The inside linebacker racked up eight tackles for loss, had 1.5 sacks, one interception, two pass break ups and recovered a fumble.

Schils led all WIAC defensive players in scoring this year with 18 points. Schils returned an interception 49 yards against UW-Oshkosh and had fumble returns of 12 yards against Waldorf College and 22 yards against UW-River Falls. Schils led the Blue Devils, and was fifth in the WIAC, in tackles for loss with 11 for 32 yards. Schils also led Stout in sacks with four and was sixth in the WIAC. Schils finished with 59 tackles, 27 solo.

Stout led the conference in pass interceptions with 23 and Weinstein had four of those. Weinstein, the strong safety, led the team in tackles with 74, 30 solo. Gill, a tackle, worked with the line that was second in the league in red-zone offense, as the Blue Devils scored 86 percent of the time once they got inside the 20 yard line.

Updated: November 21, 2005