WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Blue Devils (5-3, 2-2), for the second week in a row, will attempt to get back on the winning track after dropping a Saturday conference game. The Blue Devils will host St. Scholastica (2-5), Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. The game will be available on Stout Radio at: www.uwstout.edu/athletics/radio/bdradio.htm Stout was ranked 19th in last week's D3hoops.com poll, but will certainly drop this week. Last week: Stout split a pair of conference games last week, downing UW-Superior, 95-70, Dec. 7, but fell, 80-68, at UW-Oshkosh, Dec. 10. Player of the week: Kelsey Duoss, Jr, Janesville, Wis. (Clinton)

MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Blue Devils (7-1, 4-0) head into the Christmas break on top of the WIAC after two road wins last week. Stout will be at Bethany Lutheran (3-5), Monday, Dec. 12. The game can be heard on KTOE AM radio at: http://www.blc.edu/athletics/vikingradio Stout will host St. Norbert (1-4), next Monday, Dec. 19. The Blue Devils were ranked 22nd in last week's D3hoops.com poll, but should jump up. Last week: The Blue Devils had little trouble with UW-Superior, downing the Yellowjackets, 58-37, Dec. 7, then took down UW-Oshkosh, 58-55, Dec. 10. Player of the week: Adam Chandler, So, Burnsville, Minn.

HOCKEY
The Blue Devils (8-6-0, 4-2-0 NCHA, 3-0-0 WIAC) will relish a Christmas break they have never experienced before. After six NCHA games, Stout is in a tie for first place with conference favorite, St. Norbert. Stout is the only NCHA team to have four conference wins. Stout is also in first place in the WIAC. Stout is off until Tuesday, Jan. 10 when they travel to Concordia-Moorhead. Last week: Stout has been having trouble on Friday nights, and their Friday funk continued as the Blue Devils were edged, 1-0, by St. Scholastica, Dec. 9 at home. But on the road the following night on a Saturday, the Blue Devils shut out conference power UW-Superior, 4-0, as goalie Mike Stone turned away 57 shots for his first career shutout. Player of the week: Mike Stone, So, West St. Paul, Minn. (Sibley).

Women's Basketball

TITAN TRIO COUNTERS PHENOMENAL SHOWING BY DUOSS

OSHKOSH (December 10, 2005) - Kelsey Duoss (Jr, Janesville) submitted another incredible performance for UW-Stout Saturday afternoon at UW-Oshkosh's Kolff Center.

Pouring in 21 points and collecting 18 rebounds (12 on the defensive end), three blocked shots and one assist, Duoss strengthened her candidacy for 2005-06 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Player of the Year honors. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils (5-3, 2-2), a trio of Titans effectively countered The Duoss Show and led Oshkosh (7-1, 3-0) to an 80-68 defeat of the preseason WIAC favorite.

Brittany Herrick netted a game-high 22 points for the Titans, while Shannon Eggers and Becky Knapp contributed 21 and 16 points, respectively. Herrick led the Titans with eight rebounds.

Eggers put the home team ahead 3-0 with a trey 10 seconds into the game and Oshkosh, which led 39-35 at halftime, rarely trailed thereafter. Stout went ahead, 41-39, when Molly Hendricks (Sr, Blaine, Minn) buried a 3-pointer with 18 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the game. For roughly four minutes, the game was either tied or led by Stout. At the 14:26 mark, however, Eggers, incidentally enough, provided a bucket that gave Oshkosh a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Lindsey Geissler (So, Thorp) and Hendricks both netted double figures in the scoring department for Stout. Geissler scored 13 and Hendricks 10. Dani Boese (Fr, Alma) pitched in eight points, while Amanda Geissler (Jr, Thorp), Jenny McDermid (Jr, Oconto Falls) and Courtney Oelkers (So, Arcadia) provided four points apiece.

Steffanie Nemitz (Sr, Bloomington) added eight rebounds for Stout and Oelkers collected six. Hendricks paced Stout with five assists, while six other Blue Devils dished out one each. Amanda Geissler led the Blue Devils with two steals.

The Blue Devils hit 22-of-68 (.324) field goals, while Oshkosh made 27-of-60 (.450). Duoss hit 9-of-12 (.750) shots from the floor. Stout made 18-of-28 (.643) freebies, with McDermid going 4-for-4 from the stripe, while Oshkosh hit 21-of-33 (.636) charity shots.

Stout relied on the 3-point shot more heavily than Oshkosh, firing 19 treys to the Titans' nine. Stout made six 3-pointers, Oshkosh five. Lindsey Geissler and Hendricks both connected on three 3-point attempts. Eggers went 3-for-4 (.750) for the Titans.

Stout outrebounded Oshkosh, 54-35, but committed 20 turnovers, seven more than Oshkosh.

The Blue Devils will return to play Tuesday, Dec. 13, when they host St. Scholastica at Johnson Fieldhouse in a non-conference affair slated to begin at 7 p.m. From there, Stout will take a break until Dec. 28 when it begins play at the three-day Surf-N-Slam Tournament held in San Diego, Calif.

MENOMONIE (December 7, 2005) - Kelsey Duoss (Jr, Janesville) and Dani Boese (Fr, Alma) combined for 22 first half points in the post as UW-Stout went on to a 95-70 win over UW-Superior, Wednesday.

Duoss racked up a double-double in the first half, tossing in 14 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, while chipped in eight first half points for the Blue Devils who led 54-31 at halftime. Duoss, who played only seven second half minutes, finished the contest with 17 points and 13 rebounds, notching her third consecutive double-double.

Guards Joanna Bird (So, Boyceville) and Lindsey Geissler (So, Thorp) contributed to the first half cause with Bird recording nine points and Giessler, all seven of her points. Bird finished the game with 14 points. Boese put 10 points in the book for the evening and had six rebounds.

Stout (5-2, 2-1) took advantage of a good shooting first half, hitting 50 percent of their shots in the first half and 42 percent on the night. From the line, Stout hit 14-of-16 (.875) first half free throws made 23-of-35 (.657) for the night.

The Blue Devils dominated the boards, pulling down 56 caroms to Superior's 40.

Stout did not contain the Yellowjackets' (1-4, 0-3) leading scorer, Jenny Moench, who tallied a game-high 26 points, 18 in the second half. Moench was 9-of-18 from the floor, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the line. Jenny Carlson finished with 14 points and Ashley Laidley added 11.

Men's Basketball

CHANDLER'S HEROICS EXTEND STOUT'S WINNING STREAK TO SIX

OSHKOSH (December 10, 2005) - Being interviewed by Jake Bostrom and Steve Schrantz on 880 AM Saturday evening seconds after UW-Stout edged Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) rival UW-Oshkosh, 58-55, in a barn-burner, Blue Devil coach Eddie Andrist had this to say: "The kids gave me a great Christmas present."

And it was Adam Chandler (So, Burnsville, Minn) who slid down the chimney to place the exquisitely-wrapped gift under the tree.

Limited to five points in games first 39 minutes, Chandler, an all-WIAC selection as a freshman, submitted a performance as phat as Santa Claus in the game's final 60 seconds. With 42 seconds to go, Terry Farmer (Sr, Kenosha) buried a bucket to net the last two of his game-high 22 points and put the Blue Devils ahead, 53-50. After the Titans' Andy Jahnke drained two charity shots at the 31-second mark, Chandler put on the red and white costume (beard included) and presented a perfect effort that allowed Stout to remain perfect in league play.

Chandler hit two free throws with 29 seconds to go for a 55-52 lead but, 10 seconds later, Oshkosh's Jim Capelle dropped an NBA-range bomb to knot the count.

Just before the clock read all zeroes, Chandler let fly a trey that ultimately found the nets bottom, upped the No. 22 Blue Devils' winning streak to six, improved Stout's WIAC mark to 4-0 and improved the team's overall record to 7-1 with only two games remaining before folks choosing to do so celebrate the holiday Andrist referenced in his post-game quotation.

Chandler's fantastic final-minute display prompted Schrantz to refer to the super sophomore as a "clutch player" nearly as many times as Bostrom discussed pizza during the post-game show. While it appears absolutely evident Schrantz is nothing but accurate in assessing Chandler as such, the Burnsville native remained quite humble.

"To tell you the truth," said Chandler, who also contributed a game-high five assists on the night, "I lost track of time. I think we all did. I saw five seconds left and thought, 'Go create something.' It was kind of a lucky shot but I'll take it."

If not for a terrific second-half effort by Stout, Chandler might not have been in front of the microphone.

Trailing No. 14 Oshkosh (3-3, 1-2), 29-24, at the break after trailing most of the first half, the Blue Devils dug deep in the final 20 minutes. With 16 minutes, 15 seconds remaining, the home team led by six points, at 32-26. Stout, however, embarked on a 12-0 run sparked by a variety of players to lead, 38-32 exactly five minutes later.

Thereafter, Stout never trailed. The pesky Titans, however, hung tough by outscoring Stout, 23-17, until Chandler came up with the game-winner.

In addition to Chandler and Farmer, Jacob Nonemacher (Jr, Kalispell, Mont) (11 points), Greg Chaisson (Sr, Minneapolis, Minn) (eight), Ryan Stangl (So, Spring Valley) (five) and Eric Heisler (So, Savage, Minn) (two) provided scoring for Stout.

Nonemacher pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and a team-high three blocked shots.

Capelle tallied a team-high 18 points for the Titans, while Kerry Gibson added 14 and Jahnke pitched in 10. Stout hit 22-of-43 (.512) field goals, while Oshkosh made 19-of-44 (.432) shots from the floor. Farmer connected on 9-of-12 attempts. Stout went 3-of-10 (.300) from beyond the arc and the Titans went 4-of-15 (.267) from 3-point territory.

Incredibly, the Blue Devils canned 11-of-11 charity shots. Farmer (4-for-4), Nonemacher (3-for-3), Chandler (2-for-2) and Stangl (2-for-2) had a hand in the unblemished performance. Meanwhile, Oshkosh hit 13-of-23 (.565) freebies.

The Blue Devils will resume their season Monday when they travel to Mankato, Minn, to square off with Bethany Lutheran in a non-conference tilt scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.

SUPERIOR (December 7, 2005) - UW-Stout head basketball coach Eddie Andrist has always prided himself on his team's defense. His team did him very proud as they held UW-Superior to three points over the first 12 minutes of the second half and the Blue Devils went on to a 58-37 win at Superior, Wednesday.

Leading 29-22 at halftime, Stout (6-1, 3-0) charged out of the locker room on the 17-3 run as Ryan Stangl (So, Spring Valley) scored five points and Eric Heisler (So, Burnsville, Minn), Adam Chandler (So, Burnsville, Minn) and Terry Farmer (Sr, Kenosha) each tossed in four points to build a 46-25 lead.

The Yellowjackets' Leonard Cobb scored the three points, a free throw and a jumper around the 15 minute mark, then added another at the 12 minute mark to cut Stout's lead to 19.

Superior (3-3, 0-3) stayed with Stout throughout the first half as Cobb scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the first stanza. But Stout's Stangl topped Cobb's performance with a 12 first half points and finished the game with 17 points.

Heisler finished with 10 points and Greg Chaisson (Sr, Minneapolis, Minn) continues to amaze off the glass as the guard pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with his nine points.

Stout's defense held Superior to only 19.2 percent shooting from the floor - 24 percent in the first half and a dismal 14.8 percent in the second half. Stout, meanwhile, shot 50 percent for the game and had seven blocked shots, five by Jacob Nonemacher (Jr, Kalispell, Mont).

MENOMONIE (December 6, 2005) - A hot hand at the free throw line by Ryan Stangl (So, Spring Valley) down the stretch helped UW-Stout take a 56-50 home win over UW-Platteville, Dec. 3. In two Blue Devil wins last week, Stangl scored 30 points and was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) player of the week.

Stangl went a perfect 10-10 from the line against the 20th ranked Pioneers, including making all eight attempts in the final 30 seconds of the game. Stangl finished the game with a team-high 17 points, (3-6 FG/A, 1-2 3PT/A, 10-10 FT/A), had three rebounds, an assist, and three steals.

In Stout's 72-35 win over UW-Eau Claire, Nov. 30, Stangl scored 13 points (5-9 FG/A, 3-6 3PT/A, 0-0 FT), had two rebounds and two steals.

On the week, Stangl scored 30 points (8-15 FG/A, 4-8 3PT/A, 10-10 FT/A), had five rebounds, one assist and five steals, averaging 31 minutes of play. Stangl leads Stout in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game.

Men's Ice Hockey

STONE, STEARNS PUT SUPERIOR ON ICE

SUPERIOR (December 10, 2005) - Mike Stone (So, West St. Paul, Minn) proved to be a "Stone Wall" and Andrew Stearns (Jr, Wadena, Minn) scored two goals as UW-Stout defeated UW-Superior, 4-0, Saturday in an NCHA match-up.

Stone was completely unflappable, turning away 57 Yellowjacket shots on net and stopped five-on-three Superior opportunities to get his first career shutout.

"Stoney played absolutely awesome," said coach Terry Watkins. "He played well. We got into some penalty trouble, and he played well when we needed him."

The Blue Devils (8-6-0, 4-2-0) played the penalty kill to perfection tonight, stopping all nine of Superior's (7-4-2, 2-2-2) opportunities.

While Stone & Co. were providing the defense, Stearns was providing a good bulk of the offense against his former team. After a scoreless first period and nearly a scoreless second period, Stearns scored with two minutes left in the second stanza for what would prove to be the game winner.

Andy Wiesner (Jr, Rochester, Minn) followed that goal up with a score just over a minute into the third period. Stearns came back with a goal midway through the third on an assist by BJ Garczynski (Jr, Sun Prairie) and Justin Huth (Sr, Shakopee, Minn) got an empty netter in the final two minutes to close out the game.

The win moves Stout into a tie with St. Norbert for first place heading into the Christmas break. Stout is off until Tuesday, Jan. 10 when they travel to Concordia-Moorhead.

MENOMONIE (December 9, 2005) - St. Scholastica scored with three minutes left in the first period and the Saints made the goal standup as they handed UW-Stout a 1-0 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) loss, Friday at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

Joey Martini looped a shot up and over Stout goalie Matt Koenig (Fr, Lakeland, Minn) with 2-minutes, 41-seconds remaining in the first stanza.

Stout (7-6-0, 3-2-0 NCHA) was outshot, 13-11, in the second period, but put on the pressure in the third period, outshooting the Saints, 14-6. The Blue Devils' Mike Kautz (Sr, Des Plaines, Ill) had perhaps Stout's best chance to knot the score in the third period, getting a solid shot from the right point, but the Saints' Tyler Johnson put the blocker on the shot to record the shutout.

Koenig finished with 24 saves, while Johnson stopped all 31 shots he faced.

Volleyball

MCDERMID, HUNTOON, LINBO SHARE TOP VOLLEYBALL TEAM AWARDS

MENOMONIE (December 11, 2005) - Several UW-Stout volleyball players shined for a balanced team in 2005 that posted a 17-18 season record that featured a 5-4 mark at Johnson Fieldhouse.

Among those players are the Blue Devils’ award recipients.

Jenny McDermid (Jr, Oconto Falls), an honorable mention all-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference pick who moved right onto basketball after the volleyball season’s completion, was named Offensive Player of the Year. McDermid ended up third on the team in kills with 315, one behind co-leaders Sarah McElfresh (Jr, Osceola) and Linda Meyer (So, Cedarburg). McDermid’s attack percentage of .233 represented the second-most successful among Blue Devils with 100-plus attacks. McDermid added 44 assists and two service aces.

Casey Huntoon (So, Mantorville, Minn) and Rachel Linbo (Sr, Stewartville, Minn) were named Co-Defensive Players of the Year. Huntoon’s 223 digs ranked fourth on the team. She placed second on the team with 32 service aces. Linbo led the Blue Devils in both digs and service aces with 375 and 42, respectively.

Kat Roesler (Jr, Chippewa Falls) earned the team’s Hustle Award. Roesler contributed a team-high 770 assists, 169 digs and 22 service aces.

Lacey Bunkleman (Fr, Chippewa Falls) captured the Spirit Award. Bunkleman finished fourth in kills with 238 despite missing several games due to injury.

Natalie Naaktgeboren (So, Maple Lake, Minn) earned the Most Improved Player Award. Finishing fifth in the kills department with 213, Naaktgeboren posted a team-high 147 blocks.

Football

JOE SEEP, EVAN LARSEN EARN ALL-REGION HONORS

MENOMONIE (December 9, 2005) - UW-Stout cornerback Joe Seep (Sr, Reedsburg) and place kicker Evan Larsen (Sr, River Falls) were named to the D3football.com 2005 All-West Region Team. Both were first team selections. Seep was also a second team pick as a return specialist.

Seep has been a steady force with the Blue Devils since walking on campus during his true freshman season. Seep finished the 2005 season with a career-high five interceptions - tied for second in the WIAC - and finished 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 and ranked seventh nationally, averaging 16.0 yards per return, a school record topping the mark of 15.2 set by Henry Waters in 1965. Seep, a first team all-WIAC selection and a pick to the all-star Aztec Bowl, 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 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.

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 ranked 10th nationally in field goals per game with 1.1.

Larsen finished his career with 187 points, moving to second on the Stout all-time scoring list. Larsen connected on 109-of-119 extra points (91.6) and 26-of-39 field goals (66.7).

Stout finished the season at 6-4 overall, 3-4 in the WIAC.

Soccer

HEIDI SCHULTZ PLACED ON ALL-CENTRAL REGION TEAM

MENOMONIE (December 7, 2005) - UW-Stout defensive midfielder Heidi Schultz (Sr, River Falls) has been chosen to the third team of the 2005 NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region team.

Schultz, a key defensive midfielder and team captain for the Blue Devils who was named first team all-WIAC this year, played a big part in Stout's defensive stance that allowed only 12 goals and posted 10 shutouts this season. Schultz started every game since the first week of her freshman year, marking 71 consecutive games.

Schultz was a WIAC player of the week, Sept. 20, 2005, and finished the season with two goals - both game winners - and three assists. She hit the game-winning goal off a penalty kick in the WIAC quarterfinals against UW-La Crosse in overtime.

For her career, Schultz finished with 12 goals and 23 assists for 47 points. She also had six game winning goals.

Women's Cross Country

AFTER YEAR OFF, JAHIMIAK RETURNS AND EARNS TEAM MVP

MENOMONIE (December 11, 2005) - Krista Jahimiak (So, La Crosse) led UW-Stout in five of six meets during the 2005 season.

For her efforts, Jahimiak, who placed 33^rd at regionals, was named the Blue Devils’ MVP, as recently announced by head coach Joe Harlan.

Other award-winners are as follows: Leah Karaliunas (So, Oconomowoc), Most Inspirational; Christina Anderson (Fr, Crystal, Minn), Most Improved Newcomer; and Bridgette Crozier (So, Winona, Minn), Most Improved Returner.

Announced as 2006 team captains at the team’s awards banquet Sunday, Dec. 11, were Crozier and Stephanie Nichols (Jr, Chetek).

Men's Cross Country

HAENY TAKES OUTSTANDING MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY AWARD

MENOMONIE (December 11, 2005) - Nate Haeny (Jr, Sauk Rapids, Minn) represented the first UW-Stout runner to cross the finish line during every race in an absolutely fantastic season.

It came as little surprise, then that Haeny was named UW-Stout’s 2005 MVP. Haeny also earned the team’s 2005 Outstanding Performance Award for a sub-26 recorded with a 46^th-place, 25-minute, 58.5-second showing at the season-ending regional meet.

Other 2005 award winners are as follows: Matt Kennedy (Fr, Waunakee), Rookie of the Year; Ryan Tellock (So, Oshkosh), Coach’s Award; Jon Golem (So, Oshkosh) and Mike Heinen (Sr, New London), Most Improved; and Brett Heimstead (Sr, Savage, Minn), Lou Klitzke Award.

Announced at the team’s awards banquet as 2006 captains were Haeny and Golem.

Updated: December 12, 2005