Bandow Hits Game-Winning Jumper as UW-Stevens Point Defeats UW-L

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 10, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. – Cassie Bandow hit a jumper with :05 left to give the 13th-ranked UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team a 58-56 victory over UW-La Crosse Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles' Anna Halat missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Pointers earned their sixth straight win over UW-L and 17th in the last 18 meetings.

UW-L, which received one vote in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, fell to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the WIAC with the loss while UW-Stevens Point improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

The Pointers never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as nine at 17-8 with 7:25 left. UW-L cut the lead to 26-23 at halftime as it finished the first 20 minutes on a 7-2 run.

UW-Stevens Point led by 10 points three times in the second half, including 48-38 with 6:54 remaining. UW-L trailed 53-45 with 4:20 left after UW-Stevens Point's Cristin Coles hit her second three-pointer of the half. Halat and Melissa Lang hit shots for the Eagles to make it 53-49 with 2:34 left. After a Britta Petersen layup gave the Pointers a 55-49 lead, the Eagles hit five-of-six free throws in the next 1:20 to cut the lead to 55-54.

Bandow hit one-of-two free throws with :25 remaining for a 56-54 lead, but UW-L's Mackenzie Hunter tied the contest with :16 left on a layup before Bandow's game-winning jumper.

Lindsay Wahl scored a game-high 22 points for UW-L, finishing six-of-10 from the field and 10-of-14 at the free throw line. Hunter finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. She was seven-of-18 from the field (one-of-three from three-point range) and hit all four of her free throw attempts. Dana Churchill also grabbed seven rebounds. UW-L shot 38.8% from the field, including 11.1% (one-of-nine) from three-point range. The Eagles were 17-of-22 (77.3%) at the line.

Petersen led UW-Stevens Point with 17 points while Janell Van Gomple added 10. The Pointers shot 43.6% from the field, including 41.7% (five-of-12) from three-point range. The team was five-of-14 (35.7%) at the free throw line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, December 13 at eighth-ranked UW-Eau Claire at 5 p.m.