Women's Basketball

February 14, 2001

MENOMONIE - It certainly was no sweetheart of a game, but it counted in the win column as UW-Stout downed UW-Superior, 86-56, Wednesday, Feb. 14 to close out the regular season at Johnson Fieldhouse.

Stout (18-6, 11-5) took control of the messy game, which involved 69 turnovers between the two teams, late in the first half with a 11-0 run beginning at the 5:49 mark, then jumped out to a 46-25 halftime lead. Stout finished the game with 26 steals, with conference leader Amy Zelinger (Jr, Racine) getting four.

The Blue Devils held control of the rebounding, outboarding Superior (2-21, 0-15), 66-47. The Yellowjackets' Sheri Domitrovich provided nearly half of Superior's rebounds, pulling down 22 caroms. She led all scorers with 29 points.

The Blue Devils were able to play all 17 of their suited players, and all but one scored. Sarah Knutson (Fr, Hayward) came off the bench to score 12 points to lead Stout. Sara Kahl (Fr, Menomonie) had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Bonnie Thoe (Fr, Hayfield, Minn) scored 10 points. Tina Gillen (Jr, Northfield, Minn) had seven rebounds.

Stout held the Yellowjackets to 25 percent shooting on the game, while shooting 40 percent themselves.

Stout will travel to UW-River Falls, Monday, Feb. 19 to participate in the first round of the WIAC tournament.

Men's Basketball

February 16, 2001

MENOMONIE - UW-Stout never trailed, but the game was far from over until very late in the contest as the Blue Devils closed out their regular season with an 84-75 non-conference win over Northwestern College, Friday, Feb. 16.

Stout (13-11) held as much as a 17 point lead in the first half, but five 3-pointers by the Eagles (16-10) in the final six minutes of the first half cut the lead to as few as five points before Stout took a 43-34 halftime lead.

The Blue Devils did balloon the lead to as much as 11 midway through the second half, but Northwestern knotted the score at 67 apiece with five minute remaining in the game and threatened Stout until the Blue Devils' Mike Nowak (Sr, Greenfield) got a steal and a lay-up with 49 seconds left in the game to give Stout a 79-72 lead.

Ten seconds later, Nowak blocked a shot that would have have put the Eagles' within striking range.

Steve Krueger (Jr, Three Lakes) had a career-night for Stout, pulling down a game and career-best 14 rebounds and matching his career-high scoring effort with 19 points. Power forward Aaron Vachowiak (Sr, Wausau) matched Krueger with 19 points and added seven boards. Nowak scored 10 points for Stout and had four steals.

As a team, Stout recorded nine blocked shots with Krueger garnering three.

Stout will travel to UW-Whitewater, Tuesday, Feb. 20, to participate in the first round of the WIAC tournament.

February 14, 2001

SUPERIOR - In a game that featured 12 lead changes, UW-Stout came out on the short end when it counted and dropped their final conference game of the season, 88-81, Wednesday, Feb. 14 to UW-Superior.

Stout led by three points, 79-76, with three minutes remaining, but turned the ball over five teams down the stretch, then were forced to foul. A steal and a thundering dunk by the Yellowjackets' (15-7, 8-7) Vince Thomas may have also been a momentum changer as Superior outscored Stout, 6-2, after that.

Pat Von Feldt (Sr, Stevens Point) led all scorers with a career-high 28 points, scoring 16 points in the first half to help Stout to a 48-43 halftime lead.

Steve Krueger (Jr, Three Lakes) scored 16 points and Aaron Vachowiak (Sr, Wausau) added 15 points. Both pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Thomas led all scorers with 24 points, but got 14 at the free throw line, only missing one charity shot. Brandon Vesel scored 21, Jason Strilzuk 16 and Alin Andre 11.

Stout shot the ball well, hitting 55 percent of their shots, but were limited to 41 percent shooting in the second half after connecting on 68 percent of their shots in the first half. The Yellowjackets made up the difference at the line, shooting a very respectable 87 percent, knocking down 27-of-31 freebies.

Men's Ice Hockey

February 17, 2001

MENOMONIE - A certain sense urgency filled the UW-Stout hockey team as they stepped back onto the ice for the third period in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) quarterfinal contest, Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

Down 3-1 to UW-Stevens Point (17-10) and facing elimination from the playoffs, the Blue Devils attacked the Pointers hard. Seven minutes into the period, Stout's leading scorer, Drew Nichols (Jr, Victoria, Minn), gave the Blue Devils what they needed when his shot from in front of the net moved the score to 3-2.

With both teams playing one man down, Nichols took passes from Brad Weappa (Sr, Brooklyn Center, Minn) and Tony Ross (Fr, Buffalo, Minn) to put a dent in the back of the net.

Stout (15-11-1) continued to come hard but could not slip the puck past the Pointers goalie, Bob Gould, who stopped the other 13 shots that came his way and the Pointers won the series, 2-0.

Stout got themselves into a hole in the first and second periods, but the hole could have been a whole lot deeper except that Stout goalie Justin Wiskie (So, Janesville) turned aside 31 shots - 18 in the first period - in the first two stanzas.

The Pointers' Nick Glander scored the first two goals of the game, the first coming five minutes into the contest and the second five minutes into the second period. Jim Westergaard gave Stevens Point a 3-0 lead two minutes later.

But Stout's Cale Finseth (Fr, Austin, Minn) gave the Blue Devils life when his unassisted shot from the top of the slot made it past Gould with six minutes remaining in the second period.

Wiskie did yeoman's work, stopping 46 shots on the night, while Gould turned away 37 shots.

Stout finished the season with the most wins in Blue Devil varsity hockey history.

The Pointers will travel to UW-Superior this next weekend for the semi-final series. River Falls will host St. Norbert College in the other semi-final series.

February 16, 2001

MENOMONIE - UW-Stevens Point opened the first round Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) game with eight straight goals and went on to an 8-3 win over UW-Stout, Friday, Feb. 16 at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

The Pointers (16-10) spoiled the Blue Devils' first-ever home NCHA playoff game as they ground through all three Stout goalies.

The Pointers got things going early, scoring with 6-minutes, 15-seconds off the clock on a Ryan Maxon goal, the came back 40 seconds later to take a 2-0 lead with a goal by Zenon Kochan. Maxon scored his second goal of the period at the nine minute mark to chase Stout starter Justin Wiskie (So, Janesville).

Salienko creased the net again midway through the period. David Boehm gave Stevens Point a 7-0 lead three minutes later and Matt Interbartolo scored the Pointers' final goal with two minutes left in the period.

Stout (15-10-1) did make a comeback of sorts in the third period. Drew Nichols (Jr, Victoria, Minn) scored unassisted on the power play at 1:24 in the third. Mitch Kellin (Fr, Cohasset, Minn) scored at the 9:27 mark, with assists by his brother Lewie Kellin (Fr, Cohasset, Minn) and Cullen Flaherty (So, Duluth, Minn).

Women's Gymnastics

February 18, 2001

ITHACA, NY - Erika Opoien (So, Superior) set a new school mark on the vault as the UW-Stout gymnastics team again raised their team scores, finishing fifth at the Harriet Marranca Memorial Invitational, Sunday, Feb. 18 at Ithaca, N.Y.

Opoien placed third in the highly competitive meet with a 9.40 on the vault, breaking the mark set last week. Opoien also scored a career-best 35.60 in the all-around competion, as she placed sixth on the uneven bars with a career-best 8.70.

Katie Hanson (So, Duluth, Minn) grabbed the Blue Devils' only first place finish, scoring an 8.85 on the uneven bars. Hanson was second in the all around with a 36.225.

As a team, Stout placed fifth, but again raised their team scores, hitting a 176.075. Their previous high was set last week (174.275).

Tasha Pasch (So, Northfield, Minn), who had set the school vault record last week, finished third in the all-around (36.00) and was seventh on the vault (9.325) and floor exercise (9.375). Andrea Hassel (Sr, Grand Rapids, Minn) just missed a personal best on the balance beam, scoring a 9.20. Her personal best is 9.25.

Stout will compete in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships, Friday, Feb. 23 at UW-Whitewater.