NCAA Tournament First Round Preview

NCAA TOURNAMENT
FIRST ROUND PREVIEW
#18 UW-Stevens Point (23-5)
vs.
Concordia-Moorhead (21-6)
March 1, 2013
Simpson College – Indianola, Iowa
5 p.m.

Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

SERIES: UW-Stevens Point leads 2-0

SERIES STARTED: 1987

SERIES HISTORY: The first-round opponents have only met twice before – once in the regular season and one time in the NCAA Tournament. The regular-season match-up occurred in the second game of the 2009-10 season in the Pointer Tip-Off Classic. In that game, Concordia led for most of the first half as they built a six-point lead in the first half only to have the Pointers come back and take a 35-34 lead at the break. The second half was more of the same as CC held the lead all the way until the final two minutes of play. In the decisive final minutes, Stevens Point went 3-for-3 from the floor while the Cobbers missed a pair of layups and went 1-for-6 from the field. Concordia guard Maggie Bauernfeind tied the game at 67-67 with a 3-point basket with 18-seconds to play before the Pointers hit the game-winner with only eight ticks left on the clock. Bauernfeind's long range shot at the end of regulation went astray and CC had to settle for the two-point loss. The biggest, most meaningful, game between the two storied programs took place in the NCAA Tournament championship game in 1987 in Scranton, Pa. The Cobbers rattled off road wins over Cal State Stanislaus and Pomona Pitzer before returning home to down Rust College in the quarterfinals. CC then beat Kean College in the semifinals in Pennsylvania before falling 81-74 to UWSP in the title tilt. The Cobbers were led by a sharp-shooting guard named Jessica Rahman (Beachy) who averaged 20.0 points per game and was named the MIAC MVP and earned her third All-American honor.

CONCORDIA PROBABLE STARTERS
G – 12 – Erika Jossart, Jr., Bismarck, N.D., 6.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 100 assists
G – 23 – Emily Thesing, Sr., Brainerd, Minn., 13.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 87 assists  
F – 24 – Tricia Sorensen, Sr., Bismarck, N.D., 13.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 44.3% 3-PT FG%
G – 32 – Alley Fisher, So., Fargo, N.D., 11.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 86.2% FT %
C – 44 – Alexandra Lippert, Jr., Willmar, Minn., 9.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 42 blocks

UW-STEVENS POINT  PROBABLE STARTERS
G– 20 – Liz Althoff, Sr., Darien, Wis., 8.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg   
G– 22 – Sam Barber, Sr., Schofield, Wis., 18.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 52 steals  
G – 23 – Alyssa Olp, Jr., Brillion, Wis., 5.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 89 assists
G – 32 – Brooke Allen, Sr., Barneveld, Wis., 6.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 64 assists
F – 42 – Myranda Tyler, Jr., Grafton, Wis., 10.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 48.5 FG%     

COBBER NOTES
CONCORDIA NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
Concordia is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five years and 18^th overall appearance. The Cobbers are 20-17 in their previous 17 trips to the "Big Dance". Concordia won the national championship in 1988...the Cobbers have not made it out of the first round since 1995 when they lost in the second round at St. Ben's. Since then they have appeared in four national playoff games and are 0-4. Concordia is 10-7 in their 17 previous first-round games...the Cobbers are 9-16 in road games in the NCAA Tournament...CC has previous NCAA Tournament experience at Simpson College. The Cobbers lost to UW-Stout 61-37 in the first round of the 2006 national playoffs.

COBBER 2012-13 NOTES
The Road To The Tournament
Concordia enters the 2013 NCAA Tournament having won 12 of its last 14 games. The Cobbers dropped the MIAC championship game 58-50 to St. Thomas. CC made just two field goals in the final 14 minutes of that game and scored only 18 points in the second half after holding a 32-27 lead at the break.

Numbers – This And That
The Cobbers were 10-4 on the road in 2012-13. Concordia was 7-1 away from Moorhead after the turn of the New Year...the Cobbers were second in the MIAC in points per game for the entire year. CC is averaging 66.7 points per game. Concordia was also second in rebounds per game (42.4 rpg) and opponents' field goal percentage (36.2%)...one of the trademarks for the Cobbers in 2013 has been their ability to shut down the opposing team's offense. Concordia is allowing just 56.9 points per game and has only allowed two teams in the last 11 games to score more than 60 points. CC held nine different opponents under 50 points and gave up a season-low 39 points against Bethel on Jan. 16.         

Thesing Spelled M-V-P
Concordia senior guard Emily Thesing was named the MIAC Most Valuable Player on Wednesday. She became the sixth player in program history to earn the conference top player honor. Thesing averaged 13.2 points in the team's 22 league games. She also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.95 steals in conference play. She scored 20 or more points in five games this year and had a season-high 23 points against Bethel on Nov. 28. Thesing was in the top 15 in the league in 11 different statistical categories in MIAC play. She was sixth in 3-point field goals (43) and seventh in both assists (67) and total points (291).

Miss 1000-500
Concordia's other senior Tricia Sorensen earned MIAC All Conference honors for the second straight season. She had a milestone year that saw her collect her 1,000^th career point and 500^th career rebound to become only the 10^th player in school history to have 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. Sorensen was the team's leading point getter and rebounder in all games. She averaged 13.9 points in her 26 games and came away with a 7.1 rebound per game average. Sorensen scored in double figures in all but five games and scored 20 or more points on four occasions. She had a season-high 23 points against Macalester on Jan. 5.

Miss 500-200
Another Cobber starter also passed a pair of milestones during the year. Junior center Alexandra Lippert recorded her 500^th career rebound and blocked her 200^th career shot in the course of 2012-13. Lippert enters the national playoffs averaging 9.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and has a total of 42 blocks. She now has 215 career blocks which is the all-time school record.

Miss Automatic
Cobber sophomore guard Alley Fisher earned MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention honors on Wednesday. She was third on the team in scoring with an 11.3 points per game average. She was one of three CC starters to shoot better than 40.0% from the field for the year. Fisher's prowess during the year came at the foul stripe where she connected on 86.2% of her free throw attempts. She is 19^th in all of Division III in that statistical category. Fisher enters the NCAA Tournament having connected on 30 straight free throws.

SCOUTING THE POINTERS
UW-Stevens Point earned their sixth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament by posting a 76-71 overtime win over UW-Whitewater in the WIAC championship game. The Pointers are playing in their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance and 10th overall appearance. UWSP has won a pair of NCAA Division III championships (1987 & 2002). Last season the Pointers traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich., knocking out Franklin (Ind.) before falling to host Calvin College.

Stevens Point Season Summary
The Pointers enter the NCAA Tournament with a 23-5 overall record. UWSP went 12-4 in WIAC conference play. Stevens Point finished third in the regular-season standings...the Pointers have won five straight games entering the national playoffs and are 18-2 in their last 20 games. Stevens Point went 12-4 on the road this season. They were 9-4 in away games and a perfect 3-0 in neutral court games...The Pointers enter the NCAA Tournament averaging 69.3 points per game and are holding opponents to 55.5 points per game. They have held their opponents to 60 or fewer points in seven of the last eight games and had eight games where they held their foes under 50 points. The high (low)-water mark came in the third game of the season when they beat Marian 68-19...UWSP is currently ninth in Division III in field goal percentage. The Pointers are connecting on 44.3% of their field goal attempts this year. Stevens Point is also 10^th in 3-point field goal percentage (35.9%).

Great Clips
The Pointers are led by senior guard Sam Barber who was named the WIAC Player of the Year for the second straight season. Barber scored in double figures in every conference game this year and averaged a league-high 18.4 points per game. She was also second in rebounding with a 7.8 rebounds per game average. Barber had three double-doubles in league play. She is coming off a career-high point total. Barber had 34 points in the team's WIAC title win on Sunday. Barber is currently ninth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (42.7%) and 33^rd in scoring average.