---

Mineral Point coach Mitch Wainwright had scouted the Dodgeville girls basketball team and felt his team was ready for them. But when it came to game time, the Dodgers' pressure defense helped them jump to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and they never looked back in a 74-43 non-conference win Friday night.
"It wasn't as if we didn't know what was coming at us," Wainwright said about the pressure defense the Dodgers came out with at them. "We just didn't handle it very well. Every pressure situation that caused a loose ball, they had two or three girls diving after it and we had just one and the ball went their way. And every rebound was theirs. They'd tip it away from our girls and have two players after it."
Dodger junior guard Taylor Stanek hit seven of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter. She added her final 11 in a 21-11 third quarter advantage by her team that resulted in a 62-32 lead at that point.
The second frame went to the Dodgers 22-13 with another junior guard, Samantha Crowley, popping in 8 of her 12 points. Senior teammate Megan Zoet, a forward, chipped in with 12 points as the third player to reach double figures in scoring.
The Dodgers held a 41-23 halftime lead and prompted Wainwright to say. "If we'd made our layups and free throws in the first half, we'd been in the game."
He was referring to the fact his team missed several drives to the basket and that they missed seven from the line, several on 1+1 tries. They shot better from the line in the second half, missing just two.
"We had started the last couple of games a little flat," said Dodger coach Josh Busch. "Tonight we got some energy from some early turnovers and turned them into baskets and tonight Taylor had her stroke back. Hopefully she keeps that going - she's been working hard in practice to get herself going."
The Dodger coach sprinkled in his bench throughout the contest so much that 11 of his 12 players scored.
"We have 12 kids who can all play," Busch pointed out. "We are working to get them all into the right rotations and give them ample playing time. They all work very hard in practice to earn that time."
The Pointers had eight players score with sophomore post player Jessica Schultz leading the way with 14 points, hitting five in the first quarter and six in the fourth. Freshman Destinee Kruser added eight.
The Pointers travel to Darlington Thursday (tonight) for a SWAL contest and then host Pecatonica Saturday in non-conference action.
They host Iowa-Grant the following Tuesday in a ket conference match up.
"Hopefully we learned about our intensity, or lack thereof, from them (Dodgeville)," Wainwright concluded.
"We had good balance tonight. Mineral Point is a young team. They hustle and play hard - they didn't quit," Busch said. "That Schultz girl does a nice job getting herself into position to shoot and she has a nice stroke."
The Dodgers travel to River Valley Thursday night in a key SWC game. They host Mount Horeb in non-conference play Saturday at 2:30 and then go to Evansville Tuesday for another non-loop contest.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MP  10 13 9 11-43
D 19 22 21 12-74
BOX SCORE
Mineral Point 43 (fg, ft, tp) Staver 0-4/4-4, Pittz 1-2/2-4, Johnson 1-0-2, Chambers 1-2/5-4, Chubb 0-1/2-1, Wainwright 0-0-0, Pilling 2-0-6, Kruser 3-2/4-8, Schultz 5-4/7-14. Totals 13-15/24-43. F-15. 3-pointers: Pilling 2.
Dodgeville 74: Bakker 1-0-2, McVay 0-1/2-1, Stanek 5-6/6-18, Greenheck 0-0-0, S. Crowley 6-0-12, Stumpf 2-2/2-6, Zoet 5-2/2-12, K. Crowley 2-2/2-7, Cushman 1-2/2-4, Pluemer 2-0/2-4, Binsfeld 1-0/1-2, Lee 3-0-6. Totals 28-15/19-74. F-20. 3-pointers-Stanek 2, K. Crowley 1.