The UW-Platteville women’s basketball team opened their season with six games out of their first seven games on the road. After a win in their season opener at Webster University in St. Louis, the Pioneers traveled to Tyler, Texas, to compete in the Texas-Tyler Tournament on Nov. 21 and 22. The Pioneers dropped the first game of that tournament, losing to Texas-Dallas by a score of 78-64.

The women didn’t leave Texas without a victory, however, after they defeated host Texas-Tyler 80-74. Junior guard and forward Stacia Nemitz led all scorers with 19 points, and Lisa Grantman chipped in 18 points for the Pioneers, who left Texas with a 2-1 record. The win proved costly, however, as junior guard Vanessa Nemitz suffered a knee injury in the game against Texas-Dallas and has not played since the injury.

After the tournament in Texas, the Pioneers prepared for a 16-hour bus ride back to Wisconsin for their home opener. Junior forward Dru Schneider said the team manages to pass the time on the long bus trips to tournaments and away games, “We try to study on the bus trips, but we also watch movies sometimes. If we can get enough people for a game of Euchre, we can play for hours.”

The Pioneers faced Coe College in their home opener on Nov. 25. Coe College defeated the Pioneers on their own court by a score of 72-59. The Pioneers were held to a field goal percentage under 31 percent while Coe shot 8-15 from behind the arc, according to the Sports Information Web site.

After a single home game, the women got set to travel again, this time to Storm Lake, Iowa to compete in the Buena Vista Classic on Nov. 28 and 29. The Pioneers lost the first game, 85-66, to host Buena Vista University. Cold shooting again hampered the Pioneers, who shot just under 31 percent from the field.

In the second game of the tournament, the Pioneers suffered a loss against undefeated and 11th ranked Simpson College, 89-54. Simpson’s bench outscored UW-P’s, 51-20, and the Storm were able to score 29 points off of 32 turnovers committed by the Pioneers, who dropped to 2-4 overall.

Grantman figures the bench scoring is a key reason for the team’s struggles.

“One of our problems is bench scoring,” Grantman said. “Our bench isn’t scoring as much as the other teams’.”

The Pioneers opened their conference season on the road against the UW-Superior Yellowjackets on Dec. 6. According the Sports Information Web site, the Pioneers trailed by as much as ten points in the first half, but the women rallied and left with a 76-70 victory, to begin their conference season at 1-0.

Junior guard Charity Stotmeister, who scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds, led the Pioneers. Stotmeister said that the week off before the game against UW-Superior helped propel the team to victory.

“We were really prepared, because we had a week for Superior,” Stotmeister said. “I think we all knew what to expect.”

The Pioneers continue their conference play by traveling to River Falls to take on the UW-RF Falcons at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13.