#16 UW-Eau Claire 49, UW-La Crosse 36

Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 49-36 at 16th-ranked UW-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon in Zorn Arena.  The Eagles drop to 13-5 overall and 6-3 in the WIAC while the Blugolds improve ot 15-3 overall and 8-1 in the conference.  UW-Eau Claire has won 12 of the last 13 meetings with UW-L, including sweeping the season series this year.  The Blugolds earned a 53-47 over the Eagles in La Crosse earlier this year.

The contest was tied 11-11 in the first half Saturday when UW-L took its first lead of the game with 9:26 remaining on a pair of Kassie Robinson free throws.  The Eagles led 19-15 with 5:07 left in the half after a Rachael Salata three-pointer, but the Blugolds finished the half on a 7-3 run to force a 22-22 halftime tie.

The teams were tied 30-30 with 7:57 remaining in the game when UW-Eau Claire went on a 13-0 run to lead 43-30 with 3:02 left. The Blugolds went four-of-five from the field and hit all five of their free throw attempts in the run while the Eagles missed six field goals attempts and had two turnovers.  UW-L could get no closer than 12 points the rest of the game.

Robinson led UW-L with 10 points while adding six rebounds.  Jenna Anderson had eight points while Mallory Cramer grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Eagles shot 22.8% from the field, including 16.7% (five-of-30) in the second half.  UW-L shot 19.0% (four-of-21) from three-point range in the contest and 35.3% (six-of-17) at the line.

Callie Halama led UW-Eau Claire with 14 points while finishing with eight rebounds.  Ellen Plendl had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Blugolds shot 36.2% from the field and missed all 10 of their three-point attempts.  UW-Eau Claire shot 88.2% (15-of-17) at the free throw line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 28 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 3 p.m. on Alumni Day.