Box Score Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned an 86-64 win over The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) Saturday afternoon at the UW-Eau Claire Tip-Off Tournament in Zorn Arena. The Eagles improve to 2-1 on the season while the Saints drop to 1-3.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) took a 12-5 lead with 6:44 left in the first quarter before UWL scored the next six points to cut its deficit to 12-11 with 5:37 remaining. The Eagles took a 15-14 lead with 3:55 left on a
Kara Selk layup. St. Scholastica (Minn.) forced a 17-17 tie on a Kelsey Sorenson three-pointer, but four straight points from Selk gave UWL a 21-17 advantage. The Eagles led 23-20 at the end of the first quarter.
Sorensen hit a three-pointer to force a 23-23 tie early in the second quarter when UWL scored eight of the next nine points to lead 31-24 with 6:10 remaining. A Danica Schellbach three-point field goal for St. Scholastica (Minn.) cut UWL's lead to 31-27, but the Eagles ended the half on a 10-2 run to lead 41-29 at halftime.
UWL scored the first five points of the second half to lead 46-29 on a
Elise DeNoyer three-pointer and
MaKenzie Miller layup. The Saints later cut the lead to 57-45 with 3:09 left in the period, but the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to lead 64-45 with 1:30 remaining. UWL led 66-49 at the end of the third quarter.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) could get no closer than 16 points in the fourth quarter.
"We really turned up the defensive effort tonight which led to transition baskets," said UWL head coach
Lois Heeren. "We had great effort and intensity on both ends. We were focused from start to finish and we're pleased with our solid performance."
UWL shot 44.9% from the field, including 60.0% (three-of-five) from three-point range, and 77.8% (21-of-27) at the free throw line. The Eagles shot 53.6% (15-of-28) from the field in the second half, making all three of their three-point attempts. Miller led UWL with 20 points while DeNoyer finished with 16 and
Cameron Chapin recorded a double-double with 10 points and game-high 11 rebounds.
Alyssa Clemment and Selk each finished with eight points.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) shot 34.6% from the field, including 25.0% (five-of-20) from three-point range, and 63.9% (23-of-36) at the line. Mariah Pearson led the Saints with 14 points while Sorenson finished with 12 points and Schellbach with 10.
UWL returns to action Tuesday, November 24 at Saint Mary's University (Minn.) at 5 p.m.
