Box Score St. Peter, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 69-61 at Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) Tuesday night in Gus Young Court in the Lund Center. The Eagles drop to 4-5 on the season while the Gusties improve to 7-2 in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
UWL led by as many as five in the first quarter at 15-10 with 3:53 left after
Maggi Bishop's layup, but Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) came back to end the quarter on a 8-3 run to force a 18-18 tie.
The Gusties opened the second quarter on a 11-2 run to lead 29-20. After missing its first two shots from the field, Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) connected on its next six field goal attempts to lead 31-22 with 5:49 remaining. UWL cut the lead to 31-25 with 5:10 left on
Cameron Chapin's three-point play, but five straight points by Kendall Thompson gave Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) a 36-25 advantage. The Gusties led 40-30 at halftime after outscoring the Eagles, 22-12, in the second.
Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) scored the first four points of the second half to lead 44-30 before UWL cut it to 44-35 with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter. The Gusties led 46-35 with 5:25 left on a Hannah Howard layup, but two free throws each from Bishop and
Kara Selk for the Eagles cut the deficit to 46-39. Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) responded with a 7-1 run to lead 53-40 with 1:23 remaining. Bishop's two free throws with :33 left cut the lead to 53-44 after three quarters.
UWL trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, including 60-48 with 7:05 remaining. The Eagles went on a 9-1 run to make it 61-57 with 2:23 left on
MaKenzie Miller's layup. The Gusties' Mikayla Miller hit one-of-two free throws for a 62-57 advantage with 2:01 left, but Bishop connected on two free throws to make it 62-59 with 1:51 remaining. Miller went three-of-four at the line to give Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) at 65-59 lead before
Jenna Anderson's two free throws cut it to 65-61 with :21 left. Brooke Lemke made one-of-two and Miranda Rice three-of-four at the line to give the Gusties the 69-61 win. The team's combined to score the final 12 points of the game at the line with the last field goal coming Miller's layup with 2:23 remaining.
UWL shot 35.2% from the field Tuesday, including 36.4% (four-of-11) from three-point range, and 79.2% (19-of-24) at the free throw line.
Rachel Atchison had a game-high 15 points for the Eagles while Bishop and Miller finished with 10 points each. Atchison also finished with five rebounds while Bishop had six rebounds and team-high four assists and Miller totaled a game-high seven rebounds.
Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) shot 43.3% from the field, including 36.4% (four-of-11) from three-point range, and 61.9% (13-of-21) at the line. Miller led four players in double figures for the Gusties with 13 points while Justine Lee finished with 11 points and Howard and Stephanie Klockmann with 10 points.
UWL returns to action Monday, December 28 in the Colorado College Holiday Classic. The Eagles face Hamline University (Minn.) at 1 p.m. (Central).
