Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned a 49-44 victory over Ripon College (Wis.) Sunday night at the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 4-2 on the season while the Red Hawks drop to 2-2.
With the victory, UWL's recored its 600th win in school history. The Eagles are 600-481 (.555 winning percentage) in 47 seasons.
UWL is now 5-1 all-time against Ripon, including a 66-56 victory in its last meeting during the 2012-13 season. The Eagles went 2-0 in the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic, also defeating Simpson College (Iowa) by the score of 68-58 Saturday.
The Eagles took an early 5-0 on an Alyssa Clemment jumper followed by an Elise DeNoyer three-pointer with 8:11 remaining in Sunday's win. UWL led by as many as 11 points in the quarter and were ahead 16-7 after one.
In the second quarter, Ripon (Wis.) kept within striking distance, cutting the lead to 22-18 with 4:21 left on a McKenzie Banasik three-pointer. A pair of Sydney Kannel free throws with 1:56 remaining gave UWL a 26-20 halftime lead.
Ripon (Wis.) scored the first six points of the third quarter to tie the game a 26-26 on a Megan Jensen jumper with 5:40 left. The Red Hawks took their first lead with 3:31 remaining in the period on a Jonalee Elliott layup to make it 30-28, and led 34-30 until a three-point field goal from UWL's Annie Schumacher cut the lead to 34-33 going into the fourth.
The Eagles tied the game at 39-39 with 5:16 left in the game with a DeNoyer layup. After Ripon (Wis.) pulled back ahead on a free throw, DeNoyer hit two free throws of her own to put UWL back ahead 41-40 with 2:56 remaining. She extended the lead to 43-40 on a jumper at 2:09 before Ripon's (Wis.) Banasik hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 43-43 with 1:51 to go. DeNoyer's three-point play with 1:32 left gave UWL a 46-43 advantage. The teams traded free throws to make it 47-44 with under a minute to play, and Schumacher put the game away, hitting a pair of free throws with :04 left to give the Eagles the 49-44 victory.
UWL shot 28.6% from the field, including 16.7% (two-of-12) from three-point range, and 67.9% (19-of-28) at the free throw line. DeNoyer led the Eagles with a double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds. She was six-of-10 from the floor, hitting her only three-point attempt of the game, and was six-of-seven at the free throw line. Schumacher added eight points and two steals while MaKenzie Miller had seven points and three rebounds.
"It's awesome for us to have a great weekend and come away with two good wins against some really good programs," said UWL first-year head coach Karen Middleton. "The resiliency of really sticking with it and dealing with some adversity and being able to make adjustments, keep our confidence and make plays. That will help us once we get to confernece play."
Ripon (Wis.) shot 30.4% from the field, including 15.4% (two-of-13) from three-point range, and 61.5% (eight-of-13) at the free throw line. Maggie Oimoen led the Red Hawks with 13 points and eight rebounds, adding two blocks. Nicole Herkert had eight points and eight rebounds.
DeNoyer and Delaney Schoenenberger were named to the all-tournament team, as well as Ripon's (Wis.) Oimoen, Noreen Morrow of Simpson (Iowa) and Brooke Trewyn and Malia Smith from UW-Whitewater. DeNoyer averaged 16.0 points 12.0 rebounds in the two games while Schoenenberger scored a career-high 24 points in the win over Simpson (Iowa) Saturday, tying a school record with six three-poitn field goals.
"Elise is playing with a ton of confidence," said Middleton. She's very aggressvie and is a match-up problem because she can shoot the three and is physical inside. She's got a quick first step and she's not afraid to take the shot.
"We're making strides and learning a lot as we go," said Middleton. "We've seen a lot of different styles of play from presses to pressure defense to zone. We've had to adjust and learn."
UWL returns to action Tuesday, December 6 at Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) at 6 p.m.
