River Falls, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned its third straight win with a 57-44 victory at UW-River Falls Wednesday night in the Karges Center.  The Eagles improve to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Falcons drop to 5-11 and 0-5 in the league.  

UWL recorded its third straight conference victory for the first time since winning six consecutive games in 2010-11.  The Eagles went on to finish 20-8 overall and 12-4 in the WIAC in 2010-11 while earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.

UW-River Falls got off to a quick 5-0 start Wednesday.  UWL fought back and took its first lead of the game with 1:54 left in the first quarter on a three-point-play from MaKenzie Miller to lead 11-8.  The teams were tied at 13-13 after one quarter. 
 
In the second quarter, the Eagles led by as many as eight points at 24-16 after a Miller layup with 5:54 left in the half.  An 8-0 run by the Falcons tied the game at 24-24 with 3:14 remaining, but baskets from Rachel Atchison and Miller gave UWL a 28-24 lead at halftime. 
 
The game stayed close in the third quarter, and after UW-River Falls went back ahead 37-33 on a three-pointer from Mikaela Wilson with 2:28 remaining, UWL went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter and pulled ahead 39-37 going to the fourth.  UWL outscored UW-River Falls 18-7 in the final period to pull away for the 57-44 victory.

"What a good road win for our team," said UWL head coach Karen Middleton.  "Our defense and rebounding was the difference for us.  We had great focus and played hard together." 
 
UWL shot 32.8% from the field Wednesday, including 15.8% (three-of-19) from three-point range, and 63.6% (14-of-22) at the free throw line.  Miller, the WIAC Athlete of the Week, led the Eagles with 23 points and 17 rebounds.  It was her fourth double-double of the season, including third in a row.  Her 17 rebounds tied a career-high set against Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) December 6. Elise DeNoyer added 10 points and seven rebounds Wednesday.  Taylor Nelson had three assists.  UWL outrebounded UW-River Falls, 53-38 overall and 27-12 on the offensive end. 
 
"I am so proud of our team," added Middleton.  "MaKenzie was really special and played exceptional against their strong post players.  We want to keep this going and keep getting better." 

UW-River Falls shot 32.1% from the field, including 30.0% (six-of-20) from three-point range, and 50.0% (four-of-eight) at the line.  Taylor Paulsrud led the Falcons with 13 points and seven rebounds. 
 
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 21 hosting UW-Platteville at 3 p.m.