La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 65-62 in overtime to 21st-ranked UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams.  UWL drops to 6-6 overall while UW-Whitewater improves to 11-1.  The Warhawks earned their 10th straight win over the Eagles with Wednesday's win.

UW-Whitewater raced out to a 19-10 lead with 3:44 left in the first quarter, making eight of its first nine shots from the field.  The Warhawks led 23-12 with 1:40 left in the opening period before the Eagles scored the final four points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 23-16.  UWL cut the lead to 25-24 with 7:10 remaining in the second quarter on a Kyle Marks jumper, but UW-Whitewater ended the half on a 12-0 run to lead 37-24.  UWL missed its last eight shots from the field in the first half.

Andrea Meinert hit one-of-two free throws with 9:18 remaining in the third quarter to give UW-Whitewater its biggest lead of the game at 38-24. The Warhawks later led 45-34 with 4:46 left after a Meinert layup, but the Eagles used a 10-2 run to end the quarter to trail 47-44 after Alyssa Clemment's three-point field goal with :17 left.  UWL forced the first tie of the game since the 9:09 mark (2-2) of the first quarter as Taylor Nelson made a pair of free throws with 8:52 remaining to make it 47-47.  UW-Whitewater took a 50-47 lead with 7:42 left on a Becky Raeder three-pointer, but MaKenzie Miller's jumper with 6:14 left cut the lead to 50-49.  After a Brooke Trewyn jumper gave the Warhawks a 52-49 advantage, Miller's layup cut the lead back to one at 52-51 with 5:34 remaining.  UW-Whitewater took a 55-51 advantage with 4:43 remaining on a pair of Malia Smith free throws, but Clemment's jumper cut the deficit to 55-53 with 4:21 left.  After a UW-Whitewater turnover, Sydney Kannel tied the game at 55-55 with a layup with 3:28 remaining.  Neither team scored in the final 3:28 of regulation, combining to miss nine shots from the field.  

Elise DeNoyer gave UWL its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws with 3:41 remaining in overtime at 57-55.  Smith followed with a layup with 3:24 left to tie the game. Kylee Marks hit one-of-two free throws with 3:08 remaining to give the Eagles a 58-57 advantage, but Smith gave the Warhawks the lead for good with 2:34 left on a pair of free throws to make it 59-58.  UWL missed a jumper on its next possession and Olivia Freckmann's jumper with 2:05 left made it a three-point game.  Another missed layup from UWL and Reilly Stewart connected on a three-point field goal with 1:05 remaining to give UW-Whitewater a six-point lead at 64-58. 

DeNoyer's layup with :45 cut the lead to 64-60 and Nelson followed a missed three-point attempt from UW-Whitewater to cut the deficit to 64-62 with :04 remaining.  Stewart hit one-of-two at the line with :03 left for a 65-62 lead adn Nelson's three-point attempt fell short at the final buzzer.

"We played hard," said UWL head coach Karen Middleton.  "I felt like tonight for the first time we had a great flow on both ends of the floor.  I told them we can compete with anybody and give ourselves opportunities if we do the things we did tonight and keep getting better.  I'm really proud of them and their great effort.  It should hopefully be a confidence builder as well."

"We had a really tough non-conference schedule," added Middleton.  "We're learning a lot and I'm learning a lot of who we are and who can do what.  We want to continue to try and put them in good positions and start figuring out combinations defensively and offensively."

UWL shot 36.7% from the field, including 25.0% (three-of-12) from three-point range, and 83.3% (15-of-18) at the free throw line.  DeNoyer led the Eagles with 19 points and four assists while finishing with six rebounds.  Miller finished with 15 points, five rebounds and team-high three steals.  Clemment added nine points and four rebounds while Nelson finished with seven points and four rebounds.  Marks added five points and seven rebounds. 

"Elise plays so hard and is a tough match-up," said Middleton. "She is playing with great confidence."  DeNoyer has scored in double figures in three of the last four games.  "MaKenzie got into a good flow versus Hamline (December 30) and then was able to keep it going tonight," said Middleton.  "When we have a good inside out combination where she is able to get some good looks and strong finishes as well as easy baskets, it really helps us a lot."  Miller recorded her second straight double figure game Wednesday after finishing with 13 points in UWL's 68-58 win over Hamline (Minn.).

Marks recorded her second straight game with seven rebounds (five defensive) Wednesday night.  "Her length really helps her to be able to guard down low and she gave us some really huge minutes (season-high 29) off the bench especially from a defensive and rebounding standpoint," said Middleton. 

Clemment scored all nine of her points in the second half Wednesday.  "We told Alyssa at halftime she needed to shoot the ball and be aggressive," added Middleton.  Clemment is averaging 10.0 points in her last two games.

UW-Whitewater shot 36.1% from the field, including 37.5% (six-of-16) from three-point range, and 75.0% (15-of-20) at the line.  Meinert led four players in double figures for the Warhawks with 16 points. Stewart finished with 14 points while Smith added 12 and Raeder finished with 11. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, January 7 at UW-Stevens Point at 3 p.m.