Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned a 74-70 victory at UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon on Bo Ryan Court.  The Eagles improve to 12-9 overall and 6-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while the Pioneers drop to 6-15 overall and 2-8 in the conference.  UWL picked up its first win at UW-Platteville since a 73-63 victory February 9, 2013.

UW-Platteville scored the first five points of the game Saturday before UWL used a 10-2 run to lead 10-7 on Alyssa Clemment's layup with 5:19 remaining in the first quarter.  The Pioneers took a 13-12 advantage with 3:39 left on Kassie Buchholz' three-pointer, but the Eagles' Delaney Schoenenberger followed with a three-point field goal of her own with 2:50 left to give UWL a 15-13 lead.  UWL would never trail the rest of the game, leading 18-15 at the end of the first quarter. 

A pair of MaKenzie Miller jumpers gave UWL a 22-15 lead with 8:50 remaining in the second quarter and the Eagles later took a 27-17 lead with 7:25 left on Sydney Kannel's three-pointer. UWL led 34-22 with 4:26 remaining on a Kannel jumper before UW-Platteville went on a 7-0 run to the half and cut the lead to 34-29. 

UWL scored the first nine points of the second half on a Elise DeNoyer layup, a pair of free throws from Miller, Clemment three-pointer and Miller jumper to lead 43-29.  UW-Platteville got on the board with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter on a Morgan Horstman three-pointer and later cut the lead to 47-39 with 2:12 left on a Miranda Meland three-point field goal, but UWL end the quarter on a 11-5 run to lead 58-44. 

The Eagles led 66-51 with 5:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Pioneers used a 17-3 run to cut the lead to 69-68 with :45 left on a pair of Blaire Lutes free throws.  Annie Schumacher hit two free throws for UWL with :44 remaining. After UW-Platteville missed a three-point attempt, Kara Selk made two free throws with :27 left to give UWL a 73-68 advantage.  Morgan Hartman made two free throws for the Pioneers with :13 remaining to cut the lead to 73-70, but Schumacher converted one-of-two at the line with :12 left.  UW-Platteville missed a pair of three-point field goals in the final :08.

UWL shot 42.9% from the field, including 42.9% (six-of-14) from three-point range, and 82.4% (14-of-17) at the free throw line.  Miller recorded her eighth straight double-double, finishing with 25 points and 11 rebounds. DeNoyer also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.  Schoenenberger and Atchison both finished with 10 points. 

"I'm so extremely happy and excited for our team," said UWL head coach Karen Middleton. "We keep finding a way to win, and we keep giving an incredible effort. The road is tough, but we dug in and executed on both ends of the floor.  I could not be more proud of our Eagles."

UW-Platteville shot 35.2% from the field, including 38.5% (10-of-26) from three-point range, and 83.3% (10-of-12) at the line.  Horstman and Lutes led the Pioneers with 13 points while Allison Prestegaard finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

UWL returns to action Wednesday, February 8 hosting 16th-ranked UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m.