La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 55-53 to UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles drop to 16-3 overall and 5-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks improve to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the conference. 

The game was tied three times in the first quarter before Olivia Freckmann's layup with :53 remaining gave UW-Whitewater a 13-11 lead after 10 minutes. The Warhawks opened the second quarter scoring the first eight points to lead, 21-11. The Eagles cut the margin to 21-17 with 4:33 left in the quarter on a Kendra Leis layup and Dani Craig jumper. UW-Whitewater then used a 9-2 run to lead 30-19. Craig's three-pointer with :21 left cut the halftime deficit to 30-22.   

UW-Whitewater took its largest lead of the game at 38-26 with 4:43 remaining in the third quarter on a Johanna Taylor layup. The Warhawks led, 43-35, after three quarters. UW-Whitewater led, 48-37, with 9:05 left when UWL rallied with a 11-3 run to cut the margin to 51-48 with 2:31 remaining in the game. Becky Deichl's jumper with 2:07 left gave UW-Whitewater a five-point lead, but Craig's jumper with 1:51 made it 53-50. Freckmann converted one-of-two free throws with :28 remaining to give the Warhawks a 54-50 advantage. 

UWL, ranked 22nd on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, answered with a three-point field goal from Emma Gamoke with :14 left to make it a one-point game. Becky Raeder was fouled and hit one-of-two free throws with :10 remaining for a 55-53 UW-Whitewater lead. Craig then missed a potential game-winning three-point field goal at the buzzer. 

UWL shot 35.5% from the field, including 22.2% (four-of-18) from three-point range, and 62.5% (five-of-eight) at the free throw line. Delaney Schoenenberger led the Eagles with 15 points while Gamoke finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Craig totaled nine points and five rebounds. 

UW-Whitewater shot 36.5% from the field, including 33.3% (four-of-12) from three-point range, and 54.2% (13-of-24) at the line. Emily Schumacher led the Warhawks with 14 points while Freckmann recorded a double-double with 10 points and game-high 14 rebounds. She also had a game-high three steals. 

UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 30 at UW-Stevens Point at 7 p.m.