Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team, ranked 19th on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Preseason Poll, defeated Simpson College (Iowa), 84-68, Saturday afternoon in the UW-Eau Claire Classic. The Eagles improve to 3-1 on the season while the Storm falls to 1-1.

UWL never trailed in the game. scoring the first six points. The Eagles took a 17-6 lead with 3:23 remaining in the first quarter after a Carly Coulthart three-pointer. UWL led, 23-14, at the end of the first quarter. 

Coulthart hit another three-pointer with 8:00 left in the second quarter to make it 28-14. Simpson (Iowa) cut the deficit to 28-22 with an 8-0 run after Raegan Boothe's free throw with 6:07 remaining. Dani Craig and Zeporah Jackoyo hit back-to-back three-pointers to give UWL a 34-22 advantage with 5:23 left. A layup from Kyah Steiner would give UWL its biggest lead of the first half at 42-26 with 1:43 left.

UWL led, 42-31, at halftime. The Eagles shot 59.3% from the field in the first half, including 58.3% (seven-of-12) from three-point range and 60.0% (three-of-five) at the free throw line in the first half.

Steiner's layup with 7:12 left in the third quarter gave UWL a 50-35 lead. Kia Rasmussen's jumper and Cameron Kincaid's three-point play for Simpson (Iowa) cut the lead to 50-40 with 5:59 remaining. The Storm cut it to 54-46, but a Coulthart jumper and Delaney Schoenenberger three-point field goal gave the Eagles a 59-46 lead. UWL led, 62-50, after three quarters. 

Simpson (Iowa) could get no closer than 10 points in the fourth quarter. 

UWL shot 56.0% from the field, including 50.0% (13-of-26) from three-point range and 71.4% (15-of-21) from the line. Craig led the Eagles with 21 points, finishing five-of-eight from three-point range. She also had a team-high six rebounds. Coulthart had 13 points while Steiner finished with 12. Craig and Steiner each had a team-high five assists. Emma Gamoke totaled 11 points and three steals while Schoenenberger had 10 points and five rebounds. 

Simpson (Iowa) shot 43.6% from the field, including 31.8% (seven-of-22) from three-point range, and 76.5% (13-of-17) at the line. Kincaid and Rasmussen both led the Storm with 16 points each while Hattie Rhodes finished with 11. Kincaid and Rhodes each had five rebounds. Claire Johnson led Simpson (Iowa) with five assists. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, November 23 hosting Cornell College (Iowa) at 3 p.m. in its home-opener.