La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball opened the UWL Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic with a 74-56 victory over Finlandia University (Mich.) Friday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, ranked 17th on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 6-1 on the season while the Lions drop to 3-6.  

UWL, 3-0 at home this season, leads the all-time series, 6-0, with Finlandia (Mich.). The Eagles are 8-1 the last five seasons in the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic.  

Finlandia (Mich.) took a 6-3 lead on a Molly Berg layup, but UWL scored the next seven points for a 10-6 lead after Kat Fitzgerald connected on a layup with 3:39 left in the first quarter.  The Lions cut it to 12-11 on a Bailey Froberg three-pointer, but the Eagles' Kyah Steiner hit a three-pointer of her own to give the Eagles a 15-11 lead after the first quarter.  

Carsyn Osterman's layup for Finlandia (Mich.) tied the game at 18-18 with 8:40 remaining in the second quarter, but UWL used a 17-4 run to lead 35-22 with 3:54 left. The Eagles took a 42-30 lead at halftime. 

The Lions cut the deficit to 43-37 with 7:34 left in the third quarter when the Eagles scored seven consecutive points for a 50-37 advantage with 4:12 remaining on a pair of Ava Kramer free throws.  UWL led, 55-39, at halftime. 

Finlandia (Mich.) could get no closer than nine points in the fourth quarter, coming at 55-46 with 7:08 remaining on Froberg's two free throws. UWL scored the next 11 points for a 66-46 lead with 4:59 left on Delaney Schoenenberger's three-pointer.  

UWL shot 36.7% from the field, including 35.3% (six-of-17) from three-point range, and 72.7% (24-of-33) at the line.  

Schoenenberger led the Eagles with 13 points while Steiner recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Schoenenberger finished with eight rebounds. Kramer totaled 10 points and five rebounds while leading the team with four assists and four steals. 

Finlandia (Mich.) shot 33.9% from the field, including 26.9% (seven-of-26) from three-point range, and 77.8% (seven-of-nine) at the line. Bailey Froberg led the Lions with 21 points and seven rebounds while Harlee Froberg totaled 12 points and six rebounds. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, November 30 hosting Lake Forest College (Ill.) in the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic at 5 p.m. Finlandia (Mich.) faces UW-River Falls at 3 p.m.