Waverly, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned an 87-74 victory over Washington University-St. Louis (Mo.) Sunday afternoon in the first round of the Wartburg College (Iowa) Holiday Tournament.  The Eagles, ranked 11th on the D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 9-1 on the season while the Bears, receiving votes on D3hoops.com, drop to 7-3.  

UWL advances to the tournament championship game to face host seventh-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) Monday, December 30 at 3 p.m.  Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) will face Baldwin-Wallace University (Ohio) in the third-place game December 30 at 1 p.m.

Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) took a 14-12 lead on Isabelle Hren's three-point play with 5:29 left in the first half when UWL's Carly Coulthart hit a three-point field goal to give the Eagles a 15-14 advantage. UWL would never trail the rest of the game. Rachel Mahler's layup for the Bears with 1:16 remaining in the first quarter cut the lead to 20-19, but the Eagles ended the quarter on a 8-1 run to lead, 28-20. 

UWL maintained its lead in the second quarter and took a 41-39 advantage into halftime. 

The Eagles led by as many as nine points in the third quarter at 58-57 with 4:19 left on a Kat Fitzgerald jumper. Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) cut the lead to 61-57 after three quarters. 

The Bears cut the lead to 61-59 early in the fourth quarter on a Kristina Schmelter layup, but Kyah Steiner's layup and Emma Gamoke's three-pointer gave the Eagles a 66-59 lead. Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) cut the deficit to 69-64 with 6:10 left, but could get no closer the rest of the game as UWL used a 9-3 run to lead 78-67 with 3:02 remaining.

UWL shot 52.5% from the field, including 52.4% (11-of-21) from three-point range, and 70.0% (14-of-20) at the free throw line. Gamoke led the Eagles with 20 points, finishing seven-of-11 from the field, including five-of-eight from three-point range.  She was one-of-two at the line. Delaney Schoenenberger finished with 17 points and five rebounds.  Steiner had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while Lexie Higgins had 11 points and team-high seven rebounds. 

Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) shot 32.1% from the field, including 40.0% (10-of-25) from three-point range, and 66.7% (14-of-21) at the line. Hren led the Bears with 17 points while Schmelter had 14 points and game-high 15 rebounds. Samantha Weaver finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.