La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned a 64-45 victory over UW-Stout Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, ranked 21st on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blue Devils drop to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
UWL never trailed in the contest, scoring the game's first five points. The Eagles led, 15-3, after the first quarter. UWL shot 40.0% (six-of-15) from the field in the first quarter while UW-Stout shot 9.1% (one-of-11). Both teams missed each of its four three-point attempts.
Delaney Schoenenberger had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
UW-Stout cut the lead to 17-5 on an Amber Fabeck jumper with 9:27 left in the second quarter when UWL used an 11-2 run to lead 28-7 with 2:22 remaining after
Jessa Peterson's three-pointer. The Blue Devils cut the halftime deficit to 28-13 after Shannon Watkins and Haylee Yaeger each made two free throws.
The Blue Devils scored the first seven points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 28-20. UW-Stout trailed 30-22 when
Delaney Schoenenberger made a pair of free throws and
Ava Kramer converted a lay-up to give UWL a 34-22 lead with 5:34 remaining. UW-Stout cut it back to an eight-point game at 41-33 with :40 left in the quarter, but
Lexie Higgins' jumper with :25 remaining gave UWL a 43-33 lead after 30 minutes.
The Eagles opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run to 55-33 on
Dani Craig's layup. UW-Stout could get no closer than 19 points the rest of the game as UWL led by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter.
UWL shot 40.4% from the field, including 22.7% (five-of-22) from three-point range, and 61.9% (13-of-21) at the free throw line.
Kyah Steiner led the Eagles with 13 points while adding seven rebounds. Kramer totaled 12 points while Schoenenberger had 11 points and game-high 10 rebounds. Higgins finished with nine points.
UW-Stout shot 29.4% from the field, including 14.3% (three-of-21) from three-point range, and 46.2% (12-of-26) at the line. Yaeger led the Blue Devils with 14 points while Fabeck finished with eight. Yaeger, Lindsey Johnson and Shannan Watkins each had seven rebounds.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 25 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 3 p.m. for Alumni Day.
