La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team opened its 2021-22 home schedule with a 73-44 win over Coe College (Iowa) Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 4-0 on the season while the Kohawks drop to 2-2. 

UWL is now 26-5 at home the last four seasons under head coach Karen Middleton. 

The game was tied five times in the first quarter. UWL led, 18-14, after the first period. The Eagles opened the second quarter on a 11-2 run to lead 29-16 after a Alana Gilles layup. Coe (Iowa) cut the deficit to 29-18 on a Molly Buck layup with 5:31 left in the first half, but UWL went on a 11-0 run to lead 40-18 with 2:10 remaining. The Eagles led, 42-20, at halftime. Emma Gamoke had 14 points and Lauryn Milne 10 in the first half for UWL. 

Coe (Iowa) could get no closer than 19 points in the second half with UWL leading by as many as 30 in the fourth quarter.

UWL shot 46.3% from the field, including 41.7% (five-of-12) from three-point range, and 85.7% (18-of-21) at the free throw line.  Gamoke led the Eagles with 18 points, going four-of-six from three-point range. Milne finished with 14 points. She was five-of-eight from the field and four-of-four at the line. All 13 players who saw the court scored for UWL. 

Lexie Higgins had a team-high eight rebounds while finishing with seven points. Kailee Meeker had eight points and four rebounds. 

Coe (Iowa) shot 36.7% from the field, including 18.8% (three-of-16) from three-point range, and 33.3% (five-of-15) at the line. Kaalyn Peterson led the Kohawks with 10 points and game-high 12 rebounds. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, November 20 at Cornell College (Iowa) at 3 p.m.