Mount Vernon, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling 55-49 at Cornell College (Iowa) Saturday afternoon at Small Sport Center. The Eagles drop to 4-1 on the season while the Rams improve to 2-2.
UWL jumped out to a 10-5 lead early in the first quarter, but Cornell scored six of the final seven points to tie the score at 11-11.
Lexie Higgins scored five points in the opening period for the Eagles. The second period saw the Eagles take a 19-14 lead on a
Carly Coulthart layup with 5:10 left in the half. A layup by Higgins with 1:19 on the clock gave the Eagles a 23-20 halftime lead.
Alana Gilles had nine points and team-leading nine rebounds.
The Eagles would take their largest lead of the game at 31-24 with 5:56 left in the third quarter, but the Rams went on a 13-2 run to take a 37-33 lead at the end of the third period.
UWL cut the margin to 42-38 with 7:44 remaining on a pair of
Alana Gilles free throws, but Cornell (Iowa) scored the next five points to take a 47-38 advantage with 1:18 remaining. A three-pointer from
Paige Schumann and two free throws from Higgins cut the lead to 47-43 with 1:02 left. The Rams went three-of-four from the free throw line to take a 50-43 lead, but Gilles' three-point play cut it to 50-46 with :32 remaining.
After Cornell (Iowa) made two free throws with :27 left to give itself a six-point lead, UWL's
Casandra Warmsley connected on a three-pointer with :15 left to cut the lead to 52-49 with :15 remaining. The Rams hit three-of-four free throws in the final :12 to secure the win.
UWL shot 27.9% from the field, including 15.4% (four-of-26) from three-point range, and 73.3% (11-of-15) at the line. Higgins led the Eagles with 13 points while Gilles finished with nine points and game-high nine rebounds.
Cornell (Iowa) shot 37.8% from the field, including 33.3% (five-of-15) from three-point range, and 69.6% (16-of-23) at the line. Kali March led the Rams with 17 points while Ani'ja Simmons finished with 11. Madison Wauters led the team with nine rebounds.
UWL returns home on Tuesday, November 23 hosting Ripon College (Wis.) at 7 p.m.
