Box Score Dubuque, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 85-82 to 10th-ranked Simpson College (Iowa) Wednesday afternoon in the Loras College (Iowa) Holiday Classic. The Eagles drop to 7-5 on the season while the Storm improve to 10-1.
Simpson (Iowa), ranked 10th on D3hoops.com, earned its second win over UWL this season after a 70-56 victory November 27 in UWL's Gundersen Hotel & Suites Thanksgiving Classic.
UWL took a 6-4 lead on a
Lexie Higgins' jumper Wednesday, but Simpson (Iowa) went on a 10-2 run for a 14-8 lead. The Storm took a 22-12 lead with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter. The Eagles cut the lead to 22-15 on
Kailee Meeker's three-pointer with 1:45 left, but Regan Freland's three-point basket with :35 remaining and Cassie Nash's layup with :06 left gave Simpson (Iowa) a 27-15 lead after the first quarter.
The Eagles cut the lead to 35-27 with 5:34 left in the second quarter, but the Storm scored the game's next five points for a 40-27 advantage. Simpson (Iowa) took a 49-35 lead before
Grace Cote's layup for UWL cut it to 49-37 at halftime.
Emma Gamoke's three-point play for UWL with 4:53 left in the third quarter cut the lead to 61-52. The Eagles trailed, 71-60, after three quarters.
Trailing by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, UWL cut the lead to 81-74 with 4:04 left on
Alana Gilles' layup. Nash hit a jumper to extend the Simpson (Iowa) lead to nine, but UWL went on a 8-0 run to make it 83-82 with 1:41 remaining after a pair of
Casandra Warmsley free throws. Kia Rasmussen's layup gave the Storm a 85-82 lead with 1:09 left and UWL missed a three-point attempt with :44 remaining and had a turnover with :03 left as Simpson (Iowa) held on for the win.
UWL shot 50.0% from the field Wednesday, including 47.6% (10-of-21) from three-point range, and 80.0% (eight-of-10) at the free throw line. Gamoke led the Eagles with a game-high 21 points while adding seven rebounds.
Lexie Higgins finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Gilles and
Carly Coulthart each had nine points.
UWL's 82 points is a season-high. The Eagles scored 77 points versus Carleton College (Minn.) on December 13.
Simpson (Iowa) shot 51.5% from the field, including 52.6% (10-of-19) from three-point range, and 87.5% (seven-of-eight) at the line. Nash led the Storm with a 20 points. Jenna Taylor finished with 18 points while Freland and Cameron Kincaid each had 17.
UWL returns to action Thursday, December 30 at Loras (Iowa) at 6 p.m.
