Dubuque, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team completed its non-conference schedule with a 70-53 win at Loras College (Iowa) Thursday night in the Loras (Iowa) Holiday Classic. The Eagles improve to 8-5 on the season while the Duhawks drop to 8-4. 

UWL never trailed in the game.  Emma Gamoke opened the game with a three-point field goal for UWL and Jaime Ryan responded with a three-point basket for Loras (Iowa) to tie the game. The Eagles used a 9-0 run to take a 12-3 advantage with 2:57 left in the first quarter on a pair of Casandra Warmsley free throws. Loras (Iowa) cut the lead to 12-6, but UWL scored eight of the last 10 points to take a 20-8 lead after the first quarter. Warmsley scored 10 points in the first quarter for UWL. 

Madison Fleckenstein's three-pointer for Loras (Iowa) with 8:51 left in the second quarter cut the lead to 22-13, but UWL went on a 7-0 run to lead 29-13 on a pair of jumpers from Lauryn Milne and Kyah Steiner and a Steiner three-pointer. The Eagles took their largest lead of the game 39-19 with 2:24 remaining in the first half on Steiner's layup. The Duhawks used a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 39-27 before Milne's jumper with :06 left gave the Eagles a 41-27 halftime lead. 

Loras (Iowa) cut the lead to 49-39 with 1:31 left in the third quarter, but UWL's Julia Seidel connected on a three-point field goal with :35 remaining to give the Eagles a 52-39 lead after 30 minutes. 

The Duhawks cut it to 59-47 with 6:24 remaining in the game on a pair of Ryan free throws, but Gamoke's three-point field goal and Lexie Higgins' layup gave the Eagles a 64-47 lead. Loras (Iowa) could get no closer than 15 points the rest of the game. 

UWL shot 46.4% from the field Thursday, including 39.1% (nine-of-23) from three-point range, and 90.0% (nine-of-10) at the line. Higgins and Steiner led the Eagles with 14 points each while Warmsley finished with 10. Milne had nine points and Gamoke eight. Higgins had a game-high 11 rebounds, recording her second double-double of the season. She had 13 points and 10 rebounds at UW-Oshkosh on December 4. 

Loras (Iowa) shot 32.7% from the field, including 25.0% (three-of-12) from three-point range, and 88.9% (16-of-18) at the free throw line. Sami Martin led the Duhawks with a game-high 20 points. Fleckenstein finished with 15 points and team-high seven rebounds.

UWL returns to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play Wednesday, January 5 hosting UW-Stout at 7 p.m.