La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team, receiving votes on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, extended its winning streak to six with a 72-54 victory over UW-Stout Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 14-2 overall and 3-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while handing the Blue Devils their first league loss of the season. UW-Stout drops to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
UW-Stout scored the first four points of the game before UWL scored the next six to take a 6-4 lead on
Kyah Steiner and
Carly Coulthart's three-point field goals. The Blue Devils took a 14-10 lead with 1:54 remaining in the first quarter on a Sydney Brennan three-pointer, but the Eagles scored the final five points to take a 15-14 lead.
Gabby Ritchie's layup with :42 left cut the deficit to 14-12 and
Alivia Arnebeck hit a three-point field goal at the buzzer.
Carly Coulthart made four 3-point field goals.
The game was tied, 24-24, with 4:38 remaining in the second quarter on UW-Stout's Lauren Arenz connected on a three-pointer.
Alana Gilles' layup gave UWL a 26-24 advantage and the Eagles would never trail the rest of the game. Steiner's three-point field goal with 3:46 left gave UWL a 29-24 lead. The Eagles led, 33-28, at halftime.
Amanda Giesen's layup to open the second half cut the deficit to 33-30, but UWL used a 17-2 run to take a 50-32 lead with 4:46 left on a Steiner layup. Coulthart hit three-point field goals in the run. The Eagles led, 55-40, after three quarters.
UW-Stout could get no closer than 15 points in the fourth quarter with UWL leading by as many as 23 points.
UWL shot 50.0% from the field Wednesday, including 47.4% (nine-of-19) from three-point range, and 83.3% (five-of-six) at the free throw line. Steiner led the Eagles, recording a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Coulthart finished with 14 points and five rebounds while Ritchie scored 13 points off the bench.
Paige Schumann had five assists and two steals.
Kyah Steiner recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds.
UW-Stout shot 34.5% from the field, including 28.6% (six-of-21) from three-point range, and 62.5% (10-of-16) at the line. Raegan Sorenson led the Blue Devils with nine points while Haylee Yaeger and Brennan each scored eight. Yaeger had a team-high 10 rebounds while Sorenson totaled with seven.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 14 at UW-Oshkosh at 3 p.m.
