La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned a 63-36 win over UW-River Falls Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, receiving votes on D3hoops.com, improve to 15-3 overall and 4-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Falcons drop to 12-6 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
UW-River Falls took a 10-8 lead with 5:16 left in the first quarter on a Olivia Miron layup, but a
Kyah Steiner three-pointer and
Casandra Warmsley jumper gave UWL a 13-10 lead. The Falcons tied it, 13-13, on Macy Nilsen's three-pointer at the buzzer.
Miron's layup with 5:52 remaining in the second quarter gave UW-River Falls a 20-18 lead when UWL went on a 9-0 run to end the half.
Alana Gilles' layup tied the game at 20-20 and Steiner gave the Eagles a 22-20 advantage on a layup with 4:43 left.
Lauryn Milne hit a jumper with 1:57 remaining for a 24-20 lead and Steiner hit a three-point field goal with :01 left. UW-River Falls missed its last seven shots from the field in the first half.
Kyah Steiner had 16 point and nine rebounds.
UWL opened the second half on a 8-0 run to take a 35-20 lead with 7:59 left in the third quarter. Milne had five points in the run and Steiner three as the Eagles completed a 17-0 run over the second and third quarters. Gilles hit a jumper with 2:50 remaining to give UWL a 41-24 lead, but UW-River Falls cut the lead to 41-29 with 1:11 left. The Falcons would get no closer the rest of the game. UWL led, 43-29, after three quarters.
The Eagles outscored the Falcons, 20-7, in the fourth quarter.
UWL shot 43.4% from the field Wednesday, including 42.9% (nine-of-21) from three-point range, and 72.7% (eight-of-11) at the free throw line. Milne led the Eagles with 18 points, going seven-of-12 from the field, including one-of-three from three-point range. She finished three-of-five at the line. Steiner totaled 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds and three steals. Gilles finished with eight points while
Aaliyah McMillan finished with seven off the bench.
UW-River Falls shot 21.8% from the field, including 20.7% (six-of-29) from three-point range, and 54.5% (six-of-11) at the line. Miron led the Falcons with 10 points. Cassie Heinrichs finished with eight points while Nilsen had a team-high nine rebounds.
Alana Gilles finished with eight points.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 21 hosting 16th-ranked UW-Eau Claire at 3 p.m.
