La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell, 64-60, to 16th-ranked UW-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, receiving votes on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, drops to 15-4 and 4-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blugolds improve to 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the WIAC.
UWL took a 6-2 lead with 7:27 left in the opening quarter on Saturday on a
Carly Coulthart three-pointer. After UW-Eau Claire's Courtney Crouch hit one free throw to cut the lead to 6-3,
Gabby Ritchie's jumper gave UWL a 8-3 advantage with 6:43 remaining. The Blugolds went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-8 lead with on Jesse Ruden's layup with 5:37 left. UW-Eau Claire would be held scoreless the rest of the quarter, missing its last 10 shots from the field.
Kyah Steiner's three-point field goal gave UWL an 11-10 advantage and
Alivia Arnebeck's jumper with 2:57 remaining made it 13-10. The score remained, 13-10, after the first quarter.
Lauryn Milne had a team-high 15 points on Saturday.
Kailee Meeker's three-pointer to open the second quarter gave UWL a 16-10 lead. The Eagles took a 22-16 lead on a three-pointer from
Paige Schumann with 5:07 left in the first half. Crouch scored five straight points for UW-Eau Claire to cut the lead to 22-21 with 3:54 remaining, but
Aaliyah McMillan's three-pointer for UWL made it 25-21 with 1:35 left. Kylie Mogen's layup with :31 remaining for the Blugolds cut the halftime deficit to 25-23.
UWL led by as many as six in the third quarter, including 41-35, after McMillan's three-point field goal with 1:06 remaining. Ruden's three-pointer for UW-Eau Claire with :05 left cut the deficit to 41-38 after three quarters.
Ruden's three-point play with 9:25 remaining forced a 41-41 tie. UWL's
Lauryn Milne gave the Eagles a 48-45 lead with 6:49 left on a three-point play. After a Crouch jumper cut it to 48-47, Meeker's two free throws with 5:25 remaining gave UWL a three-point lead. UW-Eau Claire scored the next five points to take the lead. Bailey Reardon's three-point play forced a 50-50 and Morgan's layup gave the Blugolds a 52-50 advantage with 3:55 left. Milne quickly responded with a game-tying jumper, but Crouch's two free throws gave UW-Eau Claire a 54-52 lead.
Alana Gilles' jumper with 2:03 remaining tied the game. The team went scoreless the final 2:03 of regulation. Tyra Boettcher missed a jumper for UW-Eau Claire with :09 remaining and Steiner's jumper for UWL was blocked by Morgen with :01 left to force overtime.
Boettcher's layup to start overtime gave UW-Eau Claire a two-point lead, but Milne's three-pointer with 2:47 remaining gave UWL a one-point lead. Reardon hit a layup with 2:22 left to give the Blugolds the one point lead at 58-57 before Ritchie connected on a three-point field goal with 1:12 remaining to give the Eagles a 60-58 lead. Ruden was fouled as she made a three-pointer with 1:00 left to give UW-Eau Claire the lead for good. She converted the free throw for a four-point play to make it 62-60. UWL missed its next four shots from the field before Reardon was fouled with :05 remaining. She made both free throws for the final margin of the game.
Alivia Arnebeck had eight points off the bench.
UWL shot 31.8% from the field, including 30.0% (nine-of-30) from three-point range, and 75.0% (nine-of-12) at the free throw line. Milne led the Eagles with 15 points while Arnebeck and Schumann each finished with eight. Meeker totaled seven points. Gilles had a team-high eight rebounds.
UW-Eau Claire shot 39.1% from the field, including 26.1% (six-of-23) from three-point range, and 47.1% (eight-of-17) at the line. Crouch and Ruden led the Blugolds with 19 points each while Mogen finished with 13. Boettcher totaled a game-high 14 rebounds with Mogen finishing with nine.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, January 25 at 19th-ranked UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.
