Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team dropped a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) contest as it fell 66-36 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Wednesday night in Kachel Gymnasium. The loss drops the Eagles to 15-5 overall and 4-5 in the WIAC. The Warhawks, ranked 24th on this week's d3hoops.com Top-25 poll, improve to 15-5 overall and 6-3 in conference action.
The Warhawks scored nine of the first 11 points as they built an early 9-2 lead with 7:02 left in the first quarter. UWL would only score six points in the opening period as they trailed 22-6 at the end of the first quarter. UWL shot three-of-13 (23.1%) from the floor while UW-Whitewater was eight-of 15 (53.3%).
Kacie Carollo opened the second quarter with a three-pointer for the Warhawks to give UW-Whitewater a 25-8 lead. The Eagles scored eight of the next 12 points to cut their deficit to 29-16 with 4:28 left in the second quarter. However, that would be as close as the Eagles would get the rest of the first half as they trailed 31-16 at halftime.
UWL shot seven-of-24 (29.2%) from the floor in the first half, including one-of-six (16.7%) from the three-point line. The Warhawks finished the first half shooting 12-of-26 (46.2%) overall and three-of-11 from three-point range.
After the Warhawks took a 39-19 lead, the Eagles would get back-to-back baskets from
Lauryn Milne and
Gabby Ritchie to cut their deficit to 39-23 with 6:53 left in third quarter. UW-Whitewater used a 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the quarter at 50-23. UWL would not get any closer than than 50-26 the rest of the game.
UWL finished the game shooting 15-of-55 (27.3%) from the floor, including three-of-16 (18.8%) from the three-point line. UWL shot three-of-seven (42.9%) from the free throw line. The Eagles were led by Milne and
Alana Gilles with nine points each.
Kyah Steiner led the Eagles with seven rebounds.
UW-Whiewater shot 21-of-46 (45.7%) from the floor, including seven-of-18 (38.9%) from three-point range. The Warhawks shot 17-of-22 (77.3%) at the line. Maggie Trautsch led the Warhawks with 25 points while Carollo added 14 points and team-high eight rebounds.
UWL will be back in action Wednesday, February 1 hosting UW-Platteville at 7 p.m.
