Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) win of the season with a 70-55 victory at UW-Platteville Wednesday night in Williams Fieldhouse. The Eagles improve to 12-2 overall and 1-2 in the WIAC while the Pioneers drop to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
UW-Platteville scored the first five points of the game and took a 12-4 lead on Ella Mackiewicz' layup with 5:32 remaining in the first quarter.
Gabby Ritchie's layup and
Paige Schumann's three-pointer for UWL cut the deficit to 12-9. UW-Platteville, 14-11, after the first quarter.
The Pioneers took their largest lead of the game at 27-15 with 6:38 remaining in the second quarter on a Brynlee Nelson layup. UW-Platteville led, 33-27, at halftime.
UWL opened the second half on a 15-2 run to take a 42-35 lead with 5:39 remaining on
Kyah Steiner's three-point field goal. Steiner had eight points in the run. The Pioneers later cut the lead to 46-40 with 1:40 left, but the Eagles used a 7-0 run to end the quarter for a 53-40 lead. UWL outscored UW-Platteville, 26-7, in the third quarter.
Lauryn Milne's layup gave UWL a 55-40 lead to start the fourth quarter. UW-Platteville cut the lead to 56-50 with 5:20 remaining, but could get no closer as UWL went on a 9-2 run to lead 65-52.
UWL shot 47.3% from the field Wednesday, including 52.6% (10-of-19) from three-point range, and 57.1% (eight-of-14) at the free throw line. Steiner and Schumann led the Eagles with 12 points each while Ritchie added 11. Steiner recorded a game-high 11 rebounds while Schumann finished with a game-high six assists. Milne and
Alivia Arnebeck each scored nine points with Milne adding seven rebounds.
UW-Platteville shot 40.4% from the field, including 18.8% (three-of-16) from three-point range, and 85.7% (six-of-seven) at the line. Sarah Mueller led the Pioneers with 12 points while Blair Watters finished with 12.
UWL returns to action Saturday, January 7 hosting UW-Stevens Point at 3 p.m.
