Box Score Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned a 58-48 win at UW-Stevens Point Saturday afternoon on Shirley Egner Court at Berg Gymnasium. The Eagles improve to 17-5 overall and 6-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers drop to 11-11 overall and 3-8 in the WIAC.
Both teams struggled shooting in the first quarter. UW-Stevens Point was two-of-15 from the field while UWL finished one-of-15 as the Pointers led, 4-2, after the opening quarter. The teams combined to miss all 13 of its three-point attempts in the first 10 minutes.
UWL trailed, 7-5, in the second quarter when
Kyah Steiner hit a layup for tie the game and
Kailee Meeker's jumper gave the Eagles a 9-7 advantage with 6:59 remaining in the half.
Casandra Warmsley made one-of-two at the line for a 10-7 lead. The Pointers scored the next four points to take an 11-10 lead, but Meeker hit a three-pointer to give the Eagles a 13-11 lead with 4:27 left. The three-point field goal started a 12-0 run to end the half and give UWL a 22-11 halftime lead.
Ali Sprangers' three-pointer with 1:03 remaining gave the Eagles their halftime advantage.
UWL shot 66.7% (eight-of-12) from the field in the second quarter while UW-Stevens Point shot 25.0% (three-of-12).
Alana Gilles' layup to start the second half increased UWL's lead to 24-11. The Pointers cut the deficit ot 28-18 on a pair of Abbie Campion free throws with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter, but the Eagles went on a 12-2 run to take a 40-20 lead with 1:18 left on a Steiner layup. UWL led, 42-26, after three quarters.
UW-Stevens Point cut the lead to 44-29 with 8:23 left on a Emily Mortenson three-pointer, but a Gilles' layup and Meeker three-pointer extended UWL's lead to 49-29 with 6:31 remaining. The Pointers could get no closer than 11 points the rest of the game.
UWL shot 42.0% from the field, including 21.1% (four-of-19) from three-point range, and 60.0% (12-of-20) at the free throw line. Gilles led the Eagles with 12 points and seven rebounds while Steiner and Meeker each totaled 11 points. Warmsley added six rebounds.
UW-Stevens Point shot 28.8% from the field, including 23.8% (five-of-21) from three-point range, and 68.4% (13-of-19) at the line. Jamie Pfeifer led the Pointers with 14 points while Courtney Krueger finished with 13. Alexa Thomson had a game-high 11 rebounds.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, February 8 at UW-Stout at 7 p.m.
