La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team opened Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 66-62 win over UW-River Falls.
    
THE BASICS 
Final Score: UW-La Crosse 66, UW-River Falls 62
Location: Mitchell Hall, La Crosse, Wis.
Records: UWL: 8-4, 1-0 WIAC, UWRF: 9-3, 0-1 WIAC
Next Up: UWL will travel to Stevens Point on Saturday, January 6 when they play UW-Stevens Point with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

FROM THE COURT

• Hear from senior Paige Schumann who finished with six points, four rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes. click here
• Hear from Head Coach Moran Lonning who earns her first WIAC win. click here

 

   
HOW DID IT HAPPEN

• The Eagles went on an 11-4 run early in the first quarter to take a 13-6 lead with 2:30 left. Lauryn Milne sparked the early run with four points. An Averie Varsho free throw with 1:01 left in the opening period would cut the Falcons deficit to 17-12. 
• A jumper by Katie Waukau and two free throws from Kailee Meeker would give UWL a 24-17 lead with 3:45 left in the second quarter. However, the Falcons would score 12 of the next 14 points to lead 29-26 at halftime. Zoey Buchan scored six points to spark the Falcons run.
•  The Eagles scored nine of the first 11 points to start the second half as they took a 33-31 lead with 7:31 left in the third quarter. UW-River Falls would then hit six straight three-pointers to give the Falcons a 49-42 lead with 1:06 remaining in the quarter. Julia Seidel hit three, three-pointers while Katelyn Karch hit two and Kameri Meredith hit one for the Falcons. A Sydney Torgerson jumper and two free throws by Lindsey Knuth would cut the Eagles deficit to 49-46 after three quarters. 
• The two teams would trade points back and forth to start the fourth quarter until the Eagles took a 61-57 lead (1:51) by scoring six straight including a jumper by Milne, a layup by Waukau and two free throws from Schumann. Seidel would hit two free throws to pull the Falcons to within 63-62 with :23 remaining. Meeker then hit one-of-two free throws to give the Eagles a 64-62 lead. After a UW-River Falls timeout to advance the ball, Schumann drew an offensive foul to give the Eagles the ball with :11 left. Milne then iced the win the with two free throws with :09 remaining. 

 

 
FROM THE BOXSCORE

• The Eagles finished with a balanced scoring attack as they finished with six players with at least six points including Milne who finished with a team high 18 points. 
•  Also in double figures for the Eagles was Knuth with 13 points while Meeker finished with 11 points. 
• Milne also finished with a team high nine rebounds to help give the Eagles a 41-37 advantage on the boards.
• As a team, UWL shot 22-of-51 (43.1%) from the floor including four-of-13 (30.8%) from the three point line. The Eagles also shot 18-of-21 (85.7%) from the free throw line.
• Seidel led the Falcons with 19 points while Buchan added 12 points and six rebounds. 
• UW-River Falls finished the game shooting 22-of-66 (33.3%0 from the floor including nine-of-30 (30.0%) from the three point line. The Falcons were also nine-of-15 (60%) from the free throw line.