Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team defeated UW-Platteville in the opening round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships (presented by Culver's) Monday night. 
     
THE BASICS 
Final Score: #5 seed UW-La Crosse 81, #4 seed UW-Platteville 71
Location: Bo Ryan Court in Williams Fieldhouse, Platteville, Wis..  
Regular season: These two teams split during the regular season with each team winning on the road. On January 13 in La Crosse, UW-Platteville defeated UWL 75-67. Then on January 27 in Platteville, the Eagles defeated the Pioneers 79-64.
Records: UWL 13-13 overall, UW-Platteville ends the season 14-12.
Next Up: UWL advances to play at top seeded UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday, February 21. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm at the Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh. 
 

              
HOW DID IT HAPPEN

• Lauryn Milne hit a three-pointer on the Eagles first possession of the game to start a 10-2 run. With UWL leading 18-13 (4:47), UW-Platteville scores nine of the final 13 points of the first quarter to tie the game at 22.
• After an Ali Sprangers jumper to start the second quarter, Brynlee Nelson hit a three-pointer to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game at 25-24. With the scored tied at 31 (4:51), Ella Mackiewicz hit a three-pointer before UWL scored 12 straight points. Lindsey Knuth sparked the run with a three-pointer and a three-point play. A Pioneers layup with :25 left in the half, cut the Eagles deficit to 45-38 which was the score at halftime. 
• A Milne layup, would give the Eagles a 49-42 lead with 8:45 on the clock in the third quarter. The Pioneers then went on a 7-2 run to pull within a 51-49 (6:28). Two free throws by Meeker with 1:57 left in the third quarter would give the Eagles a 61-55 lead. A Sarah Mueller three-pointer followed by a free throw from Madalyn Reichmann cut the Pioneers deficit to 61-59 at the end of the third quarter. 
• The Eagles would score the first seven points of the fourth quarter including two jumpers by Knuth and a three-pointer from Paige Schumann to give UWL a 68-59 lead with 7:37 left. UW-Platteville would cut their deficit to 68-63 (5:21) on a Mackiewicz layup. But that would be as close as the Pioneers would get as the Eagles score 10 of the next 12 points to lead 78-65 with 1:00 remaining. UWL hit six-of-eight- from the free throw line over the final 1:16 to seal the win. 

     
FROM THE BOXSCORE

• UWL was led by a very balanced offensive attack as they had six players with at least 10 points. Kailee Meeker led the way with a game high 18 points while also having a team high seven rebounds. 
• Joining Meeker in double figures was Knuth with 12 points, Sprangers 11, Milne 11, Madisyn Kilboten 11 and Schumann 10.
• Schumann also grabbed seven rebounds and led the Eagles with five assists. 
• As a team, the Eagles shot 31-of-62 (50%) from the floor including five-of-16 (31.3%) from the three-point line. UWL was also 14-of-19 (73.7%) from the free throw line. 
• Mackiewicz and Mueller led the Pioneers with 16 points while Nelson added 15 points and Reichmann chipped in 11.
• Mueller grabbed a game high 11 rebounds to help give UW-Platteville a 49-33 advantage on the boards.
• UW-Platteville finished the game shooting 27-of-76 (35.5%) from the floor including seven-of-35 (20%) from the three-point line. The Pioneers were also 10-of-11 (90.9%) from the free throw line.