UW-La Crosse 66, University of Dubuque (Iowa) 65
La Crosse, Wis. - Stacie Van Handel hit a pair of free throws with :04.5 left as the UW-La Crosse women's basketball team picked up a 66-65 victory over the University of Dubuque (Iowa) Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 9-4 on the season while the Spartans fall to 7-5.
UW-L raced out to a 15-2 lead with 15:25 left in the first half and later led 24-10 with 9:10 remaining. Dubuque cut its halftime deficit to 39-31.
The Spartans trailed 43-35 with 16:02 left, but went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead at 45-43 with 12:59 remaining on a Aimee Reyzer layup.
Dubuque took its lead of the game at 63-56 with 4:05 remaining, but UW-L's
Melissa Lang hit her first of two straight three-point field goals to cut the margin to 63-59. After a Spartans' layup,
Lindsey Litrenta made a jumper to make it 65-61 with 2:16 remaining.
Lang hit her second three-pointer with 1:50 left to make it a one-point game. Both teams missed a pair of shots before the Eagles'
Dana Churchill was fouled with :45 remaining. She missed both free throws, but the Spartans turned the ball over with :39 left. Lang missed a jumper, but
Danielle Frank was fouled after grabbing the rebound. She then missed a pair of free throws with :18 left. Dubuque's Jennifer Nichols missed the front end of a one-and-one and UW-L got the rebound and called timeout with :08 remaining.
Van Handel drove to the basket and was fouled as she converted both free throw attempts. The Spartans' Mollie Whiting missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Churchill led UW-L with 15 points and 16 rebounds, which tied her career-high. Litrenta finished with a career-high 14 points for the Eagles while Lang had 13 and Frank 12. Frank also recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds.
UW-L shot 37.9% from the field, including 60.0% (15-of-25) in the first half. The Eagles shot 21.2% (seven--of-33) from the field in the second half. The team was six-of-22 (27.3%) from three-point range in the game and 16-of-29 (55.2%) at the free throw line.
Nichols led Dubuque with 21 points while Krystal Parr finished with 13 and Katelyn Herrman 10. Nichols had a team-high eight rebounds.
Dubuque shot 41.4% from the field, including 47.4% (nine-of-19) from three-point range. The Spartans shot 61.5% (eight-of-13) at the line.
UW-L returns to action Wednesday, Jan. 6 hosting UW-Superior at 5:05 p.m.