UW-La Crosse 60, UW-Platteville 57
Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team earned a 60-57 victory at UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon on Bo Ryan Court. The Eagles improve to 14-6 overall and 6-5 in the WIAC while the Pioneers fall to 10-9 overall and 3-7 in the conference.
UW-L raced out to an 19-8 lead with 9:24 left in the first half. The Eagles later led 23-10 with 6:18 remaining and 27-14 with 2:16 left, but the Pioneers cut the halftime lead to 29-22.
UW-L led 35-25 with 17:19 remaining and 41-35 with 11:46 left before UW-Platteville tied the contest at 43-43 with 8:31 left. The Eagles went on an 9-2 run to lead 52-45 with 5:24 remaining. The Pioneers took a 56-55 lead with 3:04 remaining after going on a 11-3 run itself.
Melissa Lang gave UW-L a one-point lead with a field goal with 2:43 left and UW-Platteville's Liz Lawinger hit one-of-two free throws to force a 57-57 tie with 2:14 remaining.
The Eagles'
Dana Churchill hit a pair of free throws with 1:06 left and the Pioneers missed three shots in the final :25. Lang hit one-of-two at the line for a 60-57 advantage with :13 remaining and UW-Platteville could not get a three-point attempt off in the final seconds of the game.
Danielle Frank led UW-L with 16 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. She finished eight-of-nine from the field. Churchill had 14 points and seven rebounds. Lang and
Stacie Van Handel scored nine points with Lang also recording eight rebounds.
UW-L shot 48.1% from the field, including 18.8% (three-of-16) from three-point range, and 63.6% (seven-of-11) at the line.
Stacia Nemitz led UW-Platteville with 16 points and nine rebounds while Charity Stotmeiser finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Claire Poad added 13 points.
The Pioneers shot 27.0% from the field, including 36.8% (seven-of-19) from three-point range, and 66.7% (16-of-24) at the free throw line.
UW-L returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 3 hosting UW-Whitewater at 7:05 p.m.