Winona State (Minn.) 53, UW-La Crosse 46

Winona, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball dropped a 53-46 exhibition game at NCAA Division II Winona State University (Minn.) Wednesday night in McCown Gymnasium.  Winona State counted the game as a regular-season contest to improve to 2-0 on the season.

The Warriors scored the first points of the game on a Connor Nagle jumper, but the Eagles scored the next five points as Jenna Anderson hit a three-pointer and Katie Ehlen scored on a fastbreak layup.  After Winona State tied the contest at 5-5, UW-L's Jenny Gallagher made a layup and a three-point field goal to make it 10-5 with 13:38 left in the opening half.

UW-L led 19-10 with 8:08 remaining in the opening half when Winona State scored five straight points to cut the deficit to 19-14. The Eagles then went on a 9-4 run to lead 28-18 with 1:47 left after a Gallagher layup.

UW-L led 28-20 at halftime.

Winona State scored the first six points of the second half before Ehlen scored on another fastbreak layup to give UW-L a 30-26 advantage. The Warriors then used a 8-0 run to lead 34-30 with 11:55 remaining after a Abby Busch layup. Winona State would never trail the rest of the game.  Leading 36-34 with 9:10 left, the Warriors' Tara Roelofs hit a three-point field goal and Busch scored on a layup to make it 41-34 with 6:42 remaining.

The Eagles cut the lead 41-38 as Mallory Cramer and Ehlen each made a pair of free throws.  Winona State then went on a 11-1 run to lead 52-39 with 2:41 remaining. UW-L could get no closer than seven the rest of the game.

Erin Levenhagen led UW-L with eight points Wednesday night while Gallagher finished with seven and Ehlen six.  Cramer had a team-high seven rebounds while Ehlen finished with three assists and two blocks.  Rachel Atchison had three steals.

UW-L shot 35.1% from the field, including 35.7% (five-of-14) from three-point range.  The Eagles shot 57.7% (15-of-26) at the line.

Busch led Winona State with 21 points and nine rebounds. 

Winona State shot 36.0% from the field, including 18.8% (three-of-16) from three-point range.  The Warriors shot 51.9% (14-of-27) from the free throw line.

UW-L opens its 2013-14 regular season at Saint Mary's University (Minn.) Saturday, November 16 at 3 p.m.