UW-L Wins Fourth Straight with Victory over UW-River Falls

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse women's basketball team earned its fourth straight win and eighth in the last ninth with a 71-54 victory over UW-River Falls Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in the WIAC while the Falcons fall to 9-7 overall and 3-5 in the conference.

UW-L raced out to a 14-4 lead with 15:38 left in the first half as Lindsay Wahl and Mackenzie Hunter each scored seven points. The Falcons cut the lead to 20-16 and later trailed 22-18 with 5:08 remaining in the first half when the Eagles went on a 12-0 run to lead 34-18 with 1:28 left. UW-L led 34-26 at halftime.

UW-River Falls cut the margin to 34-28 with 19:25 left on the opening basket of the second half, but could get no closer the remainder of the game. UW-L went on a 15-4 run to lead 49-32 with 11:19 remaining. The Eagles led by as many as 25 points in the second half.

Wahl led UW-L with 20 points and eight rebounds, finishing eight-of-15 from the field and four-of-five at the free throw line. Hunter finished with 18 poi8nts, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. She now has 201 career steals, second in school history. Amanda Cushman (2000-04) is first with 214 steals.

Melissa Lang added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Eagles. Dana Churchill finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists. UW-L had 21 assists on 26 field goals as Anna Halat had a game-high five assists.

UW-L shot 40.0% from the field, including 41.7% (five-of-12) from three-point range. The team was 14-of-18 (77.8%) at the line.

Alise Holst led UW-River Falls with 17 points while Maranda Dohrn finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds off the bench. Tiffany Gregorich added 12 points, four assists and four steals off the bench. The Falcons shot 38.5% from the field, including 26.7% (four-of-15) from three-point range. UW-River Falls was 10-of-15 (66.7%) at the free throw line and had 24 turnovers.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, Jan. 24 hosting sixth-ranked UW-Eau Claire at 5 p.m.