Fourth-Ranked UW-Whitewater Wins Ninth Straight with Victory over UW-L

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 7, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 70-61 to fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles fall to 9-4 overall and 1-3 in the WIAC while the Warhawks improve to 13-1 overall and 4-1 in the league. It is UW-Whitewater's ninth straight win overall.

UW-Whitewater is ranked fourth on D3hoops.com and in the USA Today ESPN Coaches Poll while UW-L is receiving votes on the D3hoops.com Top-25.

The game was tied 2-2 when UW-Whitewater went on a 13-4 run to lead 15-6 with 13:33 remaining in the first half. The Warhawks led by as many as 17 points in the first 20 minutes before the Eagles cut the halftime deficit to 36-25.

UW-Whitewater led 49-29 with 13:37 left after a Tiffany Morton layup and 53-34 with 9:34 remaining after a pair of Morton free throws. UW-L went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 53-42, but Rachel Woolever hit a three-pointer for UW-Whitewater to make it 56-42 with 5:01 left. The Eagles cut the margin to 60-53 with 1:43 remaining on two free throws from Mackenzie Hunter and later made it 63-57 with just under a minute left on another two free throws from Hunter. Meghan Schmidt hit three-of-four free throws to give UW-Whitewater a 66-57 lead and the Warhawks made four free throws in the final :29 to secure the win.

Hunter led UW-L with a career-high 30 points, finishing 11-of-22 from the field and eight-of-nine at the line. She also had a team-high eight rebounds and three steals. Lindsay Wahl finished with 15 points, going four-of-11 from the field and seven-of-nine at the free throw line.

UW-L shot 38.6% from the field, including 16.7% (one-of-six) from three-point range. The Eagles were 16-of-21 (76.2%) at the line.

Morton led UW-Whitewater with 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Heidi Sonntag finished with 14 points while Woolever added 12 and Schmidt 10. The Warhawks shot 40.0% from the field, including 33.3% (six-of-18) from three-point range. The team was 20-of-23 (87.0%) at the free throw line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, January 10 hosting UW-Stout at 5 p.m.