UW-L Falls at UW-Stout in WIAC Tournament Quarterfinal

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009

Menomonie, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse women’s basketball team fell 80-72 at UW-Stout Tuesday night in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Quarterfinal. The Eagles finish their season at 17-9 while the Blue Devils improve to 16-10 and advance to the WIAC Tournament Semifinals Thursday, Feb. 26. UW-L wraps up its season with four straight losses.

The teams were facing each other for the second straight season and fourth time in the last five years in the WIAC Tournament. UW-L is now 0-5 all-time versus UW-Stout in conference tournament play with all five contests played in Menomonie.

UW-Stout scored the first four points of the game Tuesday and led by as many as six points in the first half, including 19-13 with 11:49 left. UW-L went on a 10-3 run to take its first lead of the game at 23-22 with 7:34 remaining on Anna Halat’s steal and layup. The contest was tied 30-30 with 4:00 left after a Mackenzie Hunter three-pointer for the Eagles. The Blue Devils scored six of the next seven points to take a 36-31 lead with 1:10 remaining before Melissa Lang hit a jumper with :57 left to cut the Eagles’ halftime deficit to 36-33.

UW-Stout led 42-38 with 17:17 left when it went on a 6-1 run to lead 48-39 with 15:46 remaining. The Blue Devils took their biggest lead of the game at 61-47 with 14:00 remaining. UW-L trailed 67-56 with 6:31 left after UW-Stout’s Julie Hirssig scored on a jumper and was fouled after getting her own missed shot. She converted the free throw for a three-point play.

The Eagles later cut the lead to 72-67 on Lang’s three-pointer with 3:37 remaining. Neither team managed to score until Hirssig hit a pair of free throws with :59 left for a 74-67 lead. Lang hit her fifth three-point field goal of the game with :49 remaining to cut the deficit to 74-70, but UW-L would get no closer the rest of the game as UW-Stout went six-of-10 at the free throw line in the final :47.

Lang led UW-L with a career-high 21 points, finishing eight-of-14 from the field, including five-of-nine from three-point range. Hunter finished with 16 points while Lindsay Wahl added 15. Dana Churchill had nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds and four assists.

UW-L shot 43.5% from the field, including 35.0% (seven-of-20) from three-point range. The Eagles were 11-of-16 (68.8%) at the free throw line.

Charlee Edwards led four UW-Stout starters in double figures with 18 points while Hirssig and Lindsey Gerber each finished with 16 points. Hirssig grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Kim Stokke finished with 14 points. The Blue Devils shot 46.8% from the field, including 47.4% (nine-of-19) from three-point range. The team was six-of-12 (50.0%) from three-point range in the first half. UW-Stout was 13-of-21 (61.9%) at the line for the contest.