UW-L Falls in Overtime to Third-Ranked UW-Whitewater

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 30, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell 99-87 in overtime to third-ranked UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles fall to 9-10 overall and 4-6 in the WIAC while the Warhawks improve to 18-1 overall and 9-1 in the conference.

The contest was tied 17-17 with 13:24 remaining in the first half when UW-Whitewater went on a 12-0 run to lead 29-17. UW-L came back to cut the deficit to 29-25 with 9:14 left when the Warhawks scored 14 of the game's next 16 points to lead 43-27. UW-Whitewater, ranked third on D3hoops.com, led 54-41 at halftime as it shot 66.7% (20-of-30) from the field in the first half.

UW-L cut the lead to 65-60 with 12:00 remaining on a Mackenzie Hunter jumper. UW-Whitewater then went on a 9-2 run to lead 74-62 with 8:06 left, but the Eagles scored the next 12 points to force a 74-74 tie with 4:25 remaining. Lindsay Wahl had five points in the UW-L run.

UW-L took its first lead since 13:40 in the first half on a Dana Churchill layup with 3:52 remaining. Kelsey Hendrickson tied the game at 76-76 with 3:45 left on a pair of free throws, but Churchill hit another jumper to give UW-L a two-point lead. The Warhawks tied it at 78-78 with 2:35 remaining after a couple of free throws. Hunter then gave the Eagles a 80-78 lead with 2:18 left on a jumper, but Lindsey Buechner came right back for the Warhawks to force another tie at 80-80 on a jumper with just over two minutes left. Hunter and Buechner each hit a pair of free throws to make it 82-82 with just over a minute remaining. The Eagles' Amanda Waldvogel missed a three-pointer with :45 left, but UW-Whitewater's Trisha Thill turned the ball over with :16 left and UW-L's Mandy Stevens was fouled. Stevens missed the front end of a one-and-one and UW-Whitewater grabbed the rebound. After a Warhawks' timeout, Hendrickson's jumper was short with :01 left to force overtime.

UW-Whitewater never trailed in overtime, scoring the first six points of the extra session as UW-L had turnovers on its first three possessions. Hunter cut the lead to 88-84 with two free throws with 2:45 remaining, but UW-Whitewater converted 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:54. UW-L was one-of-six from the field in overtime.

Hunter (28 points) and Stevens (15) both set career-highs for UW-L while Wahl finished with 19 points. Churchill tied her career-high with 14 points. Hunter was 11-of-16 from the field and six-of-six at the line while Stevens finished six-of-eight from the field, including hitting all three of her three-point attempts. Wahl was six-of-18 from the field and seven-of-10 at the line while Churchill finished five-of-six from the field and four-of-four at the line. Melissa Lang had a team-high eight rebounds.

UW-L shot 49.2% from the field, including 50.0% (three-of-six) from three-point range. The Eagles were 20-of-27 (74.1%) at the line.

Buechner led UW-Whitewater with 24 points, finishing seven-of-10 from the field (one-of-one from three-point range) and nine-of-12 at the free throw line. Hendrickson and Tiffany Morton each totaled 20 points. Hendrickson was nine-of-10 at the free throw line. Nicole Bundy added 11 points.

UW-Whitewater shot 52.4% from the field, including 36.4% (four-of-11) from three-point range. The Warhawks were 29-of-36 (80.6%) at the line.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, February 2 hosting UW-Superior at 3 p.m.