UW-L Falls to Winona State in Home Opener

For Immediate Release: Saturday, November 24, 2007

La Crosse, Wis. - The UW-La Crosse women's basketball team dropped its home opener 68-65 to NCAA Division II Winona State University Saturday night in the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic. The Eagles fall to 2-2 on the season while the Warriors improve to 5-1.

Winona State has now won 10 straight over UW-L.

The Eagles trailed through the first five minutes of the contest before taking a 14-13 lead on Ashley Wagner's jumper with 13:33 left in the first half. UW-L went on a 9-3 run to lead 23-16 before Winona State came back to cut the lead to 23-19 on a Anna Wurtz three-point field goal. The Eagles finished the half on a 14-6 run to lead 37-25.

UW-L led by as many as 14 points in the second half, including 49-35 with 14:30 remaining. The Warriors cut the deficit to 53-50 with 7:11 left, but the Eagles used a 8-1 run to lead 61-51 with 5:11 left. Winona State then scored nine straight points to cut the lead to 61-60 with 2:30 remaining on Jenny Steffen's three-pointer. Winona State took its first lead in nearly 33 minutes of action as Steffen hit a jumper to make it 62-61 with 1:48 left. Steffen continued the scoring connecting on a three-point play with 1:19 left.

Amanda Waldvogel cut the lead to 65-63 on a layup with :22 remaining and after Steffen hit one-of-two free throws, UW-L's Mackenzie Hunter scored on a layup to make it 66-65 with :07 remaining. Nikki Fleck hit a pair of free throws for Winona State with :05 left for the final margin as Mandy Stevens' three-point field goal with :01 left was short.

Lindsay Wahl led UW-L with 15 points while Stevens scored a career-high 14 points for the Eagles, hitting four-of-five three-point field goals. Sam Aspenson added 10 points.

UW-L shot 48.1% from the field, including 50.0% (four-of-eight) from three-point range. The team was 11-of-14 (78.6%) at the free throw line.

Amanda Reimer led Winona State with 16 points while Anna Wurtz finished with 14. Steffen scored all 12 of her points in the second half. The Warriors shot 40.0% from the field, including 50.0% (nine-of-18) from three-point range. Winona State was 15-of-18 (83.3%) at the line.

UW-L returns to action Sunday, November 25 hosting Lake Forest College (Ill.) at 3 p.m. in the second day of the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic.