Hitting the court with the UWEC Women's Basketball team

During the winter months it might seem difficult to get active but inside the Zorn Arena there is one team rising above all the rest and that is the UW-Eau Claire Women's Basketball team.

Hello Wisconsin talked with a few players from the team, including Head Coach Tonja Englund about the season so far.

She says, "I think you come here at a great time for us. I think we're trending up. I think our crowds have been really loyal and understood that we have a really young team this year. This is really the time of year you want to peak and we feel as a team we are doing that. Right now our leading scorer is a freshman, whose from in town here, Eau Claire Memorial Anna Graaskam.”

Englund adds, “We have a lot of younger players on our team who are playing a lot of minutes and really good senior leadership. Last week to beat Stout and Point back to back really kind of put us in a place where right now were in 4th and we’re on the move. I always talk about February, its all about you stay alive and you get in a playoff race. I really would like to invite people to come down and see us. Our crowds have been growing. We play at home on Saturday against OshKosh and its going to be a huge game for us and they're ranked nationally.

The Blugolds play against UW-Oshkosh at 5:00 P.M. in Zorn Arena at UW-Eau Claire, which is also the team's Alumni Day. There will be an alumni game (free admission) at 11 a.m. In Zorn Arena. Alumni will be recognized at the game that night..

When it comes to motivating the team to continue their success, Tonja says, "I'm a teacher and so first and foremost from an education standpoint you think and talk about life lessons all the time, and you transfer what you're trying to teach here into their lives. What I've really tried to do is talk about forming good habits and being disciplined in the classroom and that will happen on the basketball court for you. I've really relied on my seniors to make sure they pass on a lot of the traditions that we've had in the program that has made us successful but I really have to credit my younger players. For Anna to be one of the best players in the conference as a freshman; 17 years I've been here I've never had anything like that and so we think this group is pretty special. It’s just a matter of continuing to help them move and rise as high as we can before that playoff run starts.”

WEAU’s Courtney Everett also spoke with senior player, Bree Meier about her experience on the team.

Bree says," There's just a great atmosphere at Eau Claire. It’s a Division III school and it doesn't feel like it. We have a fantastic community around us so when we come to play games every night, there's tons of people here in Zorn cheering us on. We prioritize things like school, family and basketball and that's what this school offered.”

She also says, “At a younger age when we were freshman we had a lot of great upperclassmen who taught us the ropes and carried the load for us so to speak on the offensive end. This year we have a lot of talented underclassmen and so as a senior our job is to go out there and be steady and consistent in our play and lead those younger kids as we kind of make a run at the WIAC."

Don’t miss on Youth Day coming up on Wed. Feb 1st at 7:00 P.M. in Zorn Arena. This event is for kids of all ages! Area children can come watch the Blugolds play and meet the team after the game. Two kids can get in free with one paid adult.