PLATTEVILLE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team earned a key road win Wednesday night, defeating UW-Platteville, 62-57.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle with several lead changes and saw the score tied five times but with just under four minutes to go, Eau Claire went on a short run to take a 31-25 advantage into the locker room.
The Blugolds zone defense was solid, forcing the Pioneers into shooting 29 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from three in the first half.
Offensively, Eau Claire shot well from the field, hitting 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) and were five-of-nine (55.6 percent) from three.
Platteville came out strong to start the second half, putting up the first four points, but Eau Claire countered and built a double-digit lead at 52-41 with just under eight minutes to play.
Despite a late charge from Platteville that brought the lead down to three in the last five seconds, the Blugolds went eight-of-nine from the free throw line to seal the victory.
Eau Claire finished the game shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from behind the arc while holding Platteville to 30.6 percent from the field and the 31.8 from three. The Blugold defense also tallied seven blocks.
Abby Midtlien (So. Chaseburg, Wis.), who has enjoyed an uptick in scoring over the Blugolds' past few games, and continued that trend by leading all scorers with 18 points.
Kristin Sahr (Sr. Stillwater, Minn.) saw her second best scoring output of the season, adding 16 points to the winning effort.
Courtney Lewis (Sr. Prairie du Chien, Wis.) had 11 rebounds and eight assists, both game highs, along with chipping in six points.
Ellen Blacklock (So.-Winona, MN) had a game-high four blocks and also recorded eight rebounds.
The Blugolds move to 14-8 on the season (9-4 WIAC), and travel to La Crosse on Saturday.
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