EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com)-The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's basketball team opened their first home conference game against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Saturday night, beating the Eagles, 75-45.
The Blugolds (6-7, 1-1 WIAC) entered the game with something to prove and started the game with a 13-4 run and finished the first quarter up 21-5. UW-Eau Claire continued to dominate the second quarter only giving up two field goals in the entire first half and went into the half leading 39-11.
This lead was largely in part to the Blugold's hot shooting. They shot 48.4 percent from the field, while UW-La Crosse only shot 7.7 percent in the first half of play. Eau Claire also hit all but one of their ten free throw attempts in the first half.
The Blugolds continued to statistically dominate throughout the rest of the game. Eau Claire out rebounded La Crosse 47-29 and had 14 offensive rebounds on the night. Once the Blugolds gained the lead two minutes into the game, they never lost their advantage. Their fast-paced play and cohesion ultimately led to their large win.
The game's leading scorer was Eau Claire's Erin O'Toole (So.-Plymouth, MN/Hopkins) with 21 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Four of Eau Claire's starting five players all put up double-digit points, as Teenie Lichtfuss (Sr.-Oshkosh, WI/Lourdes), Maddie Dunathan (Fr.-Hortonville, WI/Hortonville), and Arien Becker (Jr.-Hayward, WI/Hayward) also contributed 15, 12, and 10 points, respectively.
The Blugolds will be back on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 13 as they head to Menomonie to take on UW-Stout. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.