By Travis Nyhus, UWEC Sports Information
OSHKOSH, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's basketball team fell to the No. 13 ranked UW-Oshkosh Titans 77-65 at Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh Saturday night.
The Blugolds would get things rolling early from deep as three-pointers from Hallee Hoeppner (Fr. – Winona, MN) and Maddie Dunathan (So. – Hortonville, WI) gave Eau Claire the early 6-2 lead.
After Oshkosh had taken a 20-12 advantage with under two minutes to play in the first period, the Blugolds would fight back as Bree Meier (Sr. – Lakeville, MN/South) hit a jumper at the buzzer to narrow the gap to 22-18 after the first quarter of play.
The Titans had a seven-point edge with 4:21 before the half when Arien Brennan (Sr. – Hayward, WI) converted inside on an assist from Jenni LaCroix (Jr. – Verona, WI). Things went back in forth over the next few minutes, but two shots from deep by Oshkosh in the final minute of the half gave the Titans a 41-31 lead at the break.
The Blugolds shot 13-23 (56.5 percent) from the field in the first half and made all seven of their free throws.
Oshkosh had built up a 49-31 lead when Dunathan connected from deep to pull back within 15. Oshkosh led by as much as 17 in the third quarter, but the Blugolds made a late run with Hoeppner sinking a three-pointer with under 30 seconds remaining in the quarter. With one period left Eau Claire trailed 60-49.
The Blugolds wouldn't pull back inside of 10 points as Oshkosh outscored Eau Claire 17-16 in the final period as the Blugolds would fall to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play.
For the game, Eau Claire hit 20-39 (51.3 percent) shots from the floor, including 10-18 (55.6 percent) from beyond the arc. They would also make 15-22 (68.2 percent) from the charity stripe. The bench for the Blugolds paced the offense as a total of 36 points came from the bench. Meier had a team-high 11 points and LaCroix and Kayla Hanley (Jr. – Chippewa Falls, WI) had 10 apiece. From the group of starters, Dunathan also added 10 points and Brennan had seven points, eight rebounds and two assists.
The Blugolds will return to action when they travel to Menomonie to take on UW-Stout Wednesday starting at 7 p.m.
Follow all the action this season on Blugold Game Day.