LA CROSSE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's basketball team was back on the road on Friday as they traveled south to UW-La Crosse for their first game in the Gunderson Hotel & Suites Thanksgiving Classic against Simpson College. Despite trailing after three quarters of play, the Blugolds scored a late layup with seven seconds remaining to earn their fifth win of the season, 72-70.
The first quarter was troublesome for the Blugolds as they had four team turnovers in the opening ten minutes. Eau Claire bounced back in the 2nd with 14 team rebounds and two steals from both Ellie Clayton (Sr. – Lakeville, MN/Farmington) and Jade Ganski (So. – Rothschild, WI/Newman Catholic). With the team stepping up their defense, the Blugolds also turned on the offensive charge by outscoring Simpson 17-16 to bring the deficit to just eight points at halftime.
After the intermission, Jessie Ruden (Jr. – Rochester, MN/John Marshall) and the offense carried their momentum from the second into the third as Ruden exploded from the arch with 3 three-pointers and 12 individual points to bring the score difference to just three after facing an 11-point deficit halfway through the quarter.
Both teams battled hard in the fourth quarter, but Eau Claire's defense was strong once again, keeping the Storm to a team shooting percentage of just 29.4% in the final ten minutes of play. The Blugolds gained their first lead of the contest with just eight minutes to go after Bailey Reardon (Jr. – River Falls, WI) tallied her eighth point with a layup to make it 61-60. That lead stood for the following seven minutes as Simpson tied the game 70-70 with 1:15 to go.
Tyra Boettcher (Sr. – Menomonie, WI) had the first crack at breaking the tie, but her jumper outside the paint resulted in an offensive dead ball followed by a team turnover with a shot clock violation. The Storm possession was short lived after a turnover with 27 seconds left let Eau Claire take a timeout and regroup. Boettcher gained redemption as play resumed as Tyra found herself open in the paint, received the ball, and put up the game-winning layup with just seven seconds to go. UWEC would shut down the Storm offense twice, leading the Blugolds to a 72-70 win.
The last time UW-Eau Claire beat the Simpson was back in 2011 when UWEC hung on to a three-point lead in the final minute to overcome the Storm.
The Blugolds will turn around and play their final game of the Gunderson Hotel & Suites Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, November 27th when they take on Edgewood College. Tipoff is scheduled for 1PM from Mitchell Hall on the UW-La Crosse campus.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
