EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's basketball team clamped down when it needed to most, pushing past UW-Platteville 65-59 on Wednesday at Zorn Arena. The Blugolds held the Pioneers to nine points in the fourth quarter to end a three-game slide.
UW-Eau Claire trailed 50-49 entering the final period, but came up with stop after stop to ensure a comeback was in the cards. The Blugolds outscored the Pioneers 16-9 in the fourth quarter to clinch a win on Senior Night.
"I was going with my seniors," Blugolds coach Tonja Englund said. "We gave up nine points in the fourth quarter, which they're capable of doing and grinding it out."
The Blugolds got out to a hot start, building an immediate five-point lead thanks to a layup by Bailey Reardon (Sr. - River Falls, Wis.) and a 3-pointer from Jessie Ruden (Sr. - Rochester, Minn./John Marshall). UW-Eau Claire's advantage hovered between four to five points for much of the first quarter until the Pioneers used a 5-0 spurt of their own in the final few minutes to take a one-point lead. A layup from Kylie Mogen (Sr. – Menomonie, Wis.) with 2:03 left put the Blugolds back in front at 16-15, and the score stayed there for the rest of the period.
The second period went back and forth and saw several lead changes as each side answered whatever the other threw at it. The largest lead for either team was four points, which came when Ruden connected on a 3-pointer with 7:22 remaining to put the Blugolds up 26-22. A 3-pointer from Tyra Boettcher (Sr. – Menomonie, Wis.) made it 31-29 in UW-Eau Claire's favor with 2:44 to go, but the Pioneers closed the half on a 5-0 run to take a 34-31 advantage into the second half. They hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to grab the lead.
UW-Platteville led by as much as five in the third quarter before the Blugolds pushed back in front. Back-to-back layups from Courtney Crouch (Sr. – White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Reardon made the score 49-46 in UW-Eau Claire's favor with 2:02 remaining. However, the Pioneers scored the final four points of the period to enter the fourth ahead 50-49.
The game was tied at 53 with 6:15 to go when Reardon made another layup, which gave the Blugolds the lead for good. It was the start of a 13-6 run to close out the game. A 3-pointer from Reardon with 3:11 left helped seal the result, putting the Blugolds up 61-55.
Ruden scored a team-high 19 points for UW-Eau Claire. Reardon finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Boettcher had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Mogen tallied four points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Crouch had nine points and four rebounds.
The Blugolds recognized their five senior players with a post-game ceremony: Boettcher, Crouch, Mogen, Reardon and Ruden.
UW-Eau Claire plays the penultimate game of its regular season on Saturday, Feb. 11, at UW-Stevens Point. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
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