EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's basketball team was at home for their final Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season game before playoffs, on Wednesday. The Blugolds faced off against UW-Platteville and celebrated Ellie Clayton (Sr. – Lakeville, MN/Farmington) during senior night in front of a packed crowd in Zorn Arena. Despite trailing after the opening quarter, the Blugolds rattled off 28 points in the second and cruised to a 73-53 victory.
With playoff implications on the line, Eau Claire faced adversity early as Platteville came out with a 5-0 lead and kept momentum to pull ahead as the opening quarter ended, 16-15.
The Blugolds promptly responded by outscoring the Pioneers 28-4 before halftime. A 19-0 run in the final seven minutes of play created a new ball game for the home team as Jessie Ruden (Jr. – Rochester, MN/John Marshall), Jade Ganski (So. – Rothschild, WI/Newman Catholic), and Courtney Crouch (Jr. – White Bear Lake, MN) combined for 19 of the 28 points in the second frame.
After halftime, the WIAC competition was rekindled as both teams went back and forth through the first five minutes. A 6-2 run by Platteville was answered by a 7-3 run by the Blugolds to keep Eau Claire up by 21. Dominant play in the paint by UWEC was key to their early leads as they tallied 34 total points in the paint and gathered 31 rebounds throughout the game. Kylie Mogen (So. – Menomonie, WI) led the Blugolds with nine total rebounds and scored eight of her 15 total points in the second half. Also leading the way for Eau Claire was Crouch and Ruden who recorded 17 points each during the season finale win.
The Blugolds (18-7, WIAC 9-5) will await the WIAC Championship seedings to be finalized and look ahead to tournament play. With a suspected first round bye, UWEC will look ahead to the quarterfinals or semifinals which are set to begin on Monday, February 21st. Full tournament seedings and coverage can be found at www.wiacsports.com.
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