Box Score

The UWRF women's basketball team erased a 13-point halftime deficit to upend the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds, 66-61, in double overtime at the Karges Center on Wednesday evening in front of 410 fans.

Senior forward Tess Lueders led all scorers with 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half and overtimes. Her 20 points were a season high. She added nine rebounds and three steals on 9 of 17 shooting. Her blocked shot with 4.2 seconds left in the first overtime saved the game for the Falcons. An offensive rebound on a missed free throw with 16 seconds left in the second overtime capped off her impressive performance off the bench.

The Blugolds carried a 28-15 lead into halftime thanks to a 13-2 run to end the first half. Sophomore guard Teenie Lichtfuss led all scorers with 10 first half points, while teammate Ellen Blacklock added seven. The Falcons only trailed by two (15-13) with 6:43 left in the first, but the ball simply would not fall. Lueders led all Falcons with six first half points, while junior forward Hailey Siegle grabbed five first half rebounds. The Blugolds 13 point halftime lead was their largest of the evening.

Every basket in the second half was highly contested as the game went back-and-forth in last five minutes. Lueders missed a possible game-winning floater with five seconds left in regulation as the rim proved unkind. UWRF outscored the Blugolds 36-23 in second half thanks to a 17-7 run midway through.

The first overtime did not settle anything as both teams scored six points. The second overtime, however, went in the Falcons' favor as they outscored the Blugolds 9-4. Four Siegle points, two clutch free throws from sophomore forward Richell Mehus, and a Lueders offensive rebound sealed the deal in the second overtime.

Siegle finished with 15 points and eight rebounds as she knocked down 3 of 6 threes. Freshman guard Katie Messman also hit double digits with 10 points, three steals and three rebounds. Mehus finished with eight points but also had seven rebounds, four steals and five assists; her assist total led both teams. Freshman guard Hannah Pignato also had an all-around nice effort with six points, five rebounds and two assists.

UWRF was held to 35.8 percent from the field but only turned the ball over 12 times and hit 13 of 16 free throws. 14 offensive rebounds also helped their cause. After trailing for 3/4 of the contest the Falcons got hot when it mattered most, shooting 47.2 percent after halftime. 30 bench points and 23 points off turnovers were the difference in the ball game.

Lichtfuss led the Blugolds with 17 points. Kristin Sahr, Courtney Lewis and Blacklock also hit double digits for Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

UWRF improved to 4-9 on the season, 3-2 in the WIAC, 2-4 at home, and snapped their three game losing streak. The Falcons are now 32-52 all-time against Wisconsin-Eau Claire (3-11). The Blugolds' conference record fell to 1-4.

The Falcons hit the road for their next contest against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans (12-1) on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Box Score