The UW-River Falls Falcons (3-3) had a strong first half against the Luther College Norse (4-1) but fell 76-62 in the end. 

Ten different Falcons played in the first half and 10 different Falcons scored in the first half. It was a balanced first half for UWRF countering everything the Norse threw at them. A strong effort on the offensive board with 12 of the teams 30 first half rebounds coming on on the offensive side for 14 second chance points was a big reason why. Haley Rau was a big spark off the bench with five first half rebounds while Richell Mehus, Taylor Karge and Jessie Van Wyhe each had four. 

Katie Messman drilled three first half shots behind the arc including two big ones late in the half. Kate Theisen had eight points and as a team UWRF went 9-14 of from the charity stripe in the first half. UWRF led 34-29 after the first half. 

Luther who came into the game with votes in the d3hoops.com poll came out strong early in the second half and jumped out to a 44-39 lead just five minutes in. Luther continued to roll all half long shutting down the Falcons and pouring in points outscoring UWRF 47-28 in the second half. 

UWRF finished 19-54 (35.2) from the field and 21-32 (65.6) from the charity stripe. Messman was the only Falcon to hit a three with three all coming in the first half. Eleven different Falcons scored with Theisen leading scoring with 14 points while Rau added 10 in the game. Messman had nine, Mehus had eight, Karge six, and Ali Clark contributed five points off the bench in a game where the Falcon bench as a while dropped in 23 points. 

Mehus led the team in rebounding with eight, Karge and Rau each recorded six, Van Wyhe had five and Clark and Randi Mehus each grabbed four. 

The Falcons will open up WIAC play on their next game Wednesday against UW-Superior for high school and youth night with tip off set for 7 p.m. at the Karges Center. 

Box Score