Box Score ST. PETER, Minn. (uwrfsports.com)- The University of Wisconsin-River Falls women's basketball team defeated Simpson College yesterday afternoon in the first day of the Gustavus Tip-Off Tournament. The Falcons picked up right where they left off, as they defeated the host team Gustavus Adolphus.
The Falcons (4-0, 0-0 WIAC) outscored the Gusties (2-1, 0-0 MIAC) in three of the four quarters on their way to a 76-61 victory.
Junior guard
Brynn Liljander led the Falcons with 24 points and she was also the team's leading rebounder with 6 from the guard position.
The teams traded blows in the first minute and a half of the first quarter until the Falcons went on an 11-2 run in the middle of the first half to extend their lead to 16-7. Liljander and senior guard
Richell Mehus scored nine of the 11 points during that span.
The Gusties went on a small 5-0 run to end the first quarter to make the score 16-12.
UWRF remained on top throughout the second quarter, but they were not able to get a lead bigger than seven. Mehus and sophomore forward
Taylor Karge scored 13 of the 15 points in the second quarter. The score at halftime saw the Falcons on top 31-28.
Junior guard
Katie Messman opened up the third quarter by hitting a three pointer to extend the Falcon lead to six.
Unlike the second quarter, the Falcons were able to get some distance from the Gusties. Junior forward
Kate Theisen made a layup with 3:39 to go in the third quarter to extend the Falcon lead to nine, which was the largest of the game up to that point in the game. 25 seconds later Liljander hit a layup of her own to increase the Falcon lead to 11.
UWRF held a 52-43 lead at the end of the third quarter.
UWRF kept their foot on the gas to start the fourth quarter. Karge and Messman hit back-to-back layups to extend the lead to 13. The Gusties did not go away quietly, as they cut the Falcon lead to seven points but that was as close as the Gusties were going to get to the Falcons.
Messman and Liljander hit back-to-back three-pointers with less than three minutes to play. Those two three-pointers got the Falcon-lead back up to 13 points.
After a series of made free throws made by Theisen, Messman, and Liljander the final buzzer sounded.
Along with Liljander, Mehus and Messman scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. Off the bench, Theisen contributed with 11 points.
Even though the Falcons were outrebounded by 10, the Falcons had 19-second chance points to the Gusties nine. UWRF was able to dominate the lane with 36 points in the paint to the Gusties 26 points in the paint.
The last time the Falcons were able to begin the season 4-0 was the 2011-2012 season.
The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday, November 24, when they host Bethel University. The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Karges Center.
