Box Score

RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The UW- River Falls Falcons (5-0, 0-0 WIAC) took down the 22^nd preseason ranked Bethel Royals in a 61-59 thriller at Karges Center with the game winning three pointer coming from junior guard Katie Messman with 1:16 to go in the fourth quarter. Messman's three was the only one for the Falcons in the game.

The Falcons offense was stagnant to start the game falling behind by eight points with 1:32 to go in the first quarter. The eight point deficit was the largest of the season for the Falcons.

UWRF ended the first quarter with seven points from Kate Theisen and trailed 22-17 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Falcons found their footing with a 12-3 run to start the second quarter to take a four point lead with 6:05 in the second quarter with Taylor Augustine scoring six points in the quarter and the Falcons second unit getting the Falcons back into the game with the pesky Royals. Augustine finished with six points and eight rebounds in the first half alone.

After coming back from the eight point deficit, the Falcons maintained a lead all the way until halftime with the lead growing to five points before Bethel trimmed it to one point at 33-32 at halftime. The Falcons finished the second quarter outscoring Bethel 16-10. Theisen led with nine points in just eight minutes in the first half after she left with three fouls.

The rebounding battle in the first half was dominated by the Falcons, outrebounding the Royals 26-13. UWRF allowed Bethel to remain close by turning over the ball 11 times and shooting 11-22 (50 percent) from the free throw line. The Falcons also were 0-8 (zero percent) from the three point line in the first half, their first half of the season without a three pointer.

The second half of the game proved to be just as close as the first half, in the third quarter Bethel tied the game early with a free throw and scored the first six points of the half to take a five point lead with 6:19 in the third.

Bethel was able to hold off the Falcons in the third quarter, but was unable to stop sophomore forward Taylor Karge who scored all eight points in the third quarter for the Falcons shooting 3-5 and hitting two free throws on two separate and-one opportunities in the quarter. Bethel lead 45-41 at the end of the third outscoring the Falcons 13-8.
In the fourth quarter, the Falcons trailed by as much as six points before finally knotting the game up 57-57 with 3:13 to go on a Theisen layup in the paint where she made all six of her shots on the night.

After bringing the score to 57-57, the teams combined to miss their next four shots as well as combining to miss three free throws. Karge connected first to give the Falcons a 58-57 lead after a free throw. The Royals answered with a quick layup on the other end and took the one point lead with 1:32 to go.

The Falcons next possession broke the cold spell from the three point line as Katie Messman connected from downtown and gave UWRF a 61-59 lead with 1:16 to go. Previously to the shot by Messman, the Falcons had been 0-17 (zero percent) from the three point line, the most threes attempted without a make from the three point line in over 15 years.

With the game on the line, both Bethel and UWRF turned the ball over before a missed layup by Karge gave Bethel one last chance with just seconds remaining. Bethel got a shot off, but the missed layup by Hannah Niewald, and victorious rebound by Theisen sealed the Falcons fifth win of the season.

For the game, the Falcons shot 22-61 (36.1 percent) from the field, and 16-30 (53.3 percent) from the free throw line. UWRF stole nine balls from the Royals and out-hustled Bethel with 47 rebounds to the Royals 33 and also had 15 second chance points to the Royals five.

Bench points were a difference in the game with Theisen scoring 17 off the bench on 6-10 shooting and Augustine scoring six points and adding eight rebounds as well.
Scoring leaders along with Theisen was Karge with 15 points on 5-10 shooting to go along with her nine rebounds, six of those were on the offensive side, Karge also knocked down five of her six shots from the charity stripe. Ali Clark and Messman also added five on the night.

The Falcons take their perfect record and set up a matchup against College of St. Scholastica (1-3, 0-0 UMAC) on Sunday November 29 at the Karges Center with the tip set for 3 p.m. The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-10.