Box Score

Milwaukee, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) – In game two of the Wisconsin Lutheran Tournament, the UW-River Falls women's basketball team lost their first game of the season Carthage College 74-60. Carthage dropped 14 three pointers on the Falcons to help out run UWRF. 

THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 60, Carthage College 74
Location: Recreation Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Record: UWRF: 2-1, Carthage College 2-1
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• The Falcons started the first quarter with senior guard Brynn Liljander on the free throw line to take the first lead of the game. Liljander would go on to score six of the Falcons first 11 points and help UWRF battle back and forth with Carthage.
• UWRF and Carthage exchanged the lead seven times in the first quarter alone. The Falcons would have the advantage at the buzzer with an 18-15 lead, their largest of the quarter.
• The Falcons would start the second quarter with a bang. Liljander continue her hot first quarter start with back-to-back three pointers at the start of the quarter and Mikaela Wilson hit two free throws to give the Falcons an 11 point lead with 8:20 to go in the half.  
• Wisconsin Lutheran would respond late in the quarter, scoring six straight points to cut the lead to just five points at halftime.
• UWRF would hold off Carthage for most of the second quarter with the lead hovering around eight points until Carthage used an 8-0 run to end the half to tie the game up 33-33 at the buzzer.
• In the half, the leading scorer was Liljander with 15 points, the most by a Falcon in a half this season. She was 5-8 including 3-3 from the three point line. Kate Theisen and Taylor Karge each had four for the Falcons. Hannah Pignato and Taylor Paulsrud each had a three pointer in the half for UWRF. As a team, UWRF shot 12-30 (40 percent) and 5-10 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.
• The third quarter proved to be vital for Carthage. The Lady Reds would battle back and forth for the first five minutes with neither team leading by more than two points. Carthage would use a 16-0 run to take a 15 point lead with just 1:11 left in the third quarter. They converted four shots in a row and 6-8 during the run to take control by 13 points entering the fourth quarter.
• Facing their largest deficit of the young season, the run continued for Carthage. Scoring the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, the Lady Reds extended their lead to 24 points with 5:48 to go in the game. Carthage would not make another three the rest of the game, but up until this point they had converted 14-23 (60.8 percent) shots from the three point line.
• River Falls would make up a few of the points in the remaining five minutes, but the Falcons ran out of time with the final score 74-60 in favor of Carthage.

 
IN-DEPTH LOOK

• Liljander would finish with a team-high 17 points on the night on 5-10 shooting and 3-4 from downtown. She added five rebounds and four assists on the night.
• Crystal Pearson would lead the Falcons off the bench. With nine points she registered her highest scoring night as a Falcon. She was 4-5 from the floor and added two rebounds.
• The rest of the UWRF starting five combined for 26 points. Paulsrud finished with nine points and four rebounds. Karge had nine points and six rebounds. Theisen had six points and six rebounds, and Katie Messman had four points and six rebounds.
• As a team, UWRF was 23-64 (35.9 percent) from the floor and shot 6-12 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc. The Falcons got to the line just 10 times, but converted eight of those attempts.
• UWRF won the rebound battle against the Lady Reds 45-32, and had 16 offensive rebounds that lead to 12 second chance points.

 
THE OPPOSITION

• The Lady Reds got an all-around performance from their leading scorers. Madie Kaelber scored a team-high 19 points on 6-9 shooting including five three pointers. Fellow starter Morgan Harris scored 16 points on 5-9 shooting and had three shots from beyond the three point line go in. Mandy Hozzian scored 15 points off the bench for Carthage with all of her points coming from her five three pointers.
• As a team, the Lady Reds shot 26-58 (44.8 percent) from the floor and connected on 14-25 (56 percent) from three point land to defeat the Falcons.
• The Lady Reds totaled 29 points off the bench as a team and passed around 21 assists. Shooting 8-12 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line and taking what the Falcons gave them, Carthage scored 27 points off the Falcons 19 turnovers.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
Bethel is up next for UW-River Falls on November 22^nd at 5:45. Last season the Falcons beat Bethel in River Falls by a score of 61-59 in an upset win over then ranked Bethel. The 12^th ranked Falcons will open their last season in Karges on November 29^th at 6 p.m. against Viterbo University.