Box Score

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - In a back and forth game, the 18^th ranked UW- River Falls women's basketball team (16-4, 7-2 WIAC) won a road contest over UW- Eau Claire (9-11, 4-5 WIAC) with three Falcons scoring in double figures.

In the first quarter, the Falcons and Blugolds played tight with the lead never exceeding three points for either team. The Falcons led 14-12 after the first quarter with each starter scoring at least two points.

The second quarter of play is where the Falcons performed best on both sides of the ball. UWRF outscored UW- Eau Claire 19-9, with Kate Theisen scoring the first eight points of the quarter, the Falcons had their largest lead of the game which was 14 points. The Falcons led 33-21 at the halftime buzzer.

As the start of the second half began, the Blugolds went on a run of their own with a 20-4 run and had a lead 41-37 with 2:51 to go in the third quarter. The Falcons found themselves facing a two point deficit going into the fourth quarter with the score at 43-41.

In the final quarter of play, UWRF and UW- Eau Claire battled early with the Falcons taking the lead back early, and neither team leading by more than three points until 4:15 to go when Richell Mehus sank a layup to go up by four points. UW- Eau Claire tied up the game 53-53 with 1:23 to go, Mehus took matters into her own hands with a steal and took the ball coast to coast and gave UWRF the lead back for good.

Leading for the Falcons in the score sheet was Mehus who finished with 14 points and added six rebounds and three steals. Theisen was 5-9 from the floor and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, five of which were offensive. Brynn Liljander was 9-9 from the free throw line, and finished with 13 points.

Leading scorer Taylor Karge finished with nine points and had four rebounds and three assists. Katie Messman scored eight points to put the Falcon starters at 58 out of the total 60 points. Cassy Saxton was the only bench player to score, she finished with two points.

As a team, UWRF struggled from the floor shooting 18-58 (31 percent), but hit 20-23 (87 percent) from the charity stripe. The Falcons forced 18 Blugold turnovers, and scored 13 points off those turnovers.

Next up for the Falcons will be 16^th ranked UW- Stevens Point on Saturday February 6 with the start of the game set for 3 p.m. UWRF fell to the Pointers earlier this season 63-52. The winner of Saturday's game will be in sole possession of second place of the WIAC.