RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-River Falls women's basketball team defeated Bethany Lutheran College 79-68 Tuesday evening at Page Arena during its Samaritan's Feet game.
Blake DuDonis and the UWRF coaching staff were barefoot to support and raise awareness for
Samaritan's Feet, a nonprofit organization that "shares a message of hope and love through washing the feet of impoverished children around the world and adorning them with new shoes."
The Falcons, now 5-4 overall, tied a season-high with 30 made field goals to beat the Vikings, who received 16 votes in the latest D3hoops.com Division III Top 25 poll. BLC also previously defeated No. 17 UW-Oshkosh and No 3 UW-Eau Claire this season.
Four of five UWRF starters scored in double figures, led by
Cassie Heinrichs' career-high 20 points off 6-of-12 shooting from the field along with a 4-of-8 mark from three-point range.
Colie Justice and
Macy Nilsen notched 16 points each, followed by 11 points from
Jenna Zeman.
The Falcons got off to a good start, going up 9-2 after a Zeman layup just a couple minutes into the game. After a few lead changes, the home team lead 22-20 after the first quarter.
UWRF led by as many as 13 after opening the second quarter on an 11-0 run and led for the remainder of the game. Back-to-back
Kameri Meredith baskets led to a 41-36 Falcon lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Falcons' defense was solid, limiting BLC to 18 percent shooting from the floor in the third quarter. Justice hit a triple at the end of the third quarter to put UWRF up 60-47 to give the home team enough cushion for victory.
UWRF led 24-8 in points off turnovers and 18-7 in fast break points.
UW-River Falls returns to action Dec. 29-30 in Waverly, Iowa, facing Wartburg and Coe during the Wartburg College Holiday Tournament.
