DUBUQUE, Iowa — The UW-River Falls Women's Basketball team defeated Loras, 65-57, on Day 1 of the Paxton Classic in Dubuque, Iowa on Sunday, December 29.
After a back-and-forth first half, UWRF out-scored Loras 37-27 in the second half and limited the Duhawks' offensive efforts late in the game. The win improved UWRF's record on the season to 7-3 overall.
The Duhawks opened the game on an 8-2 run, but the Falcons bounced back to trim the deficit to 8-6 after back-to-back layups by Zoey Buchan. Both teams exchanged a flurry of baskets, before going scoreless for nearly four minutes. Buchan and Olivia Hoerl added baskets in the final 46 seconds to put UWRF up 15-12 at the end of the first frame. The Falcons finished 7-16 (43.8%) from the field in the first quarter and held the Duhawks to 25% shooting.
The Falcons opened the second frame with back-to-back three-pointers and built up their lead to upwards of nine points. After UW-River Falls led 21-12 with 7:42 remaining, Loras embarked on a 12-2 run to retake the lead, 24-23, with 3:04 left in the half. The Falcons went into halftime trailing 30-28 after Jaya Hatlestad drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer. Buchan led UWRF with nine first-half points.
UWRF started off the third quarter with a strong push out of halftime, building up a 46-39 lead with 3:18 to go. The Duhawks trimmed that lead with a late-quarter push, as the Falcons held a narrow 50-48 advantage heading into the final frame. UW-River Falls shot 9-16 (56.3%) from the field in a third quarter that saw the Falcons out-score the Duhawks 22-18.
After the Duhawks scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 50-50, the Falcons embarked on a 9-2 run that put UWRF up 59-52 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. The Falcons held the Duhawks to just one field goal in the final 4:30 of the game, walking off with a 65-57 victory.
Hoerl scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, and added 10 rebounds to mark her second career double-double. Olivia Miron added seven rebounds and Buchan grabbed six boards — Buchan finished with 14 points on the day and dished out four assists. Miron and Hoerl each tallied two steals.
As a team, UWRF shot 24-62 (38.7%) from the field and 8-19 (42.1%) from three-point range. The Falcons capitalized off 28 points in the paint and 16 points off turnovers.
Up next, the Falcons will conclude the Paxton Classic with a matchup against Dubuque at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 30.
