RIVER FALLS - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team lost its third straight conference game tonight, losing to UW-River Falls 72-61.

The loss drops the Blugolds to 3-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play. The win gives the Falcons a 4-4 overall record and a 2-1 conference record.

The Falcons jumped out to 9-2 lead to start the game after going on a 7-0 run. The Blugolds would come back to take their first lead on Brooke Hakanson (Fr.-Wheeler, WI/Boyceville) three-pointer with 14:57 remaining in the first half. That lead however was short-lived as Falcons regained and extended their lead to four.

The Blugolds would then go on an 8-0 run with 7:50 remaining to take a four-point lead of their own. The Blugolds would lead by as much as five with 5:33 remaining, however, the Falcons would outscore the Blugolds 12-4 the rest of the half to go into halftime with a 31-28 lead.

The Blugolds shot 45.5% in the half compared to just 30.8% for the Falcons. However, the Falcons put up 17 more shots than the Blugolds due to 13 offensive rebounds.

The Falcons would score the first eight points of the second half to extend their lead to 11 with 17:17 remaining. The Blugolds would get it down to five with 13:04 remaining, before the Falcons would put the Blugolds away going on an 11-0 run to extend the lead back to 14 with 9:06 remaining. The Falcons lead would grow to as much as 18 as the River Falls went on to win 72-61.

The Falcons shot 51.6% in the second half, compared to just 40.6% for the Blugolds. The Blugolds committed 19 turnovers in the game, while the Falcons committed just 11.

Leading the way for the Blugolds was Michelle Burns (So.-Eau Claire, WI/North) who had 17 points going 7-for-9 from the field. She also had seven rebounds. Brooke Hakanson and Ashley Anderson (Fr.-Oakdale, MN/North St. Paul) each added nine off the bench for the Blugolds.

Up next the Blugolds will host Carroll College Saturday afternoon for Parents Day. The action gets underway at 3 p.m. in Zorn Arena.

Eau Claire-River Falls Box Score

- JR -