WAUKESHA - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team almost came back from a 12-point deficit with a little over three minutes to play in the second half and had a chance to tie at the end, but came up short as it lost to Carroll College today by a score of 64-61.

The loss drops the Blugolds to 6-4 overall, while the Pioneers improve to a record of 8-2. The win by Carroll snaps a two-game losing streak against the Blugolds.

The Blugolds scored the first points of the game on a Brittanni Hakanson (So.-Wheeler, WI/Boyceville) layup. Eau Claire then jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a Michelle Burns (Jr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) free throw. The Pioneers took their first lead of the game at 12-11 with 12:38 left to go in the first half.

The Blugolds last lead of the contest would come with 10 minutes remaining in the half when Ashley Anderson (So.-Oakdale, MN/North St. Paul) made a layup to make the score 15-14. Carroll then went on a 7-0 run to take a 21-15 lead. The lead only got as high as seven in the first half as Eau Claire ended the half out-scoring the Pioneers 7-2. The score at the half was 25-23 Carroll.

The Blugolds shot just 35% in the first half, while the Pioneers shot 44%. Both teams went 0-for-4 on three-pointers and both teams had similar numbers inside as the Blugolds got 14 points in the paint and the Pioneers got 16 points.

Eau Claire kept it close early in the second half as a jumper by Amanda Zenner (Jr.-Medford, WI) made the score 31-29 Carroll with over 15 minutes to play. After that shot, the Pioneers went on 6-0 run to extend it lead to eight, its biggest of the game up to that point.

The Pioneers eventually lengthened its lead to 49-37 with 6:17 left in the game. The lead remained at 12 at 51-39 with 3:21 to go. The Blugolds then went on an 8-0 run with the help of a layup and a three-pointer by Rachel Mueggenborg (Jr.-West Salem, WI) and a three-pointer by Heidi Arciszewski (So.-Thorp, WI) to make the score 51-47 with 1:56 on the clock.

The Carroll lead stayed around six until Mueggenborg hit another three-pointer to cut the lead to three with 14 seconds left. Heather Witt (So.-Kendall, WI/Royall) then got a steal and the Blugolds a chance to tie. However, with seven seconds left the Blugolds turned the ball over and the Pioneers hit two free throws to ice the game as Carroll went on to win 64-61.

Both teams shot considerably better in the second half as Eau Claire shot 47% and Carroll shot 61%. The Blugolds finished at 41% for the game and the Pioneers finished at 51%. Carroll out-rebounded Eau Claire 34-28. The Pioneers got to the free throw line 23 times in the second half and hit 17.

The Blugolds bench out-scored Carroll's bench 19-0 in the second half with 17 of the 19 coming from Rachel Mueggenborg. She scored 15 of those career-high 17 points in the final three minutes. Michelle Burns added 14 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Heidi Arciszewski was the only other Blugold in double-figures with 10 points. Crystal Hoewisch led Carroll with 23 points.

The Blugolds next action will be at the four-team Trinity University (TX) Holiday Tournament on Thursday, December 28th. The Blugolds will face Bethel University (MN) at 2 p.m.

Eau Claire-Carroll Box Score

- JR -