EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team shot the ball well in the first half on its way to handing UW-River Falls its first loss of the season tonight 60-50 at Zorn Arena.

The win improves the Blugolds record to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The loss drops the Falcons to a record of 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the WIAC. This was the first road game for River Falls this season.

The Falcons got things going early, scoring the first five points of the game. The Blugolds then went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. Heidi Arciszewski (So.-Thorp, WI) had five of the nine points in the run. Eau Claire would out-score River Falls 16-2 over a six minute span as they took a 16-9 lead with 12:11 to go in the first half.

The Blugold lead continued to grow throughout the half as they went up 14 after a Brittanni Hakanson (So.-Wheeler, WI/Boyceville) layup with 8:39 remaining. Eau Claire took a 34-16 lead into halftime, their biggest lead of the half.

The Blugolds shot 56% from the field in the half and were 3-for-3 from the free throw line. River Falls shot just 29 % and was out-rebounded 16-11. The Falcons committed 13 first half turnovers, which turned into 13 Blugold points. Arciszewski had 11 first half points to lead all scorers.

The Falcons tried to crawl back into the game in the second half. The Blugold lead slowly diminished throughout the half as it was down to 12 with 15:18 to play and down to seven with just under 10 minutes to go. The Falcons eventually got the lead down to five at 41-36 with 7:43 remaining in the game.

The Eau Claire lead ranged from five to nine points over the next six minutes. With the score 53-48 with 1:01 to go, Heidi Arciszewski converted a big three-point play to make the score 56-48. Two free throws each by Amanda Zenner (Jr.-Medford, WI) and Brittanni Hakanson gave the Blugolds a 60-50 victory.

The Blugolds dropped to 40% shooting in the second half and finished with a field goal percentage of 49%. The Falcons finished at 33% from the field. Eau Claire was 13-of-16 from the free throw line, while the Falcons finished 16-for-22. The Falcons also out-rebounded the Blugolds 32-31. The Blugolds had five more assists than the Falcons and committed two less turnovers.

Heidi Arciszewski led the Blugolds in scoring with 16 points. Brittanni Hakanson finished with 14 points and Amanda Zenner had 12 points. Zenner led the team with five assists. Michelle Burns (Jr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) scored nine points and led the Blugolds with eight rebounds. Traci Reimann led all scorers with 21 points for the Falcons.

The Blugolds improve to 43-26 all-time against the Falcons and have won the last two meetings.

The Blugolds will travel to face St. Cloud State (MN) on Sunday. The tip-off for that game is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Eau Claire-River Falls Box Score

- JR -