EAU CLAIRE - Sophomore guard Heather Witt (So. -Kendall, WI/Royall) had a career-high in both steals and assists with five each and she also had a career-high seven rebounds off of the bench as the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team defeated UW-Platteville today by a score of 58-41 in Zorn Arena.

The Blugolds snap a two-game conference losing streak with the win and improve to an overall record of 10-6. They climb back above .500 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 4-3 record. The Pioneers fall to an overall record of 8-8 and a conference record of 2-5.

Amanda Zenner (Jr.-Medford, WI) scored the first points of the game a minute into action with a jumper to give Eau Claire a 2-0 lead. Platteville then scored the next five points to take a 5-2 lead. The Blugolds came back to score the next six points led by two fast break layups by Heather Witt to give Eau Claire an 8-5 advantage with 13:19 left to play in the first half. The Blugolds would lead the rest of the way.

The Blugolds ended up out-scoring the Pioneers 16-4 through the middle part of the first half and had an 18-9 lead with 3:51 remaining. Eight different Blugolds scored during that stretch. The Blugolds went into halftime with a 22-15 advantage.

The Blugolds shot just 33% in the first half, but their defense held Platteville to 21% shooting. Both teams combined for 1-for-13 on three-pointers in the half. The Pioneers did out-rebound the Blugolds 23-18.

The Blugolds came out firing in the second half as they scored the first 10 points to cap off a 12-0 run in total to take a 32-15 lead with 14:36 remaining. The Pioneers got their first bucket of the half at the 14:13-mark. Rachel Mueggenborg (Jr.-West Salem, WI) had a big second half for Eau Claire off of the bench as she had all 12 of her points in the half.

The Blugold lead grew to as high as 24 after a Michelle Burns (Jr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) layup made the score 54-30 with 5:32 to go in the game. The Blugolds cruised the rest of the way and won by a score of 58-41. This was the 10th consecutive victory for the Blugolds against the Pioneers.

Eau Claire shot 45% in the second half and finished at 40% for the game. The Pioneers also shot better in the second half, but still finished under 30% for the game. The Blugolds, the best free throw shooting team in the conference, went 10-for-10 from the line. They out-scored Platteville in the paint 38-22.

Michelle Burns led the Blugolds in scoring with 14 points. Along with Witt, Burns had seven rebounds to led the team. Heidi Arciszewski (So.-Thorp, WI) added 10 points for Eau Claire. Liz Tesch led Platteville in scoring with 14 points.

The Blugolds will host UW-Superior on Wednesday night at Zorn Arena. The NCAA's mascot J.J. Jumper will be in the house signing autographs as it will be Youth Night at the arena. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-Platteville Box Score

- JR -