EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team out-scored UW-La Crosse 25-5 over the span of 13 minutes in the second half to pull away from the Eagles and win by a final score of 66-49 tonight at Zorn Arena.

The win improves the Blugolds overall record to 12-6 and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record to 6-3. The Eagles fall to 11-7 overall and are now a game back of the Blugolds in the conference with a 5-4 record. The teams have split the season series in each of the last four seasons.

The first half was tight throughout. The biggest lead of the half was six by the Blugolds. However, the Blugolds did have the lead for the majority of the first half as the Eagles biggest lead was three in the first five minutes of the game.

An Ashley Anderson (So.-Oakdale, MN/North St. Paul) layup gave the Blugolds a 16-11 lead with 12:12 remaining in the half. La Crosse responded with a jumper and a three-pointer to tie the game up. Heather Witt (So.-Kendall, WI/Royall) made a layup to give the Blugolds a 26-20 lead with a little over seven minutes to play. The Eagles came back and tied the game back up. A Carolyn Onopa three-pointer in the final minute of the first half tied the score at 33-33, which would be the halftime score.

The Blugolds shot 58% in the first half, while Eagles shot 44%. What kept La Crosse in the game were seven offensive rebounds that led to seven second-chance points. The Blugolds had zero offensive rebounds.

The start of the second half was just like the first half as the Eagles took a 37-35 lead after a Katy Searing layup. The Blugolds then began to pull away out-scoring the Eagles 25-5 over next 13 minutes. The Blugolds started it with a 9-0 run and finished it with a 14-0 run, in which Heidi Arciszewski (So.-Thorp, WI) scored 10 of the 14 points. The Blugolds had a 60-42 lead with 3:53 to go. The Eagles only got as close as 11 the rest of the way as Eau Claire pulled away to win 66-49.

The Blugolds out-scored La Crosse in the paint in the second half 18-4. They also scored 14 points off of Eagle turnovers. Eau Claire had nine offensive rebounds in the second half and held the Eagles to just four.

For the game, the Blugolds finished with a field goal percentage of 46%. La Crosse shot just 18% in the second half to finish 33% for the game. The Blugolds out-rebounded the Eagles 35-33 in the game.

Heidi Arciszewski had a game-high 19 points for the Blugolds. Michelle Burns (Jr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) had 14 points and led the team with seven rebounds. Ashley Anderson tied a season-high with 10 points off of the bench. Heather Witt had a good all-around game with seven points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Katy Searing led La Crosse with 17 points.

The Blugolds will travel to face rival 14th-ranked UW-Stout on Wednesday night. The tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-La Crosse Box Score

- JR -