MENOMONIE - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team stayed with conference leader UW-Stout until the Blue Devils went on a 11-2 run near the end of the first half that propelled Stout to a 65-52 victory.

The Blugolds are 6-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and 12-7 overall. The team dropped from second in the WIAC standings to fourth as a result of the loss. It is also the team's seventh road loss out of 10 games away. Eau Claire still holds the all-time series 40-22.

The Blue Devils remain on top of the conference with a 9-1 WIAC mark while going 16-3 in all games. The lone WIAC loss was at Eau Claire earlier this season. Stout is ranked 12th in the D3Hoops.com poll and 13th in the coaches' poll.

The game was close early with Eau Claire taking a four-point lead a couple of times after Heather Witt (So.-Kendall/Royall) layups at 13:40 and 12:00. Stout battled back, took the lead, and increased it to eight points at 23-15 with 5:19 left to play in the first half. Thanks to a few rebounds and a Witt three, the Blugolds cut the lead back down to three at 4:41. At that point the Blue Devils found their stride and began pulling away, going on their 11-2 run to finish out the half with a 34-22 lead.

In the half Stout shot 41.7% while going 12-of-20 from the line. Eau Claire had a 34.6 shooting percentage and went 2-of-7 on free throws.

The Blugolds would not tie or retake the lead in the second half. The Stout lead fluctuated between 8 and 13 points during the first eight minutes of the second half, but Eau Claire pulled to within six with 11:41 remaining after a Michelle Burns (Jr.-Eau Claire/North) jumper. That was as close as Eau Claire got in the second half as the Blue Devils pushed their lead to double-digits by 10:02. The deficit remained that way the rest of the game as Stout handed Eau Claire its fourth conference loss.

For the game the Blugolds shot 34.5% from the floor while going 3-of-11 from behind the arc. The team shot 55.0% from the free throw line, its second worst showing of the year. The team had 11 makes out of 20 tries.

The Blue Devils went 23-of-38 on free throws for 60.5%. The makes and attempts are season-highs for an Eau Claire opponent. They also shot 39.2% from the floor and 25% from long range.

The Blugolds were outrebounded 42-to-39 and lost the turnover battle 23-to-21. The Stout defense blocked seven shots, tying for the Blue Devil high this season.

Heidi Arciszewski (So.-Thorp) led the way with 14 points, but Witt and Ashley Anderson (So.- Oakdale, MN/North St. Paul) were right behind her with 13 and 12, respectively. Witt and Burns both had seven boards, the most for the team.

Kelsey Duoss had 16 Blue Devil points with nine boards to lead in both categories. Julia Hirssig also had 13 points.

Eau Claire stays in the WIAC as it travels to UW-Platteville this Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. game.

Eau Claire-Stout Box Score

- PH -