MENOMONIE, Wisc.? The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team defeated its I-94 rival and last year's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) champion UW-Stout 70-59 today at Johnson Fieldhouse in Menomonie. This was the WIAC Conference opener for both teams.The Blugolds are now 5-1 overall and 1-0 in WIAC play. The Blue Devils fall to 3-4 on the season. This was the first loss in Johnson Fieldhouse for the Blue Devils in almost two years.

The Blugolds started off sloppy and the Blue Devils scored the first five points of the game off turnovers. Hannah Mesick (Fr.-Chatfield, MN) had a jumper to get the Blugolds on the board. Stout's Charlee Edwards answered with a three, but a Heidi Arciszewski (Jr.-Thorp, WI) jumper and Heather Witt (Jr.-Kendall, WI/Royall) three tied the game up at eight. A Rachel Mueggenborg (Sr.-West Salem, WI) layup put the Blugolds up by two. They would not trail again. Stout would tie the game again at 12 with Lindsey Geissler's two free throws. Arciszewski and Witt would then take over and score the next 12 points. Arciszewski had a jumper and followed that with a three. Witt would have back-to-back layups and then a three that put the Blugolds up by 12.

The rest of the half would be a lot of free throws with both teams being in the bonus. Michelle Burns (Sr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) would add to the Blugolds' lead with a pair of free throws and a jumper. Missy Fremstad (Jr.-Osseo, WI/Osseo-Fairchild) added two free throws that would give the Blugolds their biggest lead of the half at 15 with 5:19 left. Lindsey Geissler would cut the lead with a three pointer, but a Ashley Anderson (Jr.-Oakdale, MN/North St. Paul) layup made the score 32-19. Heather Witt closed out the half for the Blugolds with a layup. The score would be 34-22 in favor of the Blugolds.

The beginning of the second half would be scary for the Blugolds with Stout coming out and scoring eight unanswered points to make the score 34-30. Rachel Mueggenborg would have a layup at the 15:45 mark to keep the Blugolds up by six. Stout's Lindsey Geissler would have two free throws to make the Blugolds' lead only four, but Kali Houselog (Sr.-Neenah, WI/St. Mary Central) came in and provided a big spark for the Blugolds. Houselog scored three big points in keeping the Blugolds' lead. Most of Stout's points at the middle of the half would come from free throws. Julia Hirssig added four free throws, but Houselog and Michelle Burns would score to put the Blugolds up by 10 with 12:08 left in the half. Houselog and Missy Fremstad added four free throws to make the score 49-37.

The Blugolds would add to this lead with Heather Witt free throws and a Heidi Arciszewski three point play. Both teams at this point were in the bonus and many free throws were shot. The Blue Devils went on a 4-0 run with Julia Hirssig and Charlee Edward's free throws to make the score 56-43. Witt would answer with two free throws. Edwards would score on a turnover, but Michelle Burns made a jumper to put the Blugolds up 60-45. Amanda Zenner (Sr.-Medford, WI) chipped in two key free throws to keep the Blugolds up by double digits. Stout would go on a little run with Tricia VanVreede scoring five straight points, but Witt would answer once again with a huge three. Witt wasn't done and came down the next possession with another three. The score would be 68-52. Stout's Lindsey Geissler and Julia Hirssig would score seven points together, but Michelle Burns had a big jumper to make the Blugolds' lead to 14, and the score 70-56. The final score would be 70-59 with the Blugolds winning.

The Blugolds outscored Stout in the first half 34-22, but Stout scored 37 points in the second half, while the Blugolds scored 36. The Blugolds shot 52% from the floor in the first half, while the Blue Devils shot 26%. From three point land the Blugolds were 60% in the first half and 50% in the second half. Stout was 21% in the first half and was 0-7 in the second half. Many free throws were shot in this game. The Blue Devils shot 27 free throws, making 22 of them. The Blugolds were 19-25 from the line. The Blugolds committed 21 turnovers, with Stout having 19 turnovers.

Heather Witt led all scorers with 22 points. Witt was 7-9 from the field, while going 4-5