SUPERIOR - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team posted a season-high 78 points in its resounding 78-52 victory over UW-Superior at Mertz Mortorelli Gym tonight.

Eau Claire is now 11-4 in the conference and 17-7 overall. UW-Whitewater won 68-51 over UW-Oshkosh today so they keep pace at 11-4 as well. However, the last game of the season this Saturday features a contest between the two teams with the winner taking second in the conference.

Eau Claire is 49-10 all-time versus the Yellowjackets. This is the second victory this season against them and the 40th in a row. Superior has not a won a game over the Blugolds since 1987. Their record is 2-13 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and 8-16 overall.

Heather Witt (So.-Kendall/Royall) started the game off with a three and Eau Claire never looked back. They pushed the lead to 11-4 at 15:14 and took it to double digits at 10:02 with a 16-6 score. The Yellowjackets would not chisel the lead down to single figures for the rest of the game. After the Rachel Mueggenborg (Jr.-West Salem) three-pointer, the Blugolds pulled ahead by 16 a couple of times in the half but came into halftime out in front by 12 with a 31-19 score.

Eau Claire shot 42.3% from the floor while going 4-of-8 on threes and 5-of-8 on free throws. Superior posted a 31.8% shooting percentage while making 1-of-5 from long range and all four from the line. The half saw 16 points off turnovers for the Blugolds compared to two for Superior as well as 13 bench points to four from the Yellowjackets.

It was more of the same in the second half, though Superior did get within 10 a couple times. At the beginning of the half it was all Blugolds as the lead increased to 20 with a 41-21 score at 15:13. Superior went on a 14-to-4 run and forced a 45-35 game at 11:03. Eau Claire went up by 14 before the lead again fell to 10 at 8:48. By 6:04 the deficit was securely in the 20s with Eau Claire leading by 27 a couple times, the largest leads of the day. In the end the 78 points was the most the Blugolds had scored all season.

Over the course of the 78-52 victory, the Blugolds shot exactly 50.0%, tied for second on the year. They also went 8-of-15 from behind the arc for 53.3%. They shot 5-of-8 on free throws in each half for a 62.5% percentage. The Blugolds scored 32 points off of 26 turnovers. Eau Claire only had a season-low 10 turnovers, which led to six points.

Witt's season-high 16 points were the most for the team while Mueggenborg's 15 were not far behind. Brittanni Hakanson (So.-Wheeler/Boyceville) had six boards to lead in that category. Witt also had five assists while the team had a season-high 22.

Superior made 37.2% from the floor and 33.3% from long range. They connected 15-of-15 on their free throws, the only time an opponent has gone 100% against Eau Claire. The team outrebounded the Blugolds 31-to-28.

Katie Moench and Kaleigh Day each had 10 points while Ashley Laidley had eight rebounds.

Saturday's battle for second place will be in Whitewater and will start at 5 p.m.

Eau Claire-Superior Box Score

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