RIVER FALLS - Rachel Mueggenborg's (Jr. -West Salem, WI) team record seventh three-pointer with 36 seconds left in overtime was enough to carry the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team to a 68-65 overtime victory tonight over UW-River Falls at the Karges Center.

Mueggenborg was 7-for-10 on three-point field goals tonight, which set a new school record for most three-pointers made in a game. The previous record was sixth held by four individuals.

Eau Claire picks up its first overtime win since a 70-69 victory over UW-Stout on December 6, 2003. The Blugolds pickup their second conference road win in a row after starting 0-4. Eau Claire improves to 9-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and 15-7 overall. The Falcons drop to a record of 8-6 in the WIAC and 14-9 overall.

Michelle Burns (Jr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) got the scoring started for the Blugolds with a jumper just under two minutes into the contest. The Falcons scored the next seven points to take an early 7-2 lead. The score remained close through the middle part of the first half.

The Blugolds took their biggest lead of the half after a Heidi Arciszewski (So.-Thorp, WI) jumper made the score 21-18 with 7:27 left to play in the half. However, that would be the final points scored in the half by the Blugolds as the Falcons went on a 12-0 run to close out the half and take a 30-21 lead into halftime.

The Falcons shot 52% in the first half, while the Blugolds were held to 39%.

The Falcons extended its advantage to 10 with 18 minutes to play. Eau Claire then out-scored the Falcons 10-3 over the next five minutes to cut the River Falls lead to 37-34. The Falcons then extended it lead back to seven with 11:20 remaining.

The Blugolds would rally back behind the three-point shooting of Rachel Mueggenborg as she hit two, three-pointers as part of a 10-0 run to give the Blugolds a 46-43 lead with 8:41 left to play. Mueggenborg's fourth three-pointer of the half gave Eau Claire a 51-45 lead with over five minutes to play.

The Falcons answered with a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead, but Mueggenborg hit another three-pointer to give back the lead to Eau Claire. After the Falcons regained the lead, Heidi Arciszewski connected on two free throws to tie the game 56-56 with two minutes left. Mueggenborg would not be done as she hit her sixth three of the second half with 12 seconds left to give Eau Claire a 59-56 lead. River Falls came back down the court and Melanie Preiner stepped up and hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

Preiner would hit another three-pointer in overtime to give River Falls a 62-59 lead. A free throw by Amanda Zenner (Jr.-Medford, WI) tied the game at 63-63 with 2:20 left. Mueggenborg then hit her seventh three-pointer of the game with 36 seconds left to play to give Eau Claire a 66-63 lead. After a River Falls layup, Heidi Arciszewski hit two critical free throws with 17 seconds left. The Falcons had a chance to tie at the end, but the attempt was offline and Blugolds escaped with a 68-65 victory.

Mueggenborg led all-scorers with a career-high 24 points, all coming in the second half and overtime. Heidi Arciszewski added 18 points and Ashley Anderson (So.-Oakdale, MN/North St. Paul) had 10 points. Michelle Burns led the Blugolds with 13 rebounds. Traci Reimann had 14 points to lead the Falcons.

The Blugolds will play their final home contest of the regular season this Saturday when they host UW-Oshkosh at Zorn Arena for Senior/Alumnae Night. The game will follow the men's game at approximately 5 p.m.

Eau Claire-River Falls Box Score

- JR -