WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The sixth-ranked UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team moved on to the championship game of Otterbein College's Smokey Ballenger Tournament with a 82-40 victory over Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) today.

The Blugolds remain undefeated on the season with a 10-0 record, while Case Western falls to 5-3. With the win, the Blugolds will now face host Otterbein in the championship game of the tournament at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

Eau Claire controlled today's game from the beginning, scoring the game's first points 20 seconds in with a Heidi Arciszewski (Sr.-Thorp, Wis.) layup. The Blugolds then went on to score seven more to push their lead to nine before Case Western found the basket more than three minutes into the game. Eau Claire steadily increased its lead throughout the rest of the half and took a 20-point lead into halftime. The second half went on in similar fashion with the Blugolds continuing to control the pace of the game. The Blugolds scored 38 second-half points while Case Western was only able to accumulate 16 and the Blugolds took home a 42-point victory.

For the game the Blugolds shot 54 percent from the floor, while Case Western only shot 27.6 percent. The Blugolds outrebounded Case Western, pulling down 49 rebounds to Case Western's 26.

Four Blugolds reached double-figures today with Heather Witt (Sr.-Kendall, Wis./Royall) leading the game with 17 points. She also had a game-high four steals and a team-high four assists. Hannah Mesick (So.-Chatfield, Minn.) contributed 12 points for the game, while Arciszewski and Missy Fremstad (Sr.-Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) each added 11. Jodi Lindner (Jr.-Neillsville, Wis.) and Arciszewski both pulled down eight rebounds to lead the game.

Ashleigh Tondo led Case Western with 12 points, while Caitlin Henry led the team with six rebounds. Austin Howell had a team-high three steals and Beth Andrasik recorded a game-high five assists.

Eau Claire-Case Western Box Score

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