EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - In a back-and-forth battle between I-94 rivals UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout, the Blugold women's basketball team held on to take a 73-68 victory in both team's conference opener tonight at Zorn Arena.

Tonight each team had chances with the lead changing 15 times and the score being tied 10 times. After the game was tied for the 10th time the Blugolds used a 10-0 run to make the score 69-59 with four minutes to go. Stout would not give up, however, and went on a 9-0 run of its own to cut the Blugolds' lead to one. After that, a Stout foul and technical foul on the same play allowed the Blugolds to shoot four free throws, all of which they made, to seal the deal.

Heidi Arciszewski (Sr.-Thorp, Wis.) scored a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers. Her previous career-high was 30 points, which she scored against Stout last season. Arciszewski also went 16-for-16 from the free throw line, which ties a school record for best free throw percentage and most free throws made in a game. Vanessa Schley went 16-for-16 from the line in 2001 against UW-Oshkosh. Arciszewski also led the Blugolds with seven rebounds.

Heather Witt (Sr.-Kendall, Wis./Royall) and Hannah Mesick (So.-Chatfield, Minn.) also reached double-digit point totals this evening with each picking up 12 points. Witt also led the game with six steals. Missy Fremstad (Sr.-Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) contributed eight points for Eau Claire and pulled down six boards.

Leading the Blue Devils tonight was Charlee Edwards, who recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds. Julia Hirrsig and Trisha VanVreede added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

As a team, the Blugolds went 23-for-57 from the floor (40.4 percent) but hit 24-of-30 shots from the free throw line (80 percent). Stout was an impressive 11-for-18 from beyond the arc (61.1 percent) and finished shooting 51.2 percent from the field (22-for-43). The Blue Devils took 26 shots from the charity stripe and hit 13 of them.

The Blugolds now hold a 7-0 overall record while Stout drops to 4-2. The Blugolds are now 44-23 all-time against the Blue Devils and have won the last four meetings.

Eau Claire will be back at home for two more games next week. Wednesday Platteville comes to Zorn Arena for a game at 7 p.m. and Saturday the Blugolds will take on La Crosse in the second game of a doubleheader with the men.

Eau Claire-Stout Box Score

- KM -