WHITEWATER, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team suffered their first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) loss of the season to UW-Whitewater by a score of 60-50.

The loss puts the Blugolds at 10-1 in WIAC play and 16-4 overall. The Warhawks pull even with the Blugolds for first in the WIAC with the win improve their record to 10-1 in WIAC and 19-1 overall. The Warhawks are ranked third by D3hoops.com and the Blugolds are ranked 20th.

With 9:25 left in the first half, the Blugolds put up the biggest lead of the game. Heather Witt (Jr.-Kendall, WI/Royall) sunk a free throw to make the score 15-8. Whitewater would answer, but Missy Fremstad (Jr.-Osseo, WI/Osseo-Fairchild) made a jumper to keep the lead at seven. Whitewater would then go on a run with a Nicole Bundy three pointer and Dana Thompson layup. Fremstad would answer with a three, but a Trisha Thill layup and three free throws would tie the game up with 3:05 left in the half. Whitewater would get two three pointers to take the six point lead. Whitewater would close the half with an eight point lead, 30-22.

The Blugolds would try to answer with a small run in the beginning of the first half. Hannah Mesick (Fr.-Chatfield, WI) had a layup, and Michelle Burns (Sr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) added two free throws. Heidi Arciszewski (Jr.-Thorp, WI) came up with a big three pointer to cut the lead to three, but Whitewater would then increase its lead to 10. The Blugolds would cut the lead to seven with 5:49 left to play on a Burns' layup and three pointer. Whitewater would get two layups to get the lead back to 11. Arciszewski ended the half with six straight points, but the Blugolds would come up short, losing 60-50.

Whitewater shot 36 percent from the floor, 29 percent from three point range, and 63 percent from the free throw line. The Blugolds shot 33 percent from the floor, 27 percent from three point range, and 77 percent from the free throw line. The Blugolds were outrebounded 47-31, and Whitewater had 20 offensive rebounds.

Arciszewski led all scorers with 17 points. Whitewater's Lindsey Buechner had 12 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Bundy had 11 points for the Warhawks. Burns had 12 points and Fremstad had 10 points.

Next up for the Blugolds is UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday at Zorn Arena. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-Whitewater Box Score

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