EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team rebounded from their loss to Stevens Point last Wednesday with a 76-67 victory over Platteville

The Blugolds are ranked 23rd in the D3hoops.com poll and improve their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record to 13-2 and now have an overall record of 19-5. The Blugolds are sharing first place with Whitewater going into the last game of the season on Saturday. The Pioneers drop to 5-10 in WIAC play and 11-13 overall.

The two teams traded baskets until 11:15 left in the first half. The Blugolds would score off a Rachel Mueggenborg (Sr.-West Salem, WI) layup that got the four point lead. Kali Houselog (Sr.-Neenah, WI/St. Mary Central) had a jump shot to add to the lead. Mueggenborg then had a three and Missy Fremstad (Jr.-Osseo, WI/Osseo-Fairchild) had a jumper to get the lead to nine with seven minutes left in the first half. The Blugolds would add to that lead with two jumpers from Michelle Burns (Sr.-Eau Claire, WI/North) and a Fremstad three pointer. Mueggenborg had another three at the 3:14 mark to put the lead at 15. The Blugolds would close the half with a 15 point lead, 37-22.

The Blugolds came out in the first half with two Burns jump shots, and the lead would be 19. Platteville would begin to battle and cut the lead to nine with 15:49 left to play. Mueggenborg would answer with her third three pointer of the night to put the lead at 12. The Blugolds would battle back to get the lead to 21 with an Amanda Zenner (Sr.-Medford, WI) jumper. Platteville would then go on a 9-0 run before Heather Witt (Jr.-Kendall, WI/Royall) had a three pointer with 5:24 left to play. Witt would have a jumper, but Platteville would cut the lead to nine with 1:51 left in the half. Zenner would have a layup with 28 seconds left to seal the win for the Blugolds. At the end of the game the score would be 76-67.

The Blugolds shot 53 percent from the field, 28 percent from three point range, and 70 percent from the free throw line. The Pioneers shot 43 percent from the field, 47percent from three point distance, and 59 percent from the charity stripe. The Blugolds outrebounded the Pioneers 43-25 and had five more offensive rebounds. The Blugolds committed 12 turnovers compared to the Pioneers' six.

Burns had 26 points to lead all scorers. She went 12-18 from the field and also had 10 rebounds for the double-double. Zenner had 14 points and five rebounds. Mueggenborg had 11 points, going 3-7 from long range. The Pioneers were led by Lisa Grantman's 18 points. Lisa Wubben had 16, and Megan Guernsey had 11 points.

The Blugolds have their last regular season game against Stout this Saturday at Zorn Arena starting at 3 p.m.

Eau Claire-Platteville Box Score

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