EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - Despite a late second-half surge, the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team fell short to Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) 72-66 at Zorn Arena tonight.

The Blugolds (1-4) got down early in the game as the Gusties (2-1) built an 11-point lead just over 11 minutes in to the game. While Eau Claire closed the gap to single-digits again, Gustavus went back up by 11 before heading in to the locker room.

The Blugolds did not help themselves in the first half as they committed 18 turnovers to Gustavus' six. The Gusties capitalized on the Blugolds' miscues in the first half and scored 23 points off turnovers.

In the second half, the Blugolds came out with new life and closed the gap to just three after starting the half with a 10-4 run. Midway through the half, the Gusties found themselves with a double-digit lead once again but Eau Claire went on an 11-2 run to close the gap to just one point with 2:26 remaining. Gustavus would hold strong, however, and outscored the Blugolds 8-3 over the final two minutes to take home the six-point win.

Gustavus used three-pointers to stay ahead of the Blugolds as they were 9-for-27 from beyond the arc. The Blugolds on the other hand, used three-pointers to get back in the game as they made two of their four in the final three minutes, including the shot that cut the Gusties' lead to just one.

For the game, the Blugolds outshot the Gusties 59.5 percent (25-for-42) to 37.9 percent (22-for-58) but turnovers hurt the Blugolds as they finished with 28 to Gustavus' eight. The Blugolds were strong once again in the paint and came up with 41 rebounds while Gustavus had 17. Eau Claire also scored 32 of its points down low while Gustavus had 22.

Hannah Mesick (Jr.-Chatfield, Minn.) led three Blugolds in double-figures with 19 points. Leah Rempert (Fr.-Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger) finished with 13 and Ellen Plendl (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) added 11. Mesick also had a game-high nine rebounds while three other Blugolds pulled down six apiece.

The Blugolds will be at home two more times this week, Wednesday against UW-Oshkosh at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. against UW-La Crosse. Wednesday will be student appreciation night while Saturday will be parents day.