EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - In a back and forth battle, the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team came up just short to rival UW-Stout, falling 67-66 at Zorn Arena today.

The Blugolds drop to 3-6 on the season and 2-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Stout improves to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the WIAC. The Blue Devils have now won three straight while the Blugolds have lost two straight.

In a game where the lead changed seven times while being tied 11 other times, the Blugolds jumped out to the early 2-0 lead before Stout went on a 9-1 run to go up by six. Eau Claire followed with a run of its own, 14-5, to go back up. The lead changed three more times in the first half and Stout took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Stout controlled much of the second half and got up by as much as nine at one point. Following Stout's largest lead of the game, the Blugolds went on a 12-3 run to tie the game back up with just over nine minutes to go. Hannah Mesick (Jr.-Chatfield, Minn.) scored 10 of the Blugolds' 12 points in that stretch.

The Blugolds kept the game close the rest of the way, never allowing Stout to get up by more than five while they were within one point three times, and it was tied up two other times. Jodi Lindner (Sr.-Neillsville, Wis.) hit a three-pointer with less than a second to go to bring the Blugolds within one for the final time.

While Eau Claire outshot and outrebounded the Blue Devils, Stout had eight fewer turnovers. The Blugolds turned the ball over 25 times, 18 alone in the first half, and Stout was able to capitalize with 24 points off the miscues. Eau Claire scored just 13 points off 17 Blue Devil turnovers.

Mesick led the game in scoring with 22 points while Sarah Bingea (Fr.-Delano, Minn.) added 12 and Jess Freagon (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) had 10. Callie Halama (So.-Independence, Wis.) tied for a game-high seven boards with Stout's Julia Hirssig, who also led the Blue Devils with 21 points.

The Blugolds will be off until next Saturday when they travel to South Dakota for a game against Augustana College. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.