BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - While the ninth-ranked UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team hung with the No. 1-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Titans in the beginning of both halves, the Titans came out on top 80-63 in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament at the Shirk Center tonight.

The Blugolds end their season with a 24-6 mark, recording their most wins since the 2002-03 season and their fewest losses since the 2003-04 season. IWU remains unbeaten with a 29-0 overall record and moves on in the tournament. The Titans will face UW-Stevens Point in the Sweet 16 next weekend. Last season the Blugolds also fell in the second round of the tournament.

After leading for almost the first four minutes of the contest, the Blugolds let IWU back into the game. It took the Titans more than three minutes to score their first basket and they then proceeded to take their first lead less than two minutes later. Following a tie five minutes in, Illinois Wesleyan took the lead for good at 14:47. Six 3-pointers in the first half helped the Titans get back into the game and built their lead to as much as 13. But the Blugolds would not go away and cut the Titans' lead to just six after a 7-0 run capped by a Pam Kaye (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis./Brookfield Central) 3-pointer with one second to go in the half to make the score 38-32.

With momentum heading into the second half, the Blugolds continued to put pressure on the Titans and steadily chipped away at their lead. With just over 16 minutes to go Eau Claire was able to get within two with the score 47-45. But the Titans used a 17-4 run to build their lead back to 15 and while the Blugolds were able to as close as eight points with just over four minutes to go, IWU had a 14-5 run to end the Blugolds hopes of extending their season.

For the game the Titans shot 50 percent from the floor, going 28-for-56, while the Blugolds were 21-for-53 (39.6 percent). Illinois Wesleyan was 10-for-27 from beyond the arc while the Blugolds finished 4-for-16. The Blugolds had a good night from the charity stripe and finished 17-for-20 as the Titans were 14-for-23.

Heidi Arciszewski (Sr.-Thorp, Wis.) led the way for the Blugolds with 15 points while she also came up with six rebounds. Ellen Plendl (Fr.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Missy Fremstad (Sr.-Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) added nine points for the Blugolds while Kaye added eight. Heather Witt (Sr.-Kendall, Wis./Royall) finished the night with seven points, one steal and a team-high three assists. She tied for a single-season record number of steals with 99 this season.

Illinois Wesleyan's Claire Sheehan led the game with 17 points while Mallory Heydorn and Christina Solari both finished with 13. Sheehan also led the team with eight rebounds while Stacey Arlis finished with six.

Seniors Arciszewski, Witt, Fremstad, Kaye and Ashley Anderson ( Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul) all competed in their final game for the Blugolds tonight.

Eau Claire-Illinois Wesleyan Box Score

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