EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - While the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team held a lead at halftime against UW-Platteville, the Blugolds were unable to hold on and fell 57-51 at Zorn Arena today.

The Blugolds drop to 7-14 on the year and 6-6 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play. Platteville improves to 12-9 overall and 5-7 in the WIAC. The win was Platteville's first over the Blugolds since February 13, 2002 and also its first win in Zorn since December 2, 1988. The teams split the series this year as the Blugolds beat Platteville 70-38 on January 6 in Platteville.

It took the teams almost two and a half minutes to score the first points of the game but just over two minutes after that, the Blugolds found themselves up by five (9-4). The teams went back and forth but the Blugolds took a lead with just over five minutes left in the half and held it the rest of the half.

Platteville came right out in the second half and drained a three to tie the game up but the Blugolds went back ahead for the next few minutes before Platteville took the lead for good at 14:05. The Blugolds closed the gap to just one point twice the rest of the way.

The Blugolds had four turnovers in the final three minutes and the Pioneers came away with points on three of the possessions to help secure the win. Eau Claire committed 19 turnovers on the day, its most since January 20 in a 69-56 loss to Stevens Point.

For the seventh straight game, Hannah Mesick (Jr.-Chatfield, Minn.) led the Blugolds in scoring with 11 points. Laura Olson (So.-Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) and Sarah Bingea (Fr.-Delano, Minn.) each added 10. Mesick also led Eau Claire with seven rebounds, but the Pioneers edged the Blugolds in rebounding 33-32. It was just the third time this year the Blugolds have been outrebounded, but the second time in a row.

Platteville did not shoot well from the floor, going 14-for-44 (31.8 percent) but had eight three-pointers to the Blugolds' four. The Pioneers also went 21-for-27 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line while the Blugolds were 3-for-3. Eau Claire went 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the floor today.

The Blugolds will play their final game of the regular season in Zorn Arena on Wednesday when UW-Stevens Point comes to town. Action will get underway at 7 p.m. and the teams will be taking part in a PinkZone event to increase breast cancer awareness.