Blugold Women's Basketball Stays Unbeaten in WIAC with Win over UW-Stout

More news about: UW-Eau Claire

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The 24th-ranked UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team won big over UW-Stout 77-43 at Zorn Arena tonight.

The Blugolds, who have won nine straight games, remain undefeated in conference play with a 5-0 record. They improve to 12-2 overall while Stout falls to 4-10 on the season and 0-5 in the WIAC.

In the first 11 minutes of tonight's game, the teams went back and forth and found themselves tied at 18 with nine minutes to play in the first half. Over the first 11 minutes, Stout led by as much as six points while the score was tied three times.

But an Ellen Plendl (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) free throw after the game was tied at 18 started a 17-0 run for the Blugolds that lasted almost five minutes. From there, Stout couldn't recover and the Blugolds took a 15-point lead into halftime (37-22).

In the second half, the Blue Devils scored just 21 points while the Blugolds finished with 40. Over the first 14 minutes of the half, the Blugolds scored 23 while Stout managed just 14. The Blugolds finished with an 8-2 run over the final four minutes of the game.

Nicole Christianson (Sr.-Chetek, Wis.) had a big second half, scoring 14 of her game-high 16 points. She went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Plendl led the game with 10 rebounds and completed a double-double as she also scored 14 points. She also finished with six blocks.

As a team, the Blugolds outshot the Blue Devils 48.4 percent (30-for-62) to 28.1 percent (16-for-57). They also outrebounded Stout 47-33.

Saturday, the Blugolds will play in a doubleheader with the men at UW-Stevens Point. Tip-off for the women's game is set for 3 p.m. while the men's game will follow.

-KM-