MENOMONIE, Wis. (December 14, 2011) - UW-Stout hung close for much of the first half, but a second period won decisively by River Falls led to a 69-38 blowout, Wednesday night at Johnson Fieldhouse, keeping the Falcons undefeated and the Blue Devils winless in conference play.

The Falcons (9-0, 3-0 WIAC) broke the game open with a run that began with five minutes to go in the first half, and ended three minutes into the second.  Over that eight minute stretch, River Falls reeled off a 23-3 run to take a 40-20 lead that would put the Blue Devils (3-8, 0-4) at an insurmountable disadvantage.

River Falls slowly built up their lead, and stretched it to 34 points with three minutes to play, their largest lead of the night.  Stout's only lead of the night came early in the game when they led 4-2, after just three and a half minutes of play.  They did, however, erase three separate deficits in the first half, the most impressive being a 10-point Falcon advantage, erased by an 11-1 run featuring baskets from five different Blue Devils.

Although not exactly potent, Stout's offensive attack was balanced.  11 players scored at least two points, and nobody scored more than five.  Sami Schoeder (So, Durand) and Brea Boomer (Fr, Grand Portage, Minn.), who played just three minutes, each ended the game with five points.  Whitney Rawdon (Jr, Eau Claire) led the team with seven rebounds.

The Falcons were just the opposite, as 45 of their 69 points came from three players.  Nikki Guhr led the way with 21 points, while Tiffany Gregorich scored 12, and Alise Holst chipped in 11.  Brittany Gregorich pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Tonight's game featured the "Playing for the Cure" campaign, which encouraged all participants and fans to sport the color pink in a collective fight of breast cancer.

The game is the last WIAC contest of the calendar year, with conference play resuming on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when the Blue Devils travel to Eau Claire.  Over Winter break, Stout will travel to Maine to compete in the University of Southern Maine's holiday tournament.