EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLCSports.com) - UW-Eau Claire outscored Wisconsin Lutheran College by 17 points in the third quarter to pull away from a one-point halftime lead and hand the Warriors a 73-58 non-conference defeat on Saturday at Sonnentag Event Center.

The Warriors (4-4), who were neck-and-neck with the Blugolds for three quarters, were held to just 18.2 percent (2-for-11) shooting in the third quarter. 

WLC fell behind 19-6 with five minutes gone by in the first quarter after UWEC made seven of its first 10 field goal attempts. Wisconsin Lutheran climbed back into the game with a 14-3 scoring run behind three-pointers from seniors Haley Ott (Germantown, Wis.) and Lexy Smit (Brandon, Wis.) to trail just 22-20 after the opening period.

A three-pointer from Smit less than two minutes into a back-and-forth second quarter gave the Warriors their first lead, 27-26, since the opening moments of the game. Senior Mack Hogenson (Neenah, Wis.) drained a three with two minutes left for a 32-31 advantage, before a last-minute basket from Eau Claire gave them a 33-32 halftime edge.

With the score knotted 35-35 just over a minute into the third quarter, the Blugolds rattled off 13 straight points to pull away from the third tie score of the contest. UWEC, which shot 71.4 percent compared to WLC's 18.2 percent in the quarter, extended its advantage to 18 points at 60-42 when the quarter came to a close.

Eau Claire led by a game-high 19 points within the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but a 10-0 run by Wisconsin Lutheran brought its deficit down to just nine points with just over six minutes left. Four straight points from the Blugolds pushed their lead back to double-digits, where it remained for the final six minutes of the game.

Sophomore Margie Stevens (Oneida, Wis.) led the Warriors with 12 points and three assists, while senior Janiyah Goner (Milwaukee, Wis.) added 10 points. Freshman Abby Cole (Fond du Lac, Wis.) corralled a team- and season-high 11 rebounds. WLC shot 30.6 percent (19-for-62) from the floor, but matched a season-high with 11 three-point makes and 10 steals.

Kyla Overskei tallied a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for UWEC (4-5), which shot 57.1 percent (28-for-49) from the field for the game.

Wisconsin Lutheran hosts Loras (1-7) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. for its final home game of the 2024 calendar year. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.