Elmhurst steals win with fourth-quarter rally

PLATTEVILLE – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team led for nearly 28 minutes of Wednesday's game against Elmhurst College, but it wasn't quite enough.

The visiting Bluejays forced 15 second-half turnovers and outscored the Pioneers 30-20 in the fourth quarter to steal a 76-69 non-conference victory at Bo Ryan Court.

UW-Plateville (2-6) rode the hot start of junior forward Elisa Bilderback (Platteville) to a 41-33 halftime advantage, but in the end foul trouble and turnovers allowed the lead to slip away.

Elmhurst forced 25 Pioneer turnovers and registered 13 steals in the game (10 in the second half) that lead directly to 31 points.

A layup by freshman guard Morgan Horstman (Bangor) at the 5:33 mark of the opening quarter gave the home team an 8-7 edge, a lead it would hold for the next two-and-a-half quarters of play.

Bilderback scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the opening quarter as UW-Platteville closed the period on a 20-11 run to build a 26-18 lead.

The Bluejays (5-4) cut the deficit to three points midway through the second quarter at 31-28, but the Pioneers pushed the lead back to eight by halftime on a Jalen Knowlton (Chippewa Falls) free throw and a Bilderback layup in the final 52 seconds of the half.

Elmhurst held UW-Platteville to just eight points in the third quarter to chip away at the lead, as UWP clung to a slim 49-46 entering the final 10 minutes of play.

With freshmen centers Allison Prestegaard (Amboy, Ill.) and Lexis Macomber (Lanark, Ill.) in foul trouble most of the night, Elmhurst continued to attack the basket.

A driving layup by Mikaela Eppard with 7:52 left in the game gave the Bluejays their first lead since midway through the first quarter at 52-50.

Coach Megan Wilson's Pioneers twice regained the lead in the next two minutes of play and tied the game at 57-57 on a jumper by junior Morgan Hartman (Rochester, Minn.).

On the ensuing possession Lisa Logan drilled a three-pointer to give the Bluejays a 60-57 lead, an advantage they would not relinquish. Logan made 4 of 7 three-point attempts in the game and finished with a team-high 22 points.

After the teams traded buckets, the UW-Platteville defense forced a stop and had a chance to tie or make it a one-point game, but Logan came up with a steal in the backcourt and fed a cutting Claire Monroe for an easy layup to make it 64-59 with 3:17 left.

Michaela Kumer made a layup 30 seconds later to push the lead to six at 66-60 and Elmhurst converted 10-of-12 free throws in the final 2:22 to put the game away.

The Pioneers shot 47.1 (24-of-51) percent for the game, including a sizzling 51.6 percent (16-of-31) in the first half, but had 14 less attempts than their opponents.

Bilderback finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 35 minutes to lead the UW-Platteville. Horstman added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Hartman chipped in eight points, four rebounds and four assists.

Freshman Kassie Buchholz (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) had nine points, three assists and two rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, filling in for sophomore guard Blaire Lutes (Shullsburg), who was limited to just three minutes of action after hitting her head hard on the court early in the game.

Monroe and Eppard scored 13 points apiece for the winners.

UW-Platteville will hit the road Saturday for a non-conference game at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. The Storm (4-4) are coming off a 74-49 loss to ninth-ranked Washington University (Mo.) on Saturday.

Written by Jason Nihles, Sports Information Assistant