Concordia squeaks out three-point win on Bo Ryan Court

PLATTEVILLE -- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team couldn't quite get over the hump in Wednesday's non-conference loss to Concordia University of Wisconsin on Bo Ryan Court.

The Pioneers rallied from a 14-point second-quarter deficit and twice tied the game in the final 5:36, but never could claim the lead as the visiting Falcons used a late 6-0 run to escape with a 58-55 victory.

UW-Platteville tied the game at 48-48 on a layup by freshman Kassie Buchholz (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) at the 5:36 mark, then again at 50-50 on a jumper by sophomore Blaire Lutes (Shullsburg) with 3:59 remaining.

But momentum swung for the last time a minute later when Concordia's Brianna Wagner scored in the lane and was fouled on the play. Wagner missed the ensuing free throw, but sophomore teammate Audrey Scharmer stole the rebound and laid home an uncontested layup to give the Falcons a 54-50 lead with 2:39 left to play.

The Pioneers missed contested jumpers on back-to-back possessions and were forced to foul.

Concordia freshman guard Baylee Barker converted a pair of free throws to push the lead to six with 57 seconds left. Barker went 0 of 9 from the field in the game, but made three clutch free throws in the final minute to preserve the win.

UWP junior Elisa Bilderback (Platteville) drained a jumper from the wing trim the deficit to four at 56-52.  Then after Madelyn Landgraf split a pair of free throws to make it a five-point game, UW-Platteville's Morgan Hartman (Rochester, Minn.) drilled a long three from the left wing to pull the Pioneers within two at 57-55 with 18 seconds left.

Barker then made one of two from the free throw line to make it 58-55, but the Pioneers still had 16 seconds left to work with.

Bilderback missed a contested three-pointer with five seconds to play, but freshman Kassie Hansen (La Crosse) was fouled while grabbing the offensive rebound.

The Pioneers set up one final inbound play, freeing Bilderback for a three-pointer at the top of the key, but the final shot came up short as the buzzer sounded.

UW-Platteville fell to 3-7 on the season, while Concordia improved to 8-1.

The Pioneers shot just 29.7 percent (19 of 64) from the field and commited 22 turnovers in the loss. UWP did hold the Falcons to just 31.9 percent shooting (22 of 69), including 1 of 14 from behind the arc, and outrebuonded the visitors 56-46.

Concordia outscored the Pioneers 19-7 in the first quarter after starting the game on an 8-0 run and never trailed in the contest. CUW's biggest lead was 21-7 early in the second quarter.

Landgraf finished with a team-high 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and four assists to lead the Falcons. Scharmer and Samantha Blissett, who fouled out in just 11 minutes of action, each added 10 points for the visitors.

Hartman scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Pioneers in defeat.

Bilderback finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Freshman Allison Prestegaard (Amboy, Ill.) added eight points, 14 rebounds and six blocks in 21 minutes off the bench.

The Pioneers will now open play in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wednesday at home against UW–La Crosse (6-5) at 7 p.m.

Written by: Jason Nihles, Sports Information assistant