No. 15 Pioneers suffer first loss to Coe, 62-50

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team (5-1) suffered its first loss of the 2019-20 season to Coe College (4-2) on Bo Ryan Court. After winning back-to-back games to two pre-season ranked teams, the Pioneers broke into the D3hoops.com national rankings for the first time in program history. In Saturday's matchup, the Pioneers and Kohawks swapped the lead seven times and saw a combined 38 turnovers.

First half

• UW-Platteville jumped to an early 7-0 lead to start things off before Coe chased down the Pioneers and went on a 12-3 run. Platteville held onto the lead and entered the second quarter 14-12.
• The Kohawks took a short 15-14 lead early in the second quarter until the Pioneers broke ahead and led for the remaining of the half before Coe narrowed in to force the teams into halftime knotted 25-25.
• UW-Platteville shot 32.3% (10-of-31) from the field and went 5-of-12 (41.7%) from three-point range. Coe shot 30.4% (7-of-23) from the field while going 2-of-7 (28.6%) from three-point territory.

Second half

• The third quarter kept energy high while neither team pulled away for more than eight points and the Pioneers forced five turnovers as the teams entered the fourth quarter 43-40, Coe.
• The Pioneers reclaimed the lead 44-43 two minutes into the quarter and kept it a two-possession contest just until the final minute of the game.
• The Kohawks turned over the ball seven times overall and five times in less than three minutes in the fourth quarter while the Pioneers added another six.
• The Pioneers shot 30% (9-of-30) from the field during the second half while Coe went 13-of-24 (54.2%) from the floor and 3-of-5 (60%) from three-point territory.

Notables 

• UW-Platteville is now to 5-1 overall this season.
• Coe improves to to 4-2 overall.
• Senior Morgan Horstman led the Pioneers in both points and steals with 12 points and 5 steals.
• Senior Rachel Emendorfer also hit double digits, dishing out 10 points while going 2-of-3 from three-point territory and forcing four steals.
• Both junior Maiah Domask and senior Maddy Williams recorded five boards apiece.
• Coe recorded 25 turnovers to the Pioneers' 13.
• UW-Platteville finished 31.1% (19-of-61) from the field and shot 29.4% (5-of-17) from beyond the three-point arc. Coe finished 42.6% (20-of-47) from the field and shot 41.7% (5-of-12) from the three-point line.
• The Pioneers were 77.8% (7-of-9) from the free throw line while the Kohawks shot a near perfect 89.5% (17-of-19). 

Remarks from Coach McNiff

"We have no excuses for how we played today. Coe played extremely well and made things difficult for us, especially on the offensive end. We did not adjust well to their speed or physicality," said head coach Kelly McNiff.  Looking ahead, McNiff said "We need to do a better job controlling the things we can control, such as how we need to practice, how we need to run our sets, and how we need to stay disciplined on the defensive end."

Up next

The Pioneers take a break in play and return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 11 on Bo Ryan Court when Ripon rolls into town at 6 p.m.