No. 22 UW-Eau Claire defeats Pioneers, 75-48

After a 5-5 tie, UW-Eau Claire scored 34 of the next 48 points in the first half en route to a 75-48 win over visiting University of Wisconsin-Platteville in women's basketball.

The Pioneers (8-17, 4-12 WIAC) got a team-high 11 points from Claire Poad in the loss. Jordan Johnson came off the bench to score nine points and Liz Lawinger had five points and five assists.

The Blugolds (19-5, 12-3 WIAC) shot 54.9% from the field and landed three players in double figures in the win. Ellen Plendl had a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the No.22 ranked team. Callie Halama and Nichole Christianson added 14 and 13 points, respectively. The trio accounted for 21 of the 39 first half points.

UW-Platteville built an early 5-2 advantage on a 3-pointer and layup from Ashley Henry with 17:14 left to play. The Blugolds answered the early spurt with 31 of the next 34 points en route to a 33-8 lead in a 12-minute span. The Pioneers scored 11 of the last 17 points in the first half for a 39-19 halftime deficit.

The Pioneers cut the deficit to 10 with a 19-9 run to start to the second half to trim the UW-Eau Claire lead to 48-38 with 9:47 to play. However, the Blugolds answered the spurt by the Pioneers with an 18-2 run to end the comeback efforts for the visitors.

The postseason fate for the Pioneers is still to be determined.