Buchholz comes up big in final two minutes to lift Pioneers to WIAC win over UW-La Crosse

PLATTEVILLE – After getting in early foul trouble, freshman Kassie Buchholz (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) was relegated to the role of spectator for most of the first half in Wednesday night's WIAC opener at Bo Ryan Court.

As the old adage goes, it's not how you start, but rather how you finish that matters most.

Buchholz played the best stretch of basketball in her young Pioneer career in crunch time, putting the finishing touches on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's 66-60 victory over visiting UW-La Crosse.

The rookie guard scored seven of her 11 points in the final two minutes, making a pair of key jumpers and 3 of 4 from the free throw line to put the Eagles away.

Buchholz made a pair from the charity stripe with 1:46 left to extend UW-Platteville's lead to six at 60-54.

Then, after a pair of free throws by UWL's Makenzie Miller, Buchholz buried a pull-up jumper to make it 62-56 with 1:15 left. On the very next Platteville possession, Buchholz delivered again, making another 10-foot jump shot from almost the exact same spot to give the Pioneers an eight-point lead with 50 seconds left.

She split a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left, and after a late three-pointer by UWL's Maggie Bishop, junior guard Morgan Hartman (Rochester, Minn.) added a free throw to account for the final score.

There were 11 ties and 12 lead changes in the game, including eight in a back-and-forth first half. The two teams played to a 30-30 draw in the first half.

The Eagles took their last lead at 36-35 with 6:18 left in the third quarter on a basket by senior Cameron Chapin.

The Pioneers regained the lead on a jump shot by freshman guard Morgan Horstman (Bangor) at the 4:57 mark of the third quarter and never trailed again, stretching their lead as large as eight points at 44-36.

UW-La Crosse got as close as 47-45 on a three-point play by Bishop with 6:44 left in the game.

However, Horstman dribbled around a screen and swished a pull-up jumper a minute later and Hartman drilled a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key on UWP's very next possession to push the lead to seven at 52-45.

Horstman finished with a game-high and career-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Junior Elisa Bilderback (Platteville) added 10 points and five boards, while freshman center Allison Prestegaard (Amboy, Ill.) chipped in four points, a game-high 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Chapin finished with a team-high 14 points off the bench to lead UW-La Crosse, while senior guard Jenna Anderson scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in the losing effort.

With the win, coach Megan Wilson's Pioneers improved 4-8 overall and 1-0 in the WIAC. Meanwhile, the Eagles fell to 6-6, 0-1.

The Pioneers will try to improve to 2-0 in conference play when they travel to UW-Oshkosh (9-3, 0-1 WIAC) on Saturday for a 7 p.m. conference tip. The Titans have now lost three straight games after beginning the year 9-0. UW-River Falls handed UWO a 76-69 defeat Wednesday night in Oshkosh.

Written by: Jason Nihles, UW-Platteville Sports Information assistant