Defense Leads to Win in Conference Opener

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team opened the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of the 2021-22 season Wednesday night with a big 64-48 win over the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.  The game was the first played at home this season for the Pioneers after seven straight road battles and the first in front of its fans since February 2020.  The win gives the Pioneers its first three-game winning streak of the season, moving its record to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the WIAC.  The Eagles fell to 6-3 overall (0-1 in the WIAC).

UWL got out to a quick 4-2 lead but Platteville ran off the next eight points, six from Taylor Gilbert (Sr./Kingston, Ill.) to go up 10-4.  They would never trail the rest of the game.  An injury to Pioneer point guard Lily Guerra (So./Yorkville, Ill.) pressed reserve Aspyn Stewart (Sr./Stockton, Ill.) into early action. The fourth-year senior responded, with two big three-pointers in the opening frame, including a runner from the left wing that just beat the buzzer ending the quarter and putting the Pioneers up, 20-11.

Three Pioneer turnovers in its first four second quarter possessions gave the Eagles a window to close the gap.  La Crosse began with a quick 6-0 run to pull within 20-17.  The teams would continue to jockey for position the rest of the quarter with UWL never getting closer than one point and Platteville never able to build a lead beyond five.  They would head into the halftime locker room with the Pioneers holding a 30-25 advantage.

In the third quarter, the Pioneers began to put some space between themselves and the visitors.  A three-pointer from Liv Liddicoat (So./Rewey, Wis.) at the 4:38 mark, gave the blue and orange its biggest lead to that point, 39-25.  La Crosse was able to shave some points off that deficit but still found themselves heading into the fourth down by ten, 44-34.

The Pioneers wrestled away control of the game for good midway through the fourth.  With the score 48-41, Platteville got hot from deep.  Three-pointers from Brynlee Nelson (Fr./Fennimore, Wis.), Maiah Domask (Sr./Waupun, Wis.), and Sarah Mueller (So./Stevens Point, Wis.) sparked a 15-2 run and put them up 21, effectively ending any chances of a UWL comeback with 2:05 left to play.

"I am extremely proud of our team and their effort," said Pioneer head coach Kelly McNiff, "between executing the gameplan and stepping up when Lily went down, it took everyone.  We've talked about wanting to hang our hat on defense and tonight we certainly did."

Domask, who was recently named to the "d3hoop.com Team of the Week", continued to have the hot hand, scoring 18 points on 7-12 FG.  She also pulled down 12 rebounds to record her fourth double-double in the 2021-22 campaign.  The Pioneers shared the wealth offensively with five players registering eight points or more.  Gilbert scored 11 points in her best game of the season.

Platteville held a 10-0 advantage on Fast Break Points.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, December 1st, for another WIAC game when they travel to UW-River Falls. That match-up with the 4-3 Falcons is set to begin at 3p.