Pioneers Win Third Straight Wednesday

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – After going over two weeks without a game, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team traveled to Augustana (Ill.) on Wednesday night. The Pioneers won their third consecutive game by score of 56-46 over the Vikings.

The Pioneers raced out to a 10-3 start, led by made threes from freshman Ella Mackiewicz and senior Allison Heckert. The Vikings answered, cutting the UW-Platteville down to one at 13-12 midway through the first quarter before freshman Madalyn Reichmann scored seven consecutive points to push the advantage back to eight. Mackiewicz added a layup with about a minute to play in the quarter and the Pioneers held the Vikings scoreless for over four minutes to lead 22-12 after one. Augustana put together a strong second quarter, outscoring UW-Platteville 16-9. The Vikings evened the score at 28 with less than a minute to play in the half, but junior Brianna Prieve knocked down a three to give the Pioneers a 31-28 lead at the break.

Both teams traded buckets coming out of halftime and the Vikings tied the game at 35 with seven minutes left in the third quarter on a three-pointer. Neither team scored over the next couple minutes until a free throw by freshman Blair Watters and a layup by Mackiewicz put the Pioneers back in front. UW-Platteville added two more free throws to close the quarter to lead 40-37 heading into the fourth. Junior Sarah Mueller scored five straight points to push UW-Platteville ahead by six early in the final frame and Mackiewicz increased the lead to nine at 49-40 with just under seven to play. The Vikings got back within five, but the Pioneers pulled away to win 56-46.

Mackiewicz led UW-Platteville in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Mueller added 13 on 5-of-11 from the field. Mackiewicz also pulled down a team-high six rebounds while totaling four steals as the Pioneers forced 12 steals and 24 turnovers. UW-Platteville shot 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the field and 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from beyond the arc.

The Vikings shot 36.0 percent (18-of-50) in the game, including 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from deep. Carly Stone led the team with eight points, while Gabriela Loiz pitched in with seven.

The Pioneers remain on the road and will face Lake Forest on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a $3 Pioneer burger the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering 10 tacos for $10 the day after each Pioneer win.