Pioneers Pick Up Senior Day Win Over Falcons

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – On Senior Day, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team (10-14, 3-10 WIAC) kept its conference tournament hopes alive with a 57-55 win over UW-River Falls (14-10, 4-9 WIAC) Saturday afternoon on Bo Ryan Court.

Neither team could get much going in the early stages of the first quarter until a three by freshman Madalyn Reichmann sparked the Pioneers offense for 13 points in a three-minute span. Freshman Ella Mackiewicz scored five points down the stretch of the opening frame and junior Olivia Liddicoat connected on a three to put UW-Platteville in front 17-8 with 1:20 left. The Falcons made a three on their final possession of the quarter to trail 17-11 heading into the second. The Pioneers led by as many as eight points in the second, but UW-River Falls slowly cut into the lead and scored the final five points of the half to take a 28-26 advantage into the break.

Midway through the third quarter, back-to-back threes by sophomores Barb Kling and Brynlee Nelson put the Pioneers back in front at 39-35. The Falcons regained the lead a minute later, but baskets by junior Brianna Prieve and Nelson had UW-Platteville up 43-40 after three quarters. A 6-1 Pioneer run put the home team up 51-46 with 5:17 remaining, but UW-River Falls scored seven straight points to go up two. Reichmann drained her third three of the game to put the Pioneers up 54-54 with 1:48, but the Falcons answered with a bucket of their own to go back in front. Nelson made a tough layup with eight seconds left to flip the score in favor of UW-Platteville, and after a UW-River Falls turnover, sophomore Macey Banasik converted a free throw to make it 57-55. The Falcons final shot attempt failed to drop in, and the Pioneers picked up a 57-55 victory.

Nelson tallied 19 points to pace the Pioneers in scoring while shooting 8-of-18 from the field. Reichmann added 11 points off the bench, while Mackiewicz finished with seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds. In her first start of the season, Kling totaled nine points and dished out four assists. The Pioneers shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field in the game.

Macy Nilsen scored a game-high 22 points along with nine rebounds to pace the Flacons attack. UW-River Falls shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) including just 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from beyond the arc.

Following the game, the Pioneers recognized the contributions of seniors Allison Heckert, Danyelle Waldera, and Lara Anger to the program.

The Pioneers will play their final regular season game of the year at home on Wednesday against UW-Whitewater. Tip-off is set for 7 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.