#8 Blugolds hold off Pioneers

UW-Platteville held undefeated UW-Eau Claire to its worst shooting performance of the season, but the eighth-ranked Blugolds had enough to get past the Pioneers 59-47 Wednesday in front of 1,217 Zorn Arena fans.

The Blugolds connected on just 34 percent of their shots, including 29.2 percent in the second half, but the UWEC defense kept the Pioneers from pulling the upset. UWP, who trailed 31-27 at the half, was held to one point over the first 8:06 of the second half as the Blugolds increased the lead to 40-28. The Pioneers then scored six straight points, slicing the lead to 40-34 on a pair of Lisa Grantman free throws and also came within 42-36 on Charity Stotmeister's layup with 8:43 remaining.

Jodi Lindner's layup pushed the Blugold margin back to 10 at 46-36, and UWP never came closer than eight the rest of the way. Two Stacia Nemitz free throws brought the Pioneers within 55-47 with 52 seconds left, but Heidi Arciszewski hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

UWEC improved to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the WIAC, while the Pioneers fell to 3-5, 1-1.

Arciszewski made all 12 of her free throws, finishing with a game-high 18 points, while Hannah Mesick added 10 points.

Both Stotmeister and Nemitz had 12 points for the Pioneers, who travel to UW-River Falls Saturday.

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