UW-La Crosse used its superiority on the boards for 73-66 win over eleventh ranked UW-Whitewater Thursday night in Kachel Gym of Williams Center.

box score

photo gallery (courtesy of Ryan Kolter; all photos are for sale)

Whitewater opened 5-0 and La Crosse came back with nine straight to lead 9-5 at 16:42.  The momentum shifted 180 degrees and UW-W used an 11-0 spurt to go in front 16-9 at 12:23, the Warhawks' largest lead of the half.  Although UW-L did not retake the lead, they pulled even with UW-W four more times in the half, with the teams entering halftime tied 28-28. 

UW-L had eleven offensive rebounds in the first half, with senior center Danielle Frank grabbing ten boards, eight of them on the offensive end.  The Warhawks kept even by shooting 44% and limiting UW-L to 32% from the floor.

The second half was like a pair of cheap nylons in a blackberry patch, runs everywhere.  The Warhawks went first, using an 11-2 burst out of the half to lead 39-30 on two Dana Thompson (Belleville/Belleville) free throws with 17:34 left.  The seesaw tilted back and La Crosse responded 7-0 to make it 39-37 on a Briana Radowicz three at 12:43.  Back to Whitewater, and UW-W went 7-0 for a 46-37 lead at 9:28, again on a pair of Thompson free throws.  Given the nature of this game, it meant it was La Crosse's turn to go off, and they outscored UW-W 10-2 over the next three minutes to narrow Whitewater's lead to 48-47 with 6:22 left.  With the Warhawks in front 51-47, UW-L used another burst, this time 16-2, to build a ten point lead, 63-53 with 1:31 remaining on the clock.  Eight of those sixteen points came from senior forward Dana Churchill.  The Eagles' lead never dipped below seven points the rest of the way, with the last 14 UW-L points coming from the free throw line, hitting 14-14 as Whitewater tried to stop the clock for a comeback.

Whitewater shot 48% for the game and UW-L 39%, but the Eagles offset that with a 38-22 rebounding edge.  La Crosse also went to the line 33 times and made 28 (85%), which gave them a 13 point advantage over the Warhawks who were 15-19 (80%).

Thompson led UW-W with 17 points, going 7-7 from the line.  She also led the Warhawks with five steals.  Junior forward Chantel Burg (Hartford/Hartford Union) added 14 points and led Whitewater with eight rebounds.  Senior guard Taylor Larson led all scorers with 20 points, 8-8 from the line and dished out five assists.  Churchill contributed 19 points, 9-10 from the charity stripe, and Frank led both teams with 13 rebounds, ten on the offensive glass.

UW-W, 16-4 overall and 8-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will travel to UW-River Falls to take on the league leading Falcons Saturday at 6:00.  The next home game will be Wednesday, February 9 at 7:00 with UW-Platteville visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center.  UW-L is 16-5 overall and 9-3 in league play.

For additional information:  Keri Carollo, UW-W coach