Women’s basketball takes on nationally-ranked Saint Mary’s University to no avail

Nicole Witt, Staff Reporter

Just before Thanksgiving break officially began, the women’s basketball team saw one more test. They welcomed nationally ranked Saint Mary’s University to Mitchell Hall for a non-conference game. The Eagles fell short of victory though, ending the game at 49-64. This brings UW-La Crosse’s record to 3-3 this season.

The game began in the Eagle’s favor. They took the tip off, and came to control the game. They came out strong immediately, but started falling behind the Cardinals early in the game. The score was never out of reach for UW-L though. The game took a humorous turn when a jump shot was taken, and the ball managed to wedge itself perfectly between the basket and the backboard. After the game resumed, the women from both teams kept the fight going. The last shot made in the half was good for UW-L. The first half ended 19-27, in favor of the Cardinals.

Halftime entertainment was brought by the UW-L dance team. Following after that, Howie’s provided the wings for a wing eating contest.

The second half began with the Eagles beginning to make a comeback on the scoreboard. The Cardinals started to soon retaliate and put a continuously growing gap in the score throughout the rest of the game. The Eagles found themselves slowly cutting the gap at one point to single digits, but soon the score went back to double digits ending with a 15 point deficit for the Eagles. The women from both teams continued to play strongly during the remaining minutes as they had for the entirety of the game.

The leader in scoring for the Eagles was sophomore MaKenzie Miller with a career high of 15 points and five rebounds. The next top scorer was junior Maggie Bishop, with 14 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles made 28.8 percent of their shots from the field range, and their three-point shots were made 6.7 percent of the time. Their free throw percentage was at 58.3.

SMU found it in their advantage to win with more accuracy in their shots. They sunk 44.2 percent of their shots from field range, 25 percent from the three-point range and 63.6 percent from the free throw line.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Viterbo University and UW-L held a fundraiser throughout the game, deeming it the “Battle of the Birds.” The winner was announced during the men’s basketball game which immediately followed the women’s game. The V-Hawks managed to donate 30 pounds of change and the Eagles topped them with 74.054 pounds. The team that raised the most was the UW-L women’s basketball team with 10.102 pounds. This benefits the La Crosse Community Thanksgiving Dinner, benefitting people of the Coulee Region.

The last games played were on Sunday, Nov. 30 with a 68-82 loss to Carroll University and the first conference game Wednesday, Dec. 3 against UW-Platteville. The next game will be a conference one this Saturday against UW-Stout in Menomonie.