The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Women’s Basketball team were unsuccessful in the conference bout against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Wednesday night. The UW-Oshkosh Titans have won the last sixth straight meetings with the UW-L Eagles.

Despite the loss, UW-L Assistant Coach Jonelle Streed felt the team could grow. “Sharing the ball an    d assists are a big thing. We only had one or two by halftime the last game. This game and every game since then, we learned from that and had more.”

In preparation for last night’s test against the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) leaders, Assistant Coach, Koleman Schilling explained the keys to success were “Cleaning up our offensive end and making sure we communicate on both sides of the floor.”

The Eagles struggled with the staunch Titan defensive presence. “They don’t allow you to score in easy ways, which is why we need to go to options two, three and four when trying to score,” explained Streed. Schilling agreed, stating, “They’re patient and they don’t beat themselves, they’re just very composed.”

The eagles broke through the defense with Elise Denoyer driving the lane and putting an Oshkosh defender to the floor with a quick head fake, pulling UWL within four points halfway through the first quarter. Just a few moments later Rachel Atchison converted a wide-open three point shot to tie the score at 14.

After a back and forth first half, the score at halftime showed the Eagles trailing 37 to 29. Following halftime adjustments, the Eagles held the Titan’s lead to single digits. Both teams entered the fourth quarter with a score of 50 to 46 with UW-L behind by four.

The Eagles’ Elise Denoyer hit another three-point shot to tie the game at 55. The tie was short lived as the Titans recovered quickly and regained the lead. With 3:04 remaining, Atchison brought the Eagles within one with free throws.

Following a shot clock violation by the Titans, the Eagles regained possession with 35.9 seconds left, trailing by one. A broken play followed by an Eagles foul placed the Titans on the free throw line. However, both free throws were missed and the Eagles had an opportunity to regain the lead.

Once more, and Eagles foul gave the Titans a free throw chance and they capitalized, making both. Trailing by three, an intercepted pass and another foul by the Eagles led to another successful free throw attempt by the Titans. The clock struck 0:00 with the visiting Titans leaving with a 71 to 64 victory.

This loss brings UW-L’s record to 12-10 overall and 6-5 in WIAC conference play. The Eagles next test will be at home Saturday at 8 pm against WIAC rivals University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Following the game against UW-Eau Claire, the Eagles have two more conference match ups before the WIAC Conference Tournament begins February 22nd.