UW-Stout 81, UW-Eau Claire 76
EAU CLAIRE (January 19, 2019) - UW-Stout trailed UW-Eau Claire for the majority of the first three quarters, but it didn't rattle the Blue Devils, who came back to down the Blugolds, 81-76, at Zorn Arena Saturday.
Eau Claire (13-4, 4-2 WIAC) led at the end of the first quarter, 16-15, and again at halftime, 34-31. But behind a combined 17 points by
Bailey Diersen and
Kyncaide Diedrich, the Blue Devils (14-3, 4-2 WIAC) held a 54-52 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The teams traded leads through the early part of the final period until
Kyncaide Diedrich hit a 3-pointer - one of 11 treys on the night for the Blue Devils - with 4:40 left.
Stout eventually built up a 12 point lead when
Amber Fabeck hit a lay-up and followed that up with four free throws.
Diersen scored a team-high 27 points, one point short of her career-best, and matched a career-best eight rebounds. Diedrich contributed 20 points. Fabeck scored 14 points and
Liz Oswald 10.
Hallee Hoeppner scored 36 points for the Blugolds and had 12 rebounds. Kelsey Bakken had 11 points.
Stout took care of the ball, turning the ball over only eight times, while getting eight steals and forcing 19 Eau Claire turnovers.
The Blue Devils shot 36.4 percent (28-77) from the floor, 35.5 percent (11-31) from 3-point range and 70 percent (14-20) from the line. The Blugolds shot 43.5 percent (27-62) from the floor, 34.6 percent from beyond the arc (9-26) and 76.5 percent (13-17) from the line. Eau Claire held a 49-42 advantage in rebounds.
Stout's win snapped a six-game losing streak to the Blugolds. Stout's last win over Eau Claire came Jan. 28, 2015, a 61-59 win at Johnson Fieldhouse.
The Blue Devils will conclude the first round of league play when they travel to UW-Stevens Point, Wednesday, Jan. 23 for a 7 p.m. contest.
