UW-Stout 68, UW-Eau Claire 87
MENOMONIE (February 23, 2022) - UW-Stout fought hard, but UW-Eau Claire's hot-shooting kept them in the lead for most of the game before the Blugolds won, 87-68, in the WIAC Semifinals on Wednesday night at Johnson Fieldhouse.
Stout (13-11) started the first quarter jumping out to a 12-8 lead, but this was their biggest lead of the night, as Eau Claire (20-7) quickly took the lead and held it for the rest of game. Eau Claire finished out the first half with near-lights out shooting, going 5 for 11 from deep. This shooting pulled Eau Claire's lead to 13 entering the half (40-27).
Stout came out of the break looking to make a run, but Eau Claire's shots continued to find the bottom of the net. Stout worked hard to get back into the game, but the closest the Blue Devils got was 13 points.
Eau Claire was led by their two starting guards, Jessie Ruden and Courtney Crouch. Ruden finished with 22 with four three pointers while Crouch scored 21.
Stout had five players in double digits with
Alison Murdoch leading the way with a career-high 14 points.
Allison Letcher and
Anna Mutch both finished with 12. Letcher connected on four of seven three pointers on the night and Mutch had 6 assists.
Amanda Giesen scored 10 points and pulled down 6 rebounds.
Lauren Arenz finished with 3 points, but helped create good looks for her teammates, finishing with 7 assists.
Lizzy Olsem, playing in her last game as a Blue Devil, scored 11 points on 5 for 8 shooting.
As a team, Stout shot 46-percent from the floor (26 for 57). Eau Claire finished with a season-best 58-percent from the floor (37 for 64). The Blugolds slightly edged out Stout in the rebound category, 33-27. Eau Claire will now look towards the WIAC championship game against UW-Whitewater on Friday night.
