MENOMONIE, Wis. - Lexi Wagner scored 14 of her game-high 22-points in the fourth quarter to lead the Blue Devils to a 70-54 opening round win over UW-River Falls Monday night in Johnson Fieldhouse.
Wagner scored Stout's (19-7) first eight points of the fourth quarter and 11 of 15 in the first three and half minutes of the final frame to turn a three-point lead into a 14-point advantage and bury River Falls (14-12) in the first round of the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's).
Wagner finished 8-15 for 22 points and was 5-9 from beyond the arc.
Four Blue Devils scored in double-figures,
Raegan Sorensen tallied her 12th double-double of the season with a 19-points 10 rebound performance. 15 of Sorensen's points came in the second half.
Anna Mutch was 6-12 from the flood for 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Amanda Geisen scored 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Stout started quick, jumping out to an early 13-4 lead, but went scoreless the remaining 3:32 and lead 13-10 after 10 minutes of play. the scoreless streak continued into the second before Giesen connected on a free-throw with 6:12 left in the second quarter. UWRF would lead by three, before a couple of Wagner triples gave stout a 25-24 halftime lead.
Stout struggled to get shots to fall early in the third, and trailed by seven with just over six minutes left. Sorensen scored nine points in the final 5:30 of the quarter to rally the Blue Devils and retake the lead at 45-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
Wagner opened the quarter with a baseline jumper and extended the lead to eight on the next possession with a trey. UWRF got a shot to fall but Wagner immediately responded with another triple from the top of the key. Wagner hit her third trey of the quarter a couple of possession later to give Stout a 60-46 lead and forced the Falcons to call a timeout with 6:13 left to play.
River was unable to recover and Stout answered every bucket the Falcons scored and hit free-throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Stout shot 45.6 percent from the field. But when it mattered, the Blue Devils shot 60 percent in the third quarter and 53.3 percent in the fourth.
The Falcons shot 35.2 percent and had 13 turnovers. Both teams had 35 rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Blue Devils advance to the WIAC semifinals and will face UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Tip-off from Kachel Gymnasium in Whitewater, Wis. is set for 7 p.m.
