This coming Saturday, Dec. 5, the UWRF Falcon women’s basketball team welcomes back their former players.

The Alumni will play their game at 11:00. Come out to see the former star players.

“This is always one of my favorite days of the season. We have so many special players that were part of our program over the years.” said Coach Holbrook. “It is always fun for the coaches and current players to watch the Alumni game. For the players it’s a chance to see the players play that I talk about sometimes in our practice. And I hope the Alumni enjoy watching us play our game against the preseason WIAC favorites UW Stevens Point.”

Following the game there will be a Social with the Alumni, curent players, coaches, parents, family members and Backcourt members by the Athletic offices.

The Falcon womens basketball team has gotten off to a fast start in the 2009-2010 season.

With four straight wins the team looks to take that momentum  into conference play this next week.

The first four games brought the following scores.

Nov. 17 River Falls 112, Crown 28

Nov. 19 River Falls 82, Martin Luther 53

Nov. 21 River Falls 78, Viterbo 61

Nov. 24 River Falls 68, Macalester 67

Defense, rebounding and relentless pressure and some hot shooting has led this team early on.

“I feel good about our defense early,” coach Cindy Holbrook said.” Our pressure has gotten to a few teams so far. We still need to tighten up areas of our defense and defensive rebounding. We have played a lot of players and are still learning which rotations can work best for us.”

With 12 players averaging over 10 minutes a game and only one player with more than 20 minutes the team depth can become a factor as the conference season starts. Only two players are averaging over ten points per game.

“We have had some excellent games played by many individuals,” Coach Holbrook said. “I like our unselfishness. They are covering for each other defensively and nobody cares who scores as long as somebody does.”

The upcoming conference schedule does get tougher.

Dec. 2 at Superior, 7 p.m.

Dec. 5 Stevens Point, 3 p.m. – ALUMNI DAY

Dec. 9 Eau Claire, 7 p.m. – HIGH SCHOOL AND YOUTH NIGHT

Dec. 12 at Oshkosh, 5 p.m.

Dec. 15 Northwestern, 6 p.m.(Non Conference)

“Our schedule will certainly get tougher from here on,” Holbrook said. “When we get into the WIAC play we’ll be tested again and again by some very good teams.”

How do the next two weeks  look for the Falcons?

“We go to Superior, which is much improved. Their coach has several years with his system and his players. They have some very good athletes this year and they play hard,” said Holbrook. “We then come home Saturday, Dec. 5, to play Stevens Point. They are playing very well and were picked to be WIAC Champs this year. This is Alumni Day so we are exciting to see some of our former players returning to our program. Next we play Eau Claire, preseason #3 pick in the WIAC, they are very tall and athletic. This is Youth and High School night, so we are expecting a nice crowd for that game. Finally we go to Oshkosh, they are improved with some very good transfers and new players. This early part of our schedule will be challenging, as all our games in the WIAC are. We are excited to get after it and see how we stack up in our conference.”

The Falcons struggled to get it together in the first half, but managed to swing a last-minute victory over Macalester College, 68-67.

Leading the front for the Falcons was Tiffany Gregorich, who finished with 19 points, two steals and three rebounds. She shot 7-8 from the field (.875). She hit the winning bucket with just one second to play.

With 1:26 to play and the Falcons trailing by 64-61, Brittany Gregorich hit two free throws to make it a one point game. With 46 seconds to go Gregorich hit a bucket to gave the Falcons a 65-64 lead. But then MC’s Jessica Rene hit a basket to give her team a one point lead with 27 seconds to play. With 15 seconds to play Tiffany Gregorich was fouled and made one of two free throws to tie the game. With just seven seconds to play MC’s Danielle Johnson was fouled. She made the first free throw, but missed the second and the Scots led, 67-66. That’s when Tiffany Gregorich hit the winning bucket with just a second to go.

Jenna Hanson and Maranda Dohrn each finished with 9 points. Dohrn added a game-high 9 rebounds and a blocked shot. Hanson shot 4-5 (.8) from the field and 1-1 from the three-point line. She also had four rebounds and a team-high three steals.

Brittany Gregorich and Taylor House each added eight points on the night, as well. Tess Lardie led the team with five assists.

As a team, UWRF shot 27-62 (.435) from the field, 2-10 (.2) from the three-point line and 12-21 (.571) from the free throw line. They finished with a total of 41 rebounds, and had a team total of 21 turn overs.

The Falcons next game is at UW-Superior on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m., kicking off the team’s conference schedule.

Box Score

Falcon Schedule

Coach Mike Babler discusses the Viterbo game breaking down the offense and defense.

See Coach Babler Here.

Coming off a couple of blowout wins over Crown College and Martin Luther, the Falcons made the trip to La Crosse to take on Viterbo University Saturday night.  River Falls led by 20 at the half en route to a 78-61 victory to move to 3-0.

“This game will help us get ready for WIAC play.” said Coach Holbrook. “The game was very intense and physical by both teams.  Like other games, I liked how we extended the lead as we subbed in our 2nd unit.”

“With each game we see improvement in our defense and offense. Those are the things coaches look for this time of the year,” said Coach Holbrook.

Alise Holst led the attack for the Falcons shooting 6-8 (.750) from the field.  She finished the night with 11 points.  She also had 4 rebounds, a block and 2 steals.

Lauren Pellowski finished with 15 points to lead the Falcons.  She was 5-10 (.500) from the field and 3-5 (.600) from behind the arc.  Maranda Dorhn and Taylor House both finished with 11 points.  House went 5-6 (.833) from the free throw line as the Falcons went 20-27 (.741) from the charity strip as a team. Tiffany Gregorich chipped in with 13 points on 6-10 (.600) shotting.

Viterbo’s Dani Templin was the game’s high scorer, she finished with 19 points.  Katina Mandylaris finished with 17 points for the Hawks.

Dorhn led the Falcons with seven rebounds, she also added a block and a steal.  House led the team in the blocking department blocking two Hawk shots.  And Holst had two steals to lead the Falcons.

The Falcons shot 26-50 (.520) from the field and 75.0 percent (6-8) from behind the three-point line.  The Falcons finished with thirty-five rebounds, two more then Viterbo’s thirty-three.  The team also turned the ball over eighteen times, compared to the Hawk’s twenty-one turnovers.  River Falls finished with five blocks and six steals on the night as well.

The Falcons improve to 3-0 on the year with the win and will travel to Macalester College next, on Tuesday night. Tip-off for that game is 7 p.m.

Box Score
Falcon Schedule