Five Falcons scored in double figures to hurl UWRF into a victory over the fifth-ranked (D2Hoops.com) UW-Eau Claire Blugolds Saturday evening. Senior, Jenna Hanson led the front for UWRF, scoring 13 points.

Hanson shot 50.0 percent from the field (4-8), 1-3 from the three-point line, and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. At the half, Hanson had 5 points. Adding to the force, Alise Holst chipped in 12 points, seven in the second half, seven boards, and four steals. She was 3-5 from the field and 6-10 from the charity stripe.

Tiffany Gregorich had 10 points, eight in the second half, a steal, and four rebounds. She went 2-6 from the field, 1-5 from beyond the arc, and 5-8 from the free throw line. Six of her eight free throws came with under two minutes to go in the game.

Kelli Hilt and Lauren Pellowski each added ten points of their own, as well. They each had two steals. Hilt had four rebounds, and Pellowski had two. Tess Lardie finished the night with seven points, two steals, and two rebounds. Taylor House had five points, three steals, two blocks, and seven boards.

Leading the Blugolds was Jodi Lindner with 16 points and six rebounds. Katie Weinberg hit some clutch three pointers at the end of the game to give her 12 total points.

The Falcons started the game with the lead. With 11:13 left in the first half, UWEC tied the game at nine. River Falls would not catch up to Eau Claire until there was 2:08 left in the half. A Holst lay-up tied the game at 24.

Going in to the half, River Falls trailed the Blugolds by six, 25-31.

With 10:48 to go in the second half, Lardie hit a shot to bring the Falcons within one, 38-39. A minute later, Pellowski sunk a huge three to put the Falcons up, 41-39. Eau Claire would not tie or take the lead again in the game.

As a team, the Falcons shot 41.2 percent (21-51) from the field, 37.5 percent (6-16) from the three point line, and 70.0 percent (21-30) from the free throw line. UWRF doubled the number of steals UWEC had, 14-7. Nine of those steals came in the second half.

The Falcons advance to 5-7 in the WIAC and 12-9 overall. The Blugolds fall to 10-3 in conference play and 18-3 overall.

UWRF plays host to UW-La Crosse on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Falcons will travel to UW-Oshkosh to take on the Titans at a 3 p.m. tipoff.

Game Box Score

Here is what WEAU TV 13 from Eau Claire had to say.

Jenna Hanson

Alise Holst

Lauren Pellowski

The women’s basketball team traveled to UW-Platteville to face the Pioneers. Despite a hard battle, UWRF fell to UWP 61-43

Taylor House lead all Falcon scorers with 13 points. Alise Holst had 10, and Tiffany Gregorich and Maranda Dohrn had seven and six points respectively. Dohrn had the most Falcon rebounds with nine. House added eight.

As a team, River Falls shot 32.7 percent (18-55) from the field, a dismall 11.8 percent (2-17) from the three-point line, and 33.3 percent (5-15) from the free throw line.

House shot 6-12 (50.0 percent) from the field. Holst and Dohrn shot 5-9 (55.6 percent) and 3-6 (50.0) percent from the field respectively, as well. The team’s only three-point baskets came from Gregorich and Jenna Hanson.

UWRF struggled to find an answer for Platteville’s Brianna Klaas who scored 14 points, and Lisa Grantman. Grantman had 16 points and 15 rebounds, scoring her 8th career double-double and setting her career high in rebounds.

This loss puts the Falcons at 3-7 in the WIAC and 9-9 overall. The Pioneers take sole possesion of the 6th ranked spot in the WIAC, advancing to 4-7 (7-12 overall).

UWRF will head to UW-Superior to face the Yellowjackets on Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. On Feb. 7, the women will play host to UW-Eau Claire. Tip-off is scheudled for 7 p.m.
Game Box Score

Here is what UW Platteville had to say.

UW-Platteville surged past UW-River Falls into sixth place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by beating the Falcons 61-43 Saturday on Bo Ryan Court.

The Pioneers, winners of consecutive games for the first time all season, moved to 4-7 in the WIAC and 7-12 overall. The Falcons, who beat the Pioneers by 23 on Dec. 13, fell to 3-7, 9-9.

“The intensity level is something we haven’t seen all year,” Pioneer Coach Tina Kuhle said. “They played hard for all 40 minutes. When River Falls made a run, we didn’t get rattled. We balanced things up and got into our offense. Of course, when Lisa Grantman has 16 points and 15 rebounds, that helps, too.”

Grantman recorded her eighth career double double and broke her previous career high for rebounds by one. The Pioneers’ lone senior also moved into ninth place on the school career scoring list at 963 points.

Brianna Klas added 14 points, and Ashley Wolf had 8 for the Pioneers, who led 34-26 at the half. Klaas scored the first basket of the second half, and Charity Stotmeister made two free throws for a 38-26 lead, and UWP never allowed the deficit under 10 points the rest of the way.

Taylor House scored 13, and Alise Holst had 10 for the Falcons. Freshman guard Tiffany Gregorich, who had 29 points in the 78-55 Falcon win in December, was held to seven points on 2-7 shooting.

“We watched a lot of video from that first game, and we wrote down on paper what we needed to do defensively, especially against her and the big girls in the post,” Kuhle said. “I thought Lisa Grantman, Dru Schneider and Mallory Mau all executed the post game plan very well. They stuck with what we did in practice, and good things happened.”

The coach was especially pleased with her team’s passing and court recognition. The Pioneers did perhaps their best job of the year against full-court pressure and staying patient on offense.

“They’re starting to see things better,” she said. “Instead of just three-point shot after three-point shot, wer’e getting the ball inside. It’s not always going to get a shot, but it’s going to create other shots for open players on the other side.”

UWP played in front of one of the largest Alumni Day gatherings, and for the first time in Kuhle’s five years as the head coach, the Pioneers won on Alumni Day.

“It feels great; I’m not going to lie,” she said.

Taylor House

Alise Holst

The Falcons played host to the UW-Stevens Point Pointers Wednesday evening. Heading into the game, UWRF was undefeated at the Karges Center at 7-0. The Falcons were unable to hold off Stevens Point’s third-ranked team (D3 Hoops), however. River Falls was handed a loss, 75-49.

Maranda Dohrn led all Falcon scorers with 11 points. She also had eight rebounds and one steal. Altoona, Wisconsin natives Tiffany Gregorich and Jenna Hanson each ended the night with ten points and five boards a piece. Gregorich finished with three steals before she fouled out with little time left in the second half. Hanson had two steals. Alise Holst lead UWRF rebounders with ten total boards.

Leading scorers for the Pointers included Katie Webber who ended with 14 points and Britta Petersen who scored 13.

Crippling the Falcons were the number of turnovers the team committed. UWRF had 24 total turnovers, and UWSP only had 15. As a team, River Falls outrebounded the Pointers 38-34.

From the field, the Falcons shot 31.4 percent (16-51) and a dissmal 11.1 percent from the three-point line (2-18). The team’s only two three-point makes came from Gregorich’s first shot of the game and Hanson’s first shot of the second half.

Meanwhile, the Pointers shot 50.0 percent (7-14) from the beyond the arc and 46.3 percent (25-54) from the field.

The win tonight marked the Pointers’ 14th straight win, setting a school record. The game also brought head coach Shirley Egner her 350th career win.

The Falcons fall to 3-6 in WIAC play and 10-8 overall. UWSP remains top of the conference with a perfect 10-0 record (18-1 overall), and hold tightly to their third-ranked title in the nation (D3 Hoops).

River Falls travels to UW-Platteville to take on the Pioneers Saturday at 1 p.m.

Game Box Score

Maranda Dohrn

Jenna Hanson

Maranda Dohrn scored a career-high 17 points to help lead the Falcon women’s basketball team to a 73-55 win over Martin Luther on Monday night at the Karges Center.

Dohrn, who was named the team’s Player of the Week last week, finished 5-6 from the field and 7-8 from the line. She also had five rebounds and a steal.

Dohrn was one of three Falcons who scored in double figures. Kelli Hilt added 11 points and Taylor House scored 10. House and Alise Holst, who scored five points, led the Falcons with six rebounds each. Tiffany Gregorich, who scored nine points, led the Falcons with three steals and five assists.

The Falcons held a 36-26 lead at the half. UWRF jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game. After ML scored a point, the Falcons went on a 7-0 run and led, 13-1, with 15:09 to play when Hilt hit a jumper. Later in the half, ML got as close as six points, 25-19, after a 6-0 run. But the Falcons immediately answered that with a 9-0 run to take a 34-19 lead with 4:08 to play when Jenna Hanson hit one of two free throws.

The Knights got to within five three times in the first six minutes of the second half. They went on a 5-0 run to get within 40-35 with 17:11 to play when Erica Babinec hit a jumper. The Falcon lead hit double digits again with 10:41 to go when Dohrn hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Falcons a 50-39 lead. The Knights could get no closer than 12 points after that. Hannah Bode hit a jumper with 6:59 to play to pull the Knights to within 12, 59-47. After that the Falcons biggest lead was 18, 69-51 with 1:45 to go when Tess Lardie hit two free throws.

The Falcons shot 26-49 (.531) from the field, including 1-7 (.143) from behind the arc. They were 20-30 (.667) from the line.

Martin Luther, now 6-10 overall, was led by Babinec who finished with 20 points. Brittany Jensen led the Knights with five rebounds. Bode scored 11 points and had four rebounds. The Knights shot 21-53 (.396) from the field, including 4-13 (.308) from three-point range. They were 9-12 (.750) from the line.

UWRF held a 34-29 advantage in rebounding. The Knights turned the ball over 26 times and the Falcons had 23 turnovers.

The Falcons are now a perfect 7-0 at Karges Center.

The Falcons, now 10-7 overall and 3-5 in the WIAC, will host No. 3 ranked UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday at the Karges Center with action starting at 7 p.m. Earlier this year at UWSP the Pointers took a 71-51 win over the Falcons. UWSP enters the game 17-1 overall and 9-0 in the WIAC.

Game Box Score

Maranda Dohrn

Kelli Hilt

The Falcon women’s basketball team fought hard, but couldn’t hold off the UW-La Crosse Eagles on Wednesday night at Mitchell Hall. The final score was 71-54.

Three freshmen lead the front for the Falcons in points, rebounds, and steals. Forward Maranda Dohrn scored a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Fellow forward Alise Holst added 17 points and 7 rebounds. Guard Tiffany Gregorich rounded off the freshman show with 12 points, four assists, and four steals. Freshman forward Taylor House was able to add five blocks.

Kelli Hilt shot 3-6 (50 percent) from the field, ending the night with six points. Holst went 6-11 (54.5 percent) and 1-3 (33 percent) from the three-point line. She also shot a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Gregorich was 4-7 (57 percent) from the field, 2-5 (40 percent) from both the free throw line and from behind the arc. Dohrn shot 5-10 (50 percent) from the field, 1-2 (50 percent) from the three-point line and 2-4 (50 percent) from the charity stripe.

Regardless of their good play, the Falcons struggled to find an answer for La Crosse’s strong duo of Mackenzie Hunter and Lindsay Wahl. Wahl had 20 points, and Hunter added 18.

As a team, the Falcons shot 20-52 (38.46 percent) from the field, 4-15 (26.67 percent) from the three-point line, and 10-15 (66.67 percent) from the free throw line. The team ended with 35 total rebounds and six steals as well as six blocks. The Falcons had 24 turn overs.

The Falcons fall to 3-5 in WIAC Conference play and 9-7 overall.

UWRF has a busy next week. On Monday, Jan. 26, the Falcons play host to Martin Luther, a make-up game. Tip off is at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, the 28, Stevens Point travels to the Karges Center for a 7 p.m. start against the Falcons. And on Saturay, the Falcons travel to UW-Platteville to take on the Pioneers at 3 p.m.

 Game Box Score

Maranda Dohrn

The Falcon women’s basketball team lost a close battle with UW Eau Claire, ranked No. 6 in this week’s D3Hoops.com poll, 55-51 on Saturday afternoon at Zorn Arena.

EC started strong and took a commanding 14-point lead with 10:20 remaining in the first half. The Falcons would not go quietly, however, and whittled the EC lead down to just four points, 25-21, at the intermission.

Alise Holst paced the Falcons with seven points in the first half.

After knotting the score at 37-37 with 11:32 remaining in the game on a field goal by Maranda Dohrn, the Blugolds built a 10-point lead with 5:59 remaining.

Holst trimmed the EC lead to just five points with a three-point shot at 4:46 remaining. After trading some baskets, Tiffany Gregorich nailed a three-pointer with 32 seconds left and Holst knocked down a three with 10 seconds left to cut the lead to just two points. EC hit its free throws down the stretch, however, to seal the game.

Holst finished with 13 points to lead the Falcons. Taylor House and Gregorich each chipped in 10 points. House led the team with seven rebounds.

EC (14-1, 6-1 WIAC) led the Falcons in rebounding (42-38) and assists (16-10). The Falcons finished the game 17-62 (.274) from the field, including 7-28 (.250) from behind the arc, and 10-14 (.714) from the free throw line.

The Falcons, now 9-6 overall and 3-4 in the WIAC, will travel to UW-La Crosse on Wednesday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

Game Box Score

Alise Holst

Taylor House

The Falcon women’s basketball team picked up its ninth win of the season 72-59 over UW-Superior on Wednesday night at Karges Center led by Tiffany Gregorich’s 26 point effort.

Superior began the game with a 5-0 spurt to put the Falcons in an early hole. RF was held without a field goal for the first 6:10 of the game as Superior stretched its lead to as many as seven in the first half.

RF pulled back to a tie with the Yellowjackets four different times throughout the first half. Both teams struggled to gain an advantage until Katie Theisen sank a pair of free throws with 3:22 remaining in the first half to give the Falcons their first lead of the game, 21-19. Gregorich followed with a three point shot to extend the lead.

RF built a five-point at halftime despite shooting only 8-33 (.242) from the field. The Falcons outrebounded UWS 22-19 in the fist half including 11 offensive rebounds. Gregorich led the Falcons with 12 points in the first half.

The Falcons cranked up the defensive pressure at the start of the second half and held the Yellowjackets to only one field goal in the first 7:09 of the period.

Gregorich continued her sharp shooting and provided the offensive spark for RF in the second half when she came off the bench and scored 10 straight points to set the tone for the rest of the game.

RF built the lead to as many as 20 points as they cruised past the Yellowjackets to their third WIAC victory of the season.

Gregorich’s 26 points led all scorers. She connected on 8-14 shots from the field, including 5-8 from beyond the arc. Theisen chipped in 10 points, Maranda Dohrn led the Falcons with nine rebounds, and Jenna Hanson contributed six points, four rebounds, two assists, and four steals.

RF finished the game shooting 22-63 (.349) including 9-30 (.300) from the three-point line. They were 19-29 (.655) from the line. The Falcons forced 23 UWS turnovers and scored 19 points off turnovers in the game.

UWS was led by Katie Zavodny who scored 14 points and Anna Peterson who scored 10. UWS shot 17-47 (.362) from the field, including 4-17 (.235) from behind the arc. They were 21-30 (.700) from the line.

The Falcons, now 9-5 overall and 3-3 in the WIAC, will next take the court on Saturday when they travel to Eau Claire for a WIAC matchup. UWEC is ranked No. 6 in this week’s D3Hoops.com poll. Tipoff is at 5 p.m.

Game Box Score

Katie Theisen

Tiffany Gregorich

The Falcon women’s basketball team drop a 71-51 WIAC game at UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday night.

UWSP went on an 8-0 run to start the game and led, 8-0, with 16:36 to play. The Falcons got to within five, 13-8, with 12:37 to play when Tiffany Gregorich went 1-2 at the line. But then UWSP responded with a 12-0 run to take a 17 point., 25-8 lead, with 8:01 to play. The Falcons could not get the deficit to single digits the rest of the half. UWSP held a 38-19 halftime lead.

Twice in the second half the Falcons got to within 15 points – the last time with 13:12 left when Taylor House hit a jumper with 13:12 to go. UWSP’s biggest lead was 27. That came with 7:15 to play.

UWRF was led by House who scored 13 points. Tess Lardie added 11 points and she led the Falcons with seven rebounds. Alise Holst, who scored two points, finished with six rebounds. House also led the Falcons with four steals. Gregorich, who scored nine points, had three steals and three rebounds.

UWRF shot 18-56 (.321) from the field, including 0-5 from behind the arc. They were 15-25 (.600) from the line. UWRF held a slight, 36-34, advantage in rebounding.

UWSP, which entered the game ranked No. 10 in the D3Hoops.com poll, was led by Jessi Sporle who scored 12 points. UWSP shot 29-55 (.527) from the field, including 6-16 (.375) from three-point range. They were 7-10 (.700) from the line.

The Falcons, now 8-5 overall and 2-3 in the WIAC, will next host Martin Luther on Monday at the Karges Center with action starting at 7 p.m.

Game Box Score

Tess Lardie

Taylor House