Playing hard against tenacious competition simply was not enough for the UW-Platteville Pioneer women’s basketball team during their games against UW-Whitewater and UW-Stout. The Pioneers played both opponents tough and found themselves on the losing end of both WIAC conference games.On Jan. 23, the Pioneers hosted the No. 3 nationally-ranked Warhawks of UW-W and lost that contest 85-63. In what was a mostly competitive game between conference rivals, the Pioneers just did not have enough to beat an experienced and talented Whitewater squad.

After a first half full of good defense, the Warhawks made a 17-5 run to take a 37-31 halftime lead. A Pioneer rally early in the second half brought the game to within two points, but after that, the Warhawks poured it on and coasted to an easy victory. The Pioneers were led by junior guard Lisa Wubben’s 16 points and Vanessa Nemitz chipped in 13 more. The Warhawks leading scorers were Tiffany Morton and Nicole Bundy who each netted 16 points.

“We played well for a half,” head coach Tina Kuhle said. “We battled hard but we just didn’t execute well in the second half. We had 29 or 30 turnovers in the game. We need to execute our defensive philosophy.”

She also said she liked the team’s defensive intensity and how hard they played.

“We just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball,” Wubben said. “Sometimes we panic when people are coming at us. We need to be patient.”

Sophomore guard Megan Guernsey said that against Whitewater, the team needed to “take care of the ball. We gave up too many offensive rebounds, which they turned into easy shots. They made most of them and that hurt us.”

The Pioneers returned to action on Jan. 26 against the Blue Devils of UW-Stout. A slow start made things difficult for the Pioneers who trailed for the entire first half and had a 10-point deficit at the half.

Things began to change in the second half as the Pioneers came out firing and erased the Blue Devil lead, eventually taking the lead with under five minutes remaining in the game.

The Pioneers would only lead again once after that as the Blue Devils were able to control the ball and iced the game with superior foul shooting going seven of eight inside of the last two minutes to seal the 69-61 victory.

UW-P was lead by Guernsey who scored a team high of 17 points while Stout got 21 points from Julia Hirssig. The game dropped the Pioneers’ record to 9-9 overall and 3-6 in WIAC play. Stout improved to 12-6 overall with a 6-3 conference record.

“We gave up too many high percentage shots,” Kuhle said. “We needed to play as a team, and you can’t beat yourself against good teams.”

“We needed to be patient against Stout. It took us some time to get used to their style of play, and that hurt us,” Wubben said.

Looking ahead, the Pioneers have upcoming road games with UW-Oshkosh on Jan. 30 and UW-River Falls on Feb. 2. These games give the Pioneers an opportunity to get back on track in their remaining conference games with the WIAC tournament rapidly approaching. The Pioneers have four conference games left before the tournament begins on Feb. 26.

“We beat both teams at home and these games will be good tests for our team on the road,” Kuhle said. “Oshkosh is a tough place to play, their gym is a tough place to play and they usually have a good crowd for the women’s games.”

“We need to play to the level we’re capable of,” Wubben said. “We have depth unlike we’ve had in the past. Anyone on our team can come and contribute. We just need to play like we know we can.”

The Pioneers and the Sports Information Department are happy to report that the Shoot a 3 for Bri campaign crossed the $3,000 mark. The Pioneers and other donors are donating money for every three-point basket the team makes during the season, and the team is on pace to make a school record 156 three-point baskets this season. For more information on the campaign you can visit uwplatt.edu/athletics/basketball/womens/.

The Pioneeers face off against the Falcons at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2.