The UW-Platteville women’s basketball team came up short on Feb. 7 against UW-La Crosse, losing 65-58. The game was a back-and-forth see-saw game that featured nine lead changes.

The Pioneers started hot from the field in this game jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Pioneers held the lead for a majority of the first half and looked to be in good positon until a late first half run by the Eagles to take the lead and hold on for a 27-26 halftime lead.

But the Eagles came out soaring in the second half, scoring on over 50 percent of their shots. The lead was traded between the teams with each leading for significant parts of the second half. The Pioneers lost the lead in the last five minutes and did not score a field goal for the final four minutes and 20 seconds of the second half. Both Lisa Wubben and Ashley Callahan fouled out of the game as the Pioneers struggled with 25 team fouls.

“It didn’t really help that most of us had two fouls going into the second half,” said junior forward Lisa Grantman.

“We need to play a little smarter with our feet instead of our hands,” said Head Coach Tina Kuhle. The Pioneers kept the game close until the last few minutes of the game.

“There were five minutes there that we let down, and it really hurt us,” said sophomore forward Druscilla Schneider. “I think sometimes we just didn’t communicate.”

Freshman guard Angie Vamstad led the team with 17 points and two rebounds. Grantman scored 14 points and brought down five rebounds.

“We knew we got blown out by them up there, so we knew we had to pick up our defense in the second half,” Vamstad said. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the Eagles would take the lead 52-51 with five minutes left, and hold it to the end of a hard-fought WIAC battle.

“We need to get better at handling the pressure and handling the physical play,” Vamstad said after the game. The loss drops the team to 10-11 overall and 4-8 in WIAC play.

Next up for the Pioneers is a road trip to UW-Superior on Saturday, Feb. 16, to take on the Yellow Jackets at 1 p.m. That game will be followed by back-to-back conference clashes against top conference opponents.

UW-P will face off against conference leader UW-Eau Claire on Feb. 20 in Eau Claire. The Pioneers will then host UW-Stevens Point on Saturday Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. That game will be the Pioneers final regular season game before the team prepares for the WIAC playoffs.