EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – UW-Eau Claire pulled away from the UW-Superior women's basketball team with a 21-point fourth quarter for a 76-53 victory in the UW-Eau Claire Tip-Off Tournament at Zorn Arena Friday.
The Yellowjackets, missing several key contributors, hung tough most of the evening. They trailed by just eight at halftime before the Blugolds began to gain separation.
Sophomore guard
Paige Servais (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) led UWS (0-2) with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting – scoring eight in the first half – in her second collegiate start. Freshman
Allison Luoma (Iron River, Wis./Northwestern) added 12 points in collegiate debut and junior
Kaelyn Christian (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville Senior) chipped in with nine points and six rebounds.
UW-Eau Claire (1-0) ran out to an 8-2 advantage early in its season opener prior to a 7-0 run from UWS – punctuated by a Servais 3-pointer – to gave Superior a 9-8 lead with less than five minutes remaining the opening quarter. UWEC led, 18-15, through 10 minutes.
The 'Jackets regained the lead in the second quarter on a Servais steal and layup for a 26-25 edge with 4:32 remaining in half. The Blugolds, though, outscored UWS, 11-3, the rest of the stanza to go into the break up, 36-29.
Eau Claire got its first double-digit lead of the game on a Tyra Boettcher steal and layup, making it a 40-29 game one minute into the third quarter. The 'Jackets rallied again, cutting the lead to one with 10 straight points, including the final four of the stretch by Luoma on a jumper and pair of free throws with 5:29 to play in the quarter to make it 40-39.
From there, the Blugolds closed the period on a 15-4 run and never looked back, pushing the lead to as many as 25 at 75-50 with just over two minutes play.
Eau Claire shot 45.6 percent from the field and made 21-of-31 from the foul line, while also converting 19 UWS turnovers into 21 more points. Boettcher had a game-high 23 points and Bailey Reardon collected a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The Yellowjackets face UW-River Falls on the second day of the event Saturday at 3 p.m.
