Issued: January 15, 2003

WOMEN BLUGOLDS STAY PERFECT IN CONFERENCE

OSHKOSH - The eighth ranked UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team shot over 61 percent from the floor en route to defeating 16th ranked UW-Oshkosh 72-56 here tonight at Kolf Sports Center.

The rankings are through the games of January 12, 2003 from d3hoops.com.

The Blugolds stay perfect in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a record of 7-0 and are now 15-1 overall. With the victory the Blugolds take a two game lead atop the WIAC standings while the Titans drop just their second game of the season moving to 13-2 overall and 4-2 in WIAC action.

Eau Claire handled the Titans by shooting 61.2 percent from the floor as opposed to just 36.2 percent from Oshkosh. The Blugolds also held a 33-23 rebounding edge over the Titans along with hitting 7-of-11 three-point attempts. Eau Claire held the Titans to just 4-of-20 from behind the arc.

The Blugolds started out the game with a three-pointer from Janel Soppeland (Sr-Cadott) and would never look back. Eau Claire jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead but the Titans battled back to pull within one with 14 minutes remaining in the half. The game stayed within six points the remainder of the half with the Titans again pulling within one point with just 1:15 to play in the first half. Eau Claire finished the half with four unanswered points by Kristi Channing (Sr-Fall Creek) to take a 35-30 halftime lead.

The Blugolds wasted no time extending their lead in the second half opening up on a 10-2 run to take a 13 point lead early in the second half. Oshkosh responded with a run of their own scoring 13 points to the Blugold's two in the next 4:26.

With the score 47-46 in favor of the Blugolds, Eau Claire again went on a large run turning a one point margin into a 65-50 lead with just 4:40 remaining in the game. This time Oshkosh had no gas left in the tank as the Blugolds took the 72-56 victory.

Eau Claire finished the game with three players in double digit scoring. Janel Soppeland led the way for the Blugolds scoring a game-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting including four shots from behind the three point arc. Soppeland also dished out a game-high in assists with six. Becca Spaeth (Jr-Chippewa Falls/Chi-Hi) added 18 points for the Blugolds as well as grabbing a game-high nine rebounds while Kristi Channing ended the game with 14 points and three steals.

Libby Sievert scored 13 points for the Titans while Kay Mikolajczak threw in 12. Abby Holler grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the Titan effort.

The Blugolds have the weekend off and resume action Wednesday, January 22 when they will host UW-Platteville in a WIAC match up. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at W.L. Zorn Arena.

Eau Claire-Oshkosh Box