UW-Platteville suffered another hard-fought, close loss on the road Wednesday, falling 69-64 at UW-La Crosse.
UW-Platteville, who lost by three points at UW-River Falls Saturday, dropped to 9-12 overall and 5-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Eagles improved to 17-6, 8-6.
The Pioneers, who led by as many as eight in the first half, were within two points with 1:13 to play. Liz Tesch's pullup jumper in the lane trimmed the UW-L lead to 63-61. The Eagles' Katy Searing answered with a layup, and then after Pioneer misses, Nicole Palmer and Abby Johnson each made one of two free throws for a 67-61 lead.
Tesch made one of two free throws with 18 seconds to play, and Holly Kaiser scored a rebound basket after the second shot missed, cutting the lead again to 67-64 with 16 seconds left. The Pioneers nearly forced a five-second call on the inbounds play, but the Eagles managed to get the ball to Mackenzie Hunter. She was fouled and made both free throws with 13 seconds left to seal the 69-64 game.
Both Tesch and Hunter finished with career-highs of 24 points. Tesch made 8-15 from the floor and 8-10 from the line while grabbing nine rebounds. All eight of her baskets either gave the Pioneers a lead or tie or brought them within two points.
Holly Kaiser added 10 points, while Lisa Grantman had seven for the UWP, who shot a season-high 58.3 percent in the first half.
Palmer and Johnson added 15 and 11 points, respectively, for the Eagles.
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While the UW-Platteville seniors' four-year record of one game over .500 may seem a bit modest, the work of the six seniors in the classroom is anything but that.
The Pioneer Class of 2006, with five of the six being four-year letterwinners, has a cumulative grade-point average of 3.7. All six are on the WIAC academic honor roll despite having some pretty demanding majors.
The UWP seniors, who will be saluted before their final home game Saturday vs. UW-Superior at 1 p.m., are Emily Adrian, physical education; Michelle Hardyman, business-finance; Holly Kaiser, biology/pre-physical therapy; Rachel Korth, engineering; Abby Lalko, engineering; and Jill Rajek, engineering.
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