UWEC women’s basketball fights against losing streak
Blugolds were bested by both UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater
Photo by Submitted Photo
The Blugolds stay determined despite their losing streak.
While on the road this past week, Blugold women’s basketball fought, but ultimately fell to both UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater.
Despite failing to shake off a losing streak that has followed the team since Jan. 16, the team has managed to lead in the conference with assists, said Brooke Harris, a third-year forward.
“We’re dealing with a losing streak so our main focus is to break it,” Harris said. “But based on conference stats we’re leading in assists. We’re doing well in passing and giving each other the opportunity to score.”
On Saturday the team traveled to UW-Whitewater, where the game started out close, with Blugolds ending the first quarter down a mere 14-19. In the second quarter jump shots from third year Kelsey Bakken and Harris brought the team to its first lead, 20-19. The half closed out with the Blugolds once again trailing with a score of 28-35. The Warhawks maintained their lead through the second half, where the Blugolds struggled to score, and the game ended with a loss of 55-68.
A short two days later, the team was on the road again at UW-Platteville, where the game started out slow, with Blugolds down 6-25 at the end of the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter the Blugolds fell into a scoring streak, outshooting Platteville 27-23, but still trailed with a score of 33-48 going into the second half. Ultimately, the Blugolds lost 66-81, as they could not make up their early scoring deficit.
As the season continues, the team will be working to improve on several different skills during practices. Fourth-year point guard Maddie Dunathan said the most important thing the team needs to focus on is defense. Third-year guard Hallee Hoeppner stressed the importance of the first quarter.
“Lately we have struggled in the first quarter,” Hoeppner said. “Going into tonight’s game versus Stout we are changing up our warmup so hopefully that will help us have a strong start.”
This weekend, the team will be celebrating senior night during their game against UW-La Crosse. Harris said she hopes to see students come out to celebrate the graduating seniors at the game, which will take place at 3 p.m. on Feb. 9 at Zorn Arena.
“I think students should try to make it to senior night to celebrate Maddie [Dunathan] and two of our managers,” Harris said. “We want to celebrate the four years they dedicated to the team.”
Kopke can be reached at k[email protected].
Lea Kopke is a fourth-year journalism and German student. This is her seventh semester on The Spectator staff. She plays the clarinet in the Blugold Marching Band and recently relearned how to ride a bike with no hands.