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Of course she’ll remember the clock hitting zero in the UW-La Crosse women’s basketball team’s 60-57 WIAC victory over UW-Stout in front of a Mitchell Hall crowd of 400. Stout guard Lindsey Gerber heaved a desperation 3-point attempt just before time expired, but it wasn’t close.
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UW-La Crosse’s Lindsay Wahl drives to the basket in Saturday’s WIAA match up against UW-Stout.
PETER THOMSON photo
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Of course Hunter, a junior forward, will remember calmly draining the jump shot that put the Eagles ahead to stay at 58-57 with 1 minute, 16 seconds left in the game. How could she not? She had gone 0-for-7 from the floor in the second half before nailing the go-ahead basket.
Of course Hunter will remember all the big and the small things UW-L did in the closing minutes. Freshman forward Dana Churchill’s free throws with 11 seconds left that gave the Eagles a three-point lead. A clutch steal by junior forward Lindsay Wahl (team-high 18 points) and an even bigger defensive rebound by senior point guard Ashley Wagner, both of which happened with less than a minute left and UW-L clinging to its one-point lead.
And of course, Hunter will remember that the Eagles (14-10, 9-6) finally beat Stout (15-8, 9-5). The last time that happened was Jan. 27, 1996, when UW-L won 86-67 at Mitchell Hall. The Eagles had faced Stout 26 times since then, and the Blue Devils had won all 26 meetings.
“This one (victory) is definitely up on top. We haven’t beaten them in years, and having it happen on Senior Night is even better,” said Hunter, who scored 12 points. “Plus, we learned a lot from this game. We pulled it out in the end, and we played some good defense.”
On a day when Stout sophomore forward Julia Hirssig went 13-for-14 from the floor and scored a game-high 26 points, UW-L needed to put the clamps on the Blue Devils down the stretch. And the Eagles did.
Stout had just one field goal, by Hirssig, over the final 5½ minutes. That allowed UW-L, which trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, to stay within striking distance and set up Hunter’s big basket.
“Tonight second-effort plays made a big difference for La Crosse. They had a few more than we did,” Stout coach Mark Thomas said. “Hunter is such a tough player who’s got a lot of game. ... She’s got confidence in her shot. She took (a big one) and she made it.”
UW-L coach Lois Heeren expected big things Saturday not only from Hunter, but the rest of the Eagles. And she wasn’t disappointed.
“(The Blue Devils) made their runs, but we didn’t panic,” Heeren said. “We just made a huge statement. Every win in this league is big, but (beating Stout) lifts a huge monkey off our back. We knew it was just a matter of time.”
