UW-L women's hoops headed to third consecutive WIAC semifinal

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women’s basketball team is looking for its first-ever trip to the WIAC tournament championship.

The 25th-ranked Eagles took the first step Wednesday night with a 61-55 win over UW-Stevens Point at Mitchell Hall.

Third-seeded UW-L (22-4), which makes its fifth WIAC semifinal, the third consecutive under coach Karen Middleton, will head to No. 2-seed UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m. Friday.

The two teams split this season, both winning on the road — UW-L 60-49 on Jan. 12 and UW-W 55-53 on Jan. 26.

In the win over the Pointers (8-18), the Eagles got down 12-2 to start the game and didn’t get a lead until 23-21 with 2:37 left in the second quarter.

Leading 25-24 in the third, the Eagles went on an 11-4 run led by back-to-back 3-pointers from Delaney Schoenenberger and Carly Coulhart and never looked back.

Schoenenberger scored 18 and Dani Craig added 12 to lead the Eagles, who overcame 33-percent shooting (21 of 63) from the field.

Luckily, UW-SP was worse, shooting 31.6 percent. Aside from Bailee Collins 7-for-16 shooting, the Pointers were 11 of 41 (26.8%).