For the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds, there’s no place like Zorn.

But they don’t mind traveling to Indiana, either.

In their last game at Zorn Arena, seniors Kristi Channing and Janel Soppeland took command in the second half, leading the Blugolds to a 74-56 victory over Hope College (Mich.) in front of 2,410 enthusiastic fans at Zorn Arena.

“Our seniors are all very special student-athletes,” coach Tonja Englund said after the game. “They decided right from the beginning that we were going all the way.”

The Blugolds are now two wins away from realizing that goal, and will advance to the Final Four next weekend in Terre Haute, Ind.

After a tight first half ended in a 32-32 tie, Eau Claire (31-1) came out in the second half looking every bit like the No. 1 team in the country. No. 2 Hope (31-1) scored only 24 points in the second half on 30 percent shooting.

But it was the offensive play of Channing and Soppeland that helped the Blugolds advance to the Final Four for the third time in school history and the first time since 1997.

In the second half, Channing called for the ball repeatedly, forcing the ball into the lane and getting to the free-throw line. Channing scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, and went 12-for-17 from the free-throw line.

Soppeland chipped in with 20 points, several of those coming on baseline drives in the second half.

Channing and Soppeland combined for 14 points during a 26-9 second-half run that ended with the Blugolds up 62-45.

The seniors together outscored Hope 25-24 in the second half.

Eau Claire got several big games from the underclassmen on the team, as well. Freshman guard Rachel Becker scored 11 points off the bench, including nine in the back-and-forth first half. Junior forward Becca Spaeth added 10 points for the Blugolds, getting 8 of those points in the second half.

Junior center Brooke Wozniak had seven rebounds, ending her string of 11 straight games reaching double-figures in that category. But it was still a big night for her, as she broke the Eau Claire single-season rebounding record of 323 set by Chris Boos in the 1993-94 season. Wozniak now has 325 rebounds this season.

Sophomore point guard Katie Murphy had five steals in the game and made two big 3-pointers to earn the praise of her coach.

“Murphy has really elevated her game this postseason,” Englund said. “As a sophomore, it’s amazing the job she has done. She’s the floor general.”

On this night, though, all she had to do was get the ball to the seniors and get out of the way.

Channing demanded the ball from the beginning of the second half, and wasn’t afraid to voice her displeasure to Englund when she was taken out of the game for a few minutes in the middle of the half.

“There was a miscommunication,” Channing said with a smile. “I was telling her ‘my bad.’ She thought I was saying I needed a sub.”

Channing was back in the game less than a minute later, this time staying in before being pulled, along with Soppeland, to a standing ovation with 30 seconds left in the game.

All that was left after that was the post-game press conference, for which Englund brought out the entire team, and the traditional cutting of the nets that comes with a team’s trip to the Final Four.

Soppeland said she was excited to be playing at Zorn Arena for the final time, but added that the Blugolds still have some time left in the old gym.

“We’re excited to be coming back here for practice on Monday,” she said. “We’re going to carry it on to Indiana, and hopefully we’ll see just as many fans there.”

Channing said that the team talked about what it would be like to play at Zorn one final time, but said it hasn’t sunk in yet.

“We’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not satisfied yet,” she said. “It’ll sink in after we win at the Final Four.”