Matthew Resenhoeft

Using an aggressive double-team defense and energy from an excited Zorn Arena crowd, the women’s basketball team rolled to a 71-43 victory over Lakeland College in the first round of the NCAA Div.. III tournament.

The Blugolds will go up against Washington University in St. Louis on Saturday. Washington eliminated the Blugolds, 81-63, from the third-round central sectional game of last year’s national tournament.

In Wednesday night’s game, Eau Claire jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first six minutes. Lakeland, though, kept the Blugolds from running over them the rest of the first half and remained close with Eau Claire at halftime trailing 27-20.

“We didn’t take care of the ball in the first half,” senior Vanessa Schley said. “We had too many turnovers and got beat to too many loose balls.”

The ‘Golds had nine turnovers in the first half to Lakeland’s 10.

“In the first half, we didn’t play as well as we are capable of playing,” sophomore Janel Soppeland said. “We weren’t able to get everybody going.”

The second half, though, was all Eau Claire.

The Blugolds picked up their defensive pressure and began running on the Muskies. They held the Muskies without a point over a six-minute stretch in the second half, increasing their lead to 22 points.

“We started pushing them in the second half,” Schley said. “They wore down a bit, and we were able to run on them.”

Eau Claire added to its lead throughout the second half and breezed to victory.

“We needed to play tight defense,” head coach Tonja Englund said. “The difference was our ability to get a double-team on the ball.”

The team knew coming into the game it would have to stop Lakeland’s All-American forward Jill Dewane. The Blugolds’ plan was to double-team her, and seniors Megan Murphy and Jessie Brantner kept her in-check, holding Dewane to 14 points on 6 of16 shooting.

“It’s tough to guard (Dewane),” Murphy said. “I was a little worried that she would try to take over in the second half. Jess (Brantner) and I did what we could to stop her.”

Schley led the Blugolds with 19 points on seven of 12 shooting and also grabbed nine rebounds. Brantner chipped in 16 points, including four three-pointers, and Soppeland added 10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals.

“This could be our last game at home this year,” Soppeland said. “We wanted to go out and play hard for the home fans.”

Even in the wake of their impressive victory, the ‘Golds were able to look ahead, and are looking forward to possibly getting revenge against Washington.

“We’re thrilled to be playing them,” Murphy said. “To be the best you’re gonna have to beat the best. We might as well play them early.”

The WIAC named its All-Conference team, which honored three Blugolds. Schley was named the Conference Player of the Year. Brantner joined Schley on the All-Conference first team, while Murphy was named to the second team and all-defensive team. Murphy also was named the women’s basketball scholar-athlete of the year.