LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Edgewood College Women's Basketball took on another tough opponent on Saturday, doing battle with UW-Eau Claire at the UW-La Crosse Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic. The Blugolds, who are receiving votes in both national polls, controlled play from the start in an 80-43 win.

BLUGOLDS 80, EAGLES 43
- UW-Eau Claire (6-0) jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. The Blugolds led 23-9 after the opening quarter and built a 47-19 lead in the first half.

- Edgewood College (0-5) struggled with turnovers on Saturday, committing 23 compared to 13 for UW-Eau Claire. The Eagles also lost the rebounding battle, 48-31, which allowed the Blugolds to finish the game with 19 more shot attempts. UW-Eau Claire shot 44.4 percent (32-for-72) from the floor with the Eagles making just 30.2 percent (16-for-53) of its attempts.

- Emma Klein led the Eagles in scoring for the second-straight day, finishing the game with 12 points. Kallie Norby added eight points off the bench on 3-of-6 shooting, while Claudia Fieiras pulled down a team-high five rebounds.

- UW-Eau Claire received a balanced attack on the offensive end with four players scoring in double figures. Courtney Crouch led all players with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and also dished out a game-high four assists. Tyra Boettcher (14), Olivia Ganser (11), and Jessie Ruden (10) all scored in double figures as well.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Saturday's contest ends a five-game non-conference stretch where the Eagles faced a challenging slate. Three of the five teams were featured in the preseason D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll with No. 1 Hope College and No. 17 UW-Oshkosh in the top 25 and UW-Eau Claire receiving votes. Yesterday's opponent, UW-La Crosse, is not in those rankings but is off to a 6-1 start this season.

UP NEXT
- The Eagles will begin conference play on Tuesday night with trip to River Forest, Illinois to take on Concordia University Chicago. The NACC game between the Eagles and Cougars is set for a 7 p.m. start.