SAN ANTONIO, Texas – McMurry University's women's basketball team held the upper hand for the vast majority of regulation in its match-up versus the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, before falling in overtime, 66-53, at Sams Gymnasium.
 
The loss dropped the War Hawks to 1-14 on the year, while the Blugolds improved to 6-5.
 
McM led by as much as 10 points in the first half – 29-19 – when Ashley Hesseltine buried a three-ball with 4:49 left until the intermission. The War Hawks would eventually carry a nine point cushion into the locker room, 32-23.
 
McMurry led the game on the scoreboard for a total of 38 out of 40 minutes in regulation. McM was on top by five points, 50-45, after a pair of free throws by Haley Welch with 2:22 left in the second half. But the War Hawks went scoreless the balance of regulation. UWEC hit a trey and a layup to knot matters at 50-50 as the second half came to a close.
 
Unfortunately for McMurry, its cold shooting followed it into overtime and the Blugolds out-scored the War Hawks in the OT period, 16-3.  Adijatu Disu made three free throws to account for her teams only points of the extra segment.  In all, McM went without a field goal the last 9:16 minutes of the game.
 
Disu shared high scoring honors with Welch, with each booking 17 points. Disu was 5-of-10 from the field and hit 7-of-10 free throws. Disu also pulled down seven rebounds and had two steals.
 
Welch, on the other hand, was 6-of-14 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Welch grabbed nine caroms, passed off four assists and made three steals.
 
Taylor Russell had a game-high 12 rebounds and tallied eight points. Mishae Roper cleaned the glass for seven rebounds – all in the first half – and also scored five points before fouling out.
 
The Blugolds bench held a 23-3 scoring margin over McM, as well. UWEC held a narrow edge in total rebounds, 48-46. The War Hawks' 25 turnovers were also converted into 25 points by Eau Claire.