LA CROSSE, Wis. – Aiana Whitfield poured in a game-high and season-best 18 points, but the Carleton College women's basketball team dropped its final game before the holiday break, falling 58-47 at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
 
"It's tough to go on the road and shoot 30 percent," said Carleton head coach Tammy Metcal-Filzen. "We had our opportunities to close the gap but couldn't come up with the bucket when we needed it."
 
Defense was the story for both teams. Carleton (2-6) limited UW-La Crosse (9-2) to 36 percent shooting overall and only 21 percent (5-for-24) from distance. Meanwhile, the Knights connected at a 30-percent clip overall and made 1-of-9 triples.
 
Whitfield was the offense early on for Carleton, scoring all 11 of her team's points in the first quarter. She went 4-for-5 from the field and made both of her free throws.
 
Carleton held an early 4-2 lead until UWL put together a 13-0 run that gave the hosts a 15-4 advantage with three minutes remaining in the opening stanza. The Knights slowly erased that 11-point deficit and tied the game at 23-23 when Selma Vangstein hit a jumper with 2:34 to go before halftime.
 
UWL made a pair of 3-pointers to take a 29-23 lead into intermission.
 
Whitfield scored the first points of the second half, but UWL slowly widened its lead. Carleton trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half and then got no closer than 11 points despite limiting the Eagles to only two points over the final four minutes of the game.
 
Jasmine Choi added eight points for the Knights, who saw Bella Thomas match her season-high with seven points. Amelia Solt, the MIAC's leading scorer entering the day, finished with six points, the first time that she's been unable to reach double figures in her collegiate career. Vangstein and Emma Henry chipped in four points apiece.
 
Lauryn Milne had 12 points to pace UWL, while got 11 points from Kyah Steiner and a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) from Alana Gilles.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will step away from game action for three weeks. The Knights' next competition will be on Jan. 4, 2023, when Concordia-Moorhead visits West Gym for a doubleheader. The men's game will tipoff off at 5:15 p.m. with the women's game slated for a 7:15 p.m. start.