Eau Claire (WQOW) -- The Blugolds men and women gave the Zorn Arena crowd a show Saturday, picking up a pair of big wins.
Coach Tonja Englund couldn't have scripted a better end to the regular season for her squad. On senior day, the seniors accounted for all but ten of the Blugolds 66 points. The win over UW-Stevens Point clinched the Blugolds a share of the WIAC championship, and gave the team a lot of momentum heading into the conference tournament.
"We worked really hard this off season, and we've all come together, all five of us seniors, we wanted it. Everyone wanted it," says senior guard Laura Olson. "The upperclassmen stepped up and it's the best basketball we've played all year."
"I think this gives us so much momentum. Obviously, Point was on top of the league. They had two losses coming in. Now it gives us momentum, saying we can play with anybody," adds senior guard Nicole Christianson.
The Blugolds get a first round bye in the conference tournament. They will face the highest remaining seed at Zorn Arena on Thursday.
For the UW-Eau Claire men, the end of the season was bittersweet. The Blugolds beat Stevens Point for the first time in a decade, blowing out the Pointers 77-58. But because of a tiebreaker, the team will miss the conference tournament. The team says it's a tough way to end the season, but they believe the program is heading in the right direction.
'You know, it's a motivator for myself and all the younger guys just to know that we can beat the tops in the conference, the tops in the country and we just have to push forward," says junior guard Jordan Peterson.
"We're heading in the right direction, and it's great to see the strides that we made this year," says senior guard Nick Bartlett. "But we're going to continue to make strides in this program and get back to prominence."
