La Crosse, Wis. – Prior to tonight, the Viterbo University women's basketball team had not beaten St. Ambrose University over the last 12 meetings which dated back to January 29, 2005. That streak came to an end tonight as the V-Hawks defeated the Bees 75-60 in Midwest Collegiate Conference action.

The V-Hawks scored on their opening possession of the game and built an early 20-8 lead with 10:46 remaining in the first half. St. Ambrose would stop the run with a three-pointer by Annie Smith but nine points would be the closest they would get in the opening half. Viterbo quickly expanded their lead to 17 (30-13) and took a 37-24 lead into the intermission. Freshman Jenna Engh (Westby, Wis.) continued her hot scoring streak as she scored 11 points in the first half on 4-6 shooting including three three-pointers.

St. Ambrose would find a little offensive rhythm early in the second half as they chipped away at their deficit and cut it to 46-36 with 14:11 remaining. But that would be as close as the Bees would get as Viterbo would hit three three-pointers on three of its next four possessions to help extend their lead to 59-39 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Junior Dani Templin (Richland Center, Wis.) led the way offensively for the V-Hawks as she finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Engh added a fourth three-pointer in the second half to finish with 14 points while junior Laquita Becker (Caledonia, Minn.) chipped in 13 points and 8 rebounds. Smith and Mollie Yeargle each had 14 points to lead the Bees.

As a team, the V-Hawks shot fairly well from the floor as they finished 28-60 (46.7%) including 8-24 from behind the three-point line. They did however struggle from the free throw line as they were just 11-19 (57.9%). Viterbo did finish with a 38-35 edge in rebounding and combined for 17 assists in the game.

The win improves the V-Hawks to 8-12 overall and 6-2 in MCC action while the Bees fall to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Viterbo moves to just a game back of first place as undefeated Mount Mercy University lost tonight. Viterbo will have a chance to put themselves in a possible tie for first place as they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Saturday to play the Mustangs of Mount Mercy University. Game time is scheduled for 1:00 pm.