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Fourth time is the charm as Barron rallies to top Wausau for WCC Women's Basketball State Tournament title

02/24/2020, 8:45am CST
By Travis Wilson

The fourth time is the charm, they say, or something like that. And for UW-Eau Claire Barron County, the fourth crack at regular season champion Wausau proved to be the most important one, as the Chargers rallied in the second half for an exciting 52-51 victory in the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference women's basketball state tournament championship game on Sunday at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells.

It took a second half rally in the semi-finals just to have a shot, as Barron trailed Fox Cities 45-27 at halftime on Saturday, before roaring back to claim a 63-56 victory behind a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds from Brandi Gauthier (Bruce HS).

In the other Saturday semi-final, Wausau had no problems with Washington, cruising to a 70-31 win behind 44 points from Patience Pyan (Merrill HS).

That set up a fourth meeting this season between Wausau and Barron, with Wausau winning the previous three by margins of 13, 3, and 7 points. There was a sense it would be another wire-to-wire battle right away, with Barron holding a 15-14 edge after the first quarter. Wausau got going in the second, however, taking 29-21 lead into halftime.

Barron used a big run after the break to re-take the lead, though Wausau would respond, and still led 40-37 after three quarters. Playing with just five players, Wausau struggled to finish opportunities in the final period, and Barron took advantage. The Chargers took a one-point lead in the final minute, and despite several attempts to either tie or take the lead, including two free throws in the final five seconds, Wausau could not find the mark, as Barron held on for the victory.

Gauthier fouled out late in the game, but not before contributing 16 points and 10 rebounds. With Gauthier out for long stretches, Alyssa Ranney (Chetek-Weyerhaueser) picked up a lot of the slack, scoring a team-high 19 points with 19 rebounds.

As she's done all year, WCC Player of the Year Patience Pyan was the driving force for Wausau, scoring a game-high 34 points with 12 rebounds. Brittany Ange (Athens HS) added 11 points and 14 rebounds, while Kateri Hackel (Edgar HS) scored just four points but pulled down 20 rebounds.

The WCC announced the All-Tournament Team at the completion of the event:

All-Tournament Team
Skye Rodriguez, Fox Cities
Madison Aubry, Washington
Brandi Gauthier, Barron
Krista Lien, Barron
Patience Pyan, Wausau

About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

Tag(s): News Archive  GBB News  Travis Wilson  WCC  Alumni