UW-Whitewater, which took a step up to second place in the national Division III polls this week, took a step backwards with a 62-53 loss to UW-LaCrosse Wednesday night at Kachel Gym in Williams Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin. 

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Whitewater never led in the game.  The Eagles built a thirteen point lead, 19-6, at the 13:49 mark in the first half, and carried a 29-19 lead in to halftime.  The nineteen points is the lowest output in a half this season, surpassing the previous low of 22 points scored in the second half of the season opening win over Concordia University, Novermber 21.  The loss was Whitewater's first conference regular season loss at home since January 13, 2007, a string of seventeen games.

Whitewater shot 33% from the field, including 1-10 from the three point range, while LaCrosse was hitting 52%, including 2-3 from beyond the arc.  The 33% for the Warhawks is their low for the season.

LaCrosse upped the lead to fourteen, 37-23 at 17:10 in the second quarter.  UW-W came back to cut the margin to five, twice, at 55-50 with 1:40 left and 58-53 with just 0:47 remaining.   

The Warhawks were led by Tiffany Morton (Beloit/Memorial), who earned her eleventh double double of the season with 17 points and a game high 10 rebounds.  Kelsey Hendrickson (Monroe/Monroe) added 11 points and Heidi Sonntag (Milwaukee/Wisconsin Lutheran) contributed 10.  Morton also had a team high three assists.

UW-L's Mackenzie Hunter led all scorers with 19, and Dana Churchill chipped in with 14 points and a team high 8 rebounds. 

UW-W is 17-2 overall and 8-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  LaCrosse is 14-5 and 6-4 in the league.

UW-W will play at UW-Eau Claire Saturday, January 31.  The next home game for the Warhawks will be Saturday, February 7 at 3:00 with UW-Stout visiting Kachel Gym.

For additional information:  Keri Carollo, UW-W coach