UW-W used Tiffany Morton (Beloit/Memorial)'s school record-tying twenty-seventh career double-double to hold off UW-Platteville 69-56 in Platteville Wednesday night.
box score
In an almost eerie parallel to the Whitewater-Platteville men's game taking place 115 miles away, the final score does not indicate how close fought the game was. It was so similar that UW-Platteville took a 32-31 lead in to intermission, just as in the men's game.
That halftime lead could have been much worse, if not for a 14-0 run over the last five plus minutes of the first half. Junior center Dana Thompson (Belleville/Belleville), with eight points, and Morton, with six, accounted for all of Whitewater's points in the run.
Platteville edged out to a 45-40 lead with 13:55 left, but UW-W ran off ten points to lead 50-45 at 8:49. A couple of minutes later the Warhawks scored nine straight to bump their lead to 66-54 with 1:55 left in the game.
Again, just like the "other" Platteville-Whitewater game taking place Wednesday night, UW-W used a big bulge in free throws to key the victory. The Warhawks were 21-24 while Platteville made 9-12. Whitewater also blocked eleven shots, four by Morton and three by Thompson, the fourth highest team total in school history.
Morton led both teams in scoring with 27, including 11-12 from the line, and rebounding with 17. Morton has thirteen double doubles this season. Thompson added ten points, going 5-5 from the field, and three blocked shots. Senior guard Kelsey Hendrickson (Monroe/Monroe) had a game high four steals, and Meghan Schmidt (Port Washington/Port Washington) led the Warhawks with five assists.
The Pioneers also boasted a double-double, with Stacia Nemitz scoring 18 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and passed for five assists. Dru Schneider contributed ten points.
UW-W, ranked eleventh in the D3hoops.com poll, improves to 19-3 on the season and 10-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-P falls to 7-14 and 4-9 in the WIAC.
The next home game will be Saturday, February 14 against fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point (20-2, 12-1) at 5:00 p.m. in Kachel Gym. The February 14 game is Think Pink Night as well as Senior Night.
For more information: Keri Carollo, UW-W Women's Basketball Coach
