UW-Eau Claire defeated UW-Whitewater 61-34 Thursday evening in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament semifinal game at Kachel Gym in Williams Center -- Whitewater's lowest point total in eleven years. UW-W, 22-4 and ranked among the top ten in both national Division III polls, will await word on an at-large berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III tournament. Bids will be announced Monday, March 2 and play will begin Wednesday or Friday.
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UW-W got in a hole it couldn't climb out of with an eight point first half, trailing 26-8 at halftime. The Warhawks shot 11% (3-27) from the field. It looked like it could be a defensive contest for all-time as the Blugolds led 2-0 until UW-EC scored its second basket with 14:36 left. EC led 8-5 at 12:05, when the Blugolds went on a 14-0 run to make it 22-5 with 2:53 left.
Eau Claire pushed the margin to thirty-one, 49-18 with 6:10 left, and the Warhawks couldn/t pull closer to than twenty-three the rest of the way.
Whitewater, which did not have a free throw attempt in the first half, went 3-4 while the Blugolds hit 13-13. UW-W pulled its field goal percentage up to 23% for the game, but UW-EC offset the improved second half shooting with a 46-28 rebound advantage.
Whitewater's score is the lowest point total for the Warhawks since an 83-34 loss to UW-Oshkosh January 7, 1998 and tied for the second lowest in the ten-year history of the conference tourney.
UW-W was led by Tiffany Morton (Beloit/Memorial), with seven points and six rebounds. Morton also made, and took, all of Whitewater's free throws. Dana Thompson (Belleville/Belleville) added six rebounds.
Senior guard Heidi Arciszewski scored 14 points for UW-EC, with senior backcourt mate Heather Witt adding 12, five assists and four steals (both game highs), and freshman center Ellen Plendl contributing 10 rebounds. Sophomore center Hannah Mesick had a game high eleven rebounds.
UW-Eau Claire is now 23-4 overall and is ranked twelfth in both national polls.
For additional information: Keri Carollo, UW-W head coach
