UW-Whitewater, ranked fifteenth and sixteenth in the two national polls, defeated UW-River Falls 72-63 in Kachel Gym of Williams Center Saturday night.  The victory, Whitewater's seventh straight, raised the team's record to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  UW-RF, now 11-4 overall and 3-3 in league play, had a five game win streak snapped.

box score

photo gallery (courtesy of Tim Gumz; all photos are for sale)

River Falls led 16-8 with 14:47 left in the first half when Whitewater used a 6-0 push to narrow the gap to 16-15 at 13:21.  The Falcons came back with a 13-0 streak, holding UW-W without a point until senior center Dana Thompson (Belleville/Belleville) hit a pair of free throws at 10:59 to end the drought.  Whitewater scored the last six points of the half to narrow the UW-RF lead to 40-39 at halftime.  Senior forward Megan Theune (Whitewater/Whitewater) led UW-W with her best half of the season, 10 points, and junior guard Tiffany Gergorich tallied 19 for UW-RF, hitting 7-11 shots, including 3-4 threes and going 2-2 from the line.

Thompson's lay-in to start the second half gave UW-W the lead back for the first time since the early minutes, but it didn't last long.  Whitewater and River Falls exchanged the lead nine times in the first ten minutes of the second half. 

Freshman point guard Kaitlyn Thill (Belgium/Ozaukee) made two free throws with 2:28 on the clock, and that was followed by a three point play from sophomore forward Cortney Kumerow (Bartlett, IL/South Elgin) to give the Warhawks their largest lead of the game, 66-60 at 1:43.  Kumerow stepped to the line and made two throws for a 68-63 lead with 0:56 left, and freshman guard Katie Burton (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) did the same at 0:44 to seal the deal. 

Whitewater, which shot 44%, held the Falcons to 33% from the field.  Theune tied her collegiate high with 15 points.  Bunched up behind her were Thompson and Kumerow with 13, and Thill with 10.  Gregorich finished as the game's high scorer with 31 for UW-River Falls.

UW-W will host UW-Oshkosh Wednesday in Williams Center at 7:00. 

For additional information:  Keri Carollo, UW-W coach