UW-Whitewater, ranked twenty-second in Division III, defeated UW-Superior 87-64 Saturday afternoon in Kachel Gym of Williams Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin. UW-W, 12-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference,
Today's win guarantees UW-Whitewater a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament a game at home. Due to the results of other games around the league, the Warhawks, who tied with UW-La Crosse for second place in league standings, received the number two seed through the tie break procedure and will have a first round bye. Whitewater will host a semifinal game Friday, February 25 scheduled for 7:00.
box score
photo gallery (all photos courtesy of Tim Gumz, all photos are for sale)
The Yellowjackets took an early 6-2 lead 16:41, but it was more than two minutes before either team scored again. Then they combined for eight points in 19 seconds leaving Superior in front 9-7 at 14:20. Whitewater used an 11-2 run to build a 39-21 lead with 4:48 in the half, and led 50-31 at the break.
Whitewater's defense limited UW-S to 33% shooting, and the Warhawks used a ten point margin at the line (13-17 to 3-5) for the halftime lead. UW-W freshman guard Mary Merg (Greendale/Greendale) led both team with ten points in the first twenty minutes.
Despite the recent warm spell, once the snowball left the top of the hill it continued rolling downhill and gathering momentum in the second half. Whitewater never let up, piling up twenty-plus point margins early in the second half and extending that to the thirty-something range in the last five minutes. Lest it appear that UW-W coach Keri Carollo was pouring it on, Carollo used 17 players in the game and 12 of them scored.
Warhawk senior center Dana Thompson (Belleville/Belleville) led both teams with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Thompson hit 10-13 field goals and 34- from the line. Unless someone in the WIAC had a Mickey Crowe-like game Saturday, Thompson, who came into the game as the leading scorer in the league, will become the first Warhawk to ever lead the conference in scoring. Junior guard Megan Theuen and Merg both contributed 12 points, with Theune hitting 4-6 from the field. Junior forward Hailey Hart topped the Yellowjackets with 16 points and 10 boards. Bri Davis, a junior center, added 14 points, and senior forward Kelsey Thingvold 12.
UW-Whitewater is 20-5 overall, the fourth consecutive year Keri Carollo has guided the team to a twenty win season, and 12-4 in the WIAC. UW-Superior finishes the 2010-2011 season 8-17, and 2-14 in conference action.
For additional information: Keri Carollo, UW-W coach
