Box Score UW-Whitewater held on to first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 65-59 win over UW-Stevens Point in Kachel Gym of Williams Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin Wednesday night.  UW-W, 14-5 overall, is 8-2 in the WIAC, tied for the top spot with UW-Superior.  UW-Stevens Point, fifteenth in the D3hoops.com poll, is 7-3 in the WIAC and 15-4 overall.

feature photo courtesy of Bob Mischka ... Mischka's Smugmug site
photo gallery courtesy of Amanda Ong ... available for purchase

UW-W was in front 16-10 at the 9:09 mark.  From that point UW-SP took off on a 16-2 run that ended with Stevens Point in front 26-18 with 1:48 left in the first half.  The teams traded points as Point finished the half with 28-20 lead.

Whitewater shot 32% in the first half, Point 43%.  The key numbers inside the field goal marks are Point hitting 4-8 threes and Whitewater blanked at 0-6.  Point's Sam Barber, a senior guard, led both teams with 11 points and six rebounds in the first twenty minutes.

The Warhawks used a 9-1 run, from 17:39 to 15:52, to knot the game at 33-33.  UW-SP regained the lead, and Whitewater was not able to break through until 4:18 on a jumper from freshman forward Lisa Palmer (Bartlett, IL/Bartlett) to put the Warhawks in front 53-52.  Whitewater did not trail the rest of the game, eventually building a ten point lead, 64-54 with 0:45 left in the game.

The Whitewater defense forced the Pointers into 22 turnovers, which UW-W converted into 17 points.  Defense was also a key in turning Point's 43% shooting from the first half to 33% in the second.  The opposite also occurred, with Whitewater hitting 57% in the second half after the 32% mark in the first half.

Junior guard Kaitlyn Thill (Belgium/Ozaukee) led UW-W with 14 points.  Backcourt mate Mary Merg (Greendale/Greendale) added 11.  Palmer grabbed a game high 11 rebounds.  Barber was the leading scorer in the game, with 19 points, adding a double double with ten rebounds.  Senior guard Liz Althoff chipped in with 11 points for UW-Stevens Point.

UW-W will travel to UW-Eau Claire for a 5:00 tipoff Saturday, January 26.  The next home appearance for the Warhawks will be February 9 at 3:00, with UW-Superior in the Kachel Gym in Williams Center.



TF/kw