Box Score UW-Whitewater held on to first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 58-56 win over UW-La Crosse at Mitchell Hall in La Crosse, Wisconsin Wednesday.  UW-W improves to 10-2 in the WIAC, 15-5 overall.  UW-L is 3-8 in league play, 9-11 on the season.

UW-W ran uphill the entire first half.  La Crosse jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Whitewater came back to knot the game at 11-11.  The Eagles came back with a 10-2 run that gave them the largest lead of the half, 21-13 on a Trisha Van Dusseldorp three at 7:42.  Whitewater came back to tie the game 25-25 on Katie Burton (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South)'s jumper, and the teams ended the first twenty minutes tied 27-27.

Eagle senior guard Briana Radowicz led all scorers with 16 first half points, going 6-10 from the floor, including 2-2 from beyond the arc, and hitting both of her free throw attempts.  Warhawk senior forward Cortney Kumerow (Bartlett, IL/South Elgin) blocked three shots in the half, making her the second women's player, and the third in all of Warhawk basketball history, to total 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.  Kumerow got her 100th blocked shot at the 17:13 mark.  Lindsey Buechner was the first Warhawk woman to accomplish the feat, accumulating 1,205 points, 665 rebounds and 100 blocks from 2004-2008.  James Hodges is the only member of a Warhawk men's team to reach all three marks, with 1,516 points, 701 rebounds, and 151 blocks.

Both teams shot 39% from the floor, both made four free throws, but La Crosse went 3-6 from long range and Whitewater went 1-5 in the half.

A Kumerow layup at the 18:03 mark in the second half made it 31-29, Whitewater's first lead of the game.  Kumerow scored the first six points of the second half.  Sam Quandt (Hayward/Hayward)'s jumper at 10:33 gave UW-W its biggest lead, 46-34.  Whitewater led 52-40 with 8:09 on the clock, but by the 4:40 mark the Eagles had capped off a 10-1 run that cut Whitewater's lead to 53-50.  With 1:45 left UW-W went ahead by six, 57-51 on a layup by Lisa Palmer (Bartlett, IL/Bartlett). 

UW-L closed the gap again, to 57-56 with 1:00 left.  Kaitlyn Thill (Belgium/Ozaukee) made the second of two free throws to give UW-W a 58-56 lead.  With :09 left UW-L missed the tying shot, got the rebound and went to the line, where Erin Levenhagen missed the bonus shot and, after UW-L grabbed the rebound, the Eagles called a timeout.  The Eagles' last possession ended with a turnover.

UW-W shot 23-56 (41%) from the field and 10-14 (71%) from the free throw line, while La Crosse shot 18-49 (36%) from the field and 15-20 (75%) from the free throw line for the game.

Whitewater was lead by Kumerow's 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Thill added 14 points and three steals. La Crosse was lead by 22 points from Radowicz. who also led UW-L with eight rebounds.  Trisha Van Dusseldorp scored 11 for the Eagles and Maggi Bishop added 10.

The Warhawk women will travel to UW-Platteville Wednesday, February 6 for a 7:00 tipoff.  The next home game will be Saturday, February 9 at 3:00, with UW-Superior visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center for the annual Alumni Day for Warhawk women's basketball.




TF/dw