MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team fell to DePauw University 63-54 in their final game of the Paul F. Knueppel Classic hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College Saturday evening.

The Warhawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the 17:42 mark after Brooke Trewyn (Whitewater/Whitewater) opened the game with a three-pointer and Lisa Palmer (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) added two free throws. 

The Tigers pulled to within one, 7-6, just over two minutes later but the Warhawks rattled off seven in a row to push the lead to eight, 14-6 with 13:05 on the clock. 

UW-Whitewater held a two-point lead, 24-22 with 4:21 left in the half when both teams went cold. The next four minutes and 17 seconds were scoreless until Abbie Reeves (Salem/Westosha Central) nailed a three to send the Warhawks into intermission with momentum and a five point, 27-22 lead. 

The Warhawks outscored DePauw 16-10 on points in the paint, 10-5 on points off turnovers and 11-6 on bench points in the first 20 minutes. UW-Whitewater shot 42% (11-26) compared to 37% (7-19) for the Tigers. Both teams were perfect from the charity stripe with DePauw going 6-6 and the Warhawks 3-3. 

Andrea Meinert (West Bend/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) led all players in the first half with nine points on 4-8 from the field. She added three rebounds, tied for the high in the half with three others. 

UW-Whitewater continued to hold the lead into the second half. Reilly Stewart (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) gave the Warhawks a four point lead, 36-32 at the 17:24 mark. From that point there was nearly a minutes and a half lull in scoring. 

At the 16:00 mark, DePauw's Taylor Howard dropped in two free throws to start an 18-2 run for the Tigers that lasted until 7:40. 

The Warhawks responded with a 13-6 run capped by an Andrea Olsen (East Troy/East Troy) three-pointer to narrow the gap to five, 56-51 with 4:21 left. 

The teams combined for just two field goals the rest of the way, the remainder of the points came from the free throw line. DePauw went 5-6 from the charity stripe in the final four minutes of the game. The Tigers made good on a free throw at the 1:51 mark to end the scoring in the game. 

The Warhawks shot nearly 40% from the field in the second half but DePauw was on fire shooting 56% in the second 20 minutes. UW-Whitewater shot 41% compared to DePauw's 48% in the contest. 

Meinert tied for game high honors with 15 points on 6-11 from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line. Kate McKay (Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley) added 11 points off of a 5-9 performance from the field. Palmer grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Warhawks.

The Tigers were led by Savannah Trees' 15 points. 

UW-Whitewater will head to Bloomington, Ill. to take on Illinois Wesleyan November 25 before opening Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against UW-Oshkosh December 3 in Kachel Gym.