RIVER FALLS, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team used a big first half to top UW-River Falls 74-67 Saturday afternoon.

The Warhawks shot 52 percent (16-31) to head into intermission with a 41-28 advantage. The Falcons outscored UW-Whitewater in the second half but Andrea Meinert (West Bend/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and Abbie Reeves (Salem/Westosha Central) bolstered the Warhawks down the stretch to seal the win. 

UW-River Falls jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two quick layups and a three-pointer. The Warhawks came back with six in a row to make it 7-6 with 16:23 left in the half. 

UW-Whitewater grabbed its first lead at the 10:04 mark on a three-pointer from Reeves to make it 17-16. UW-RF regained the lead 20-19 at 8:35 but that was the last time they would have the advantage in the game. 

From that point, the Warhawks finished the half on a 21-8 run to head into the lockerrooms with a 41-28 cushion. UW-Whitewater scored 20 points off Falcons' turnovers in the first 20 minutes. 

The Warhawks extended their lead to 18 with the first five points of the second half on an old-fashioned three-point play by Brooke Trewyn (Whitewater/Whitewater) followed by an Emily Jensen (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa East) jumper. 

UW-River Falls whittled the lead back into single digits at the 6:25 mark, 61-53, and eventually cut the lead to four, 67-63 with 3:09 left in the game. 

Meinert knocked down a layup and hit the ensuing free-throw after a foul on the shot to push the lead back to seven. 

Hayley Rau hit a layup with just 45 seconds remaining but Reeves sealed the game with four free throws in the final 37 seconds to help the Warhawks improve to 11-12 this season and 6-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Reeves led the Warhawks with 18 points on 5-for-8 from the field, 4-for-6 from long range and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. She added three assist and a steal. Meinert registered a double-double with 17 points on 6-for-11 from the floor and 11 boards, including seven on the offensive glass. Jensen went 5-for-7 from the floor with 10 points in the game. 

With two games remaining in league play, the Warhawks hold sixth in the WIAC standings. The top six teams at the end of the regular season will compete in the WIAC Championship to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.