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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team exhibited a physical brand of basketball on both ends of the floor Friday night to defeat No. 21 Bluffton (Ohio) 66-54 in an NCAA Division III Tournament first round contest at Washington University in St. Louis.
 
With the win, the Warhawks (20-7 overall) advanced to Saturday's second round, where they'll face either Washington-St. Louis or Greenville (Ill.) at 7 p.m. It's the 13th time in 15 NCAA appearances that the team has advanced to at least the second round.
 
Sophomore guard Brooke Trewyn (Whitewater/Whitewater) tallied a game-high 23 points and tied a team high with nine rebounds to lead UW-Whitewater, which held a 46-36 advantage in rebounding and limited Bluffton (25-3) to 33.9 percent shooting.
 
Sophomore forward Andrea Meinert (West Bend/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) posted eight points, while senior forward Lisa Palmer (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) filled the box score with five points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.
 
The Warhawks shot 38.6 percent from the floor, including a 44.0 percent clip in the second half, and forced 19 turnovers by the Beavers.
 
UW-Whitewater jumped out to an 11-5 advantage at the 5:51 mark of the first quarter following a 3-pointer by junior guard Reilly Stewart (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) and a layup by junior guard Andrea Olsen (East Troy/East Troy). The Warhawks led 15-11 by the end of the period.
 
Bluffton opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 22-19 lead with 5:50 left, but Trewyn helped give UW-Whitewater a three-point halftime advantage with 12 points in the frame.
 
The Warhawks continued their strong play in the third quarter, taking a 41-33 lead – their largest of the game to that point – following a 3-pointer by Trewyn with 5:21 on the clock.
 
The Beavers narrowed their deficit all the way down to one point by the 1:26 mark, but Meinert converted back-to-back layups and sophomore guard Malia Smith (Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) converted a 3-point play to give UW-Whitewater a 49-43 lead heading to the fourth.
 
Senior guard Abbie Reeves (Salem/Westosha Central) drilled her 200th career 3-pointer three minutes into the fourth to give the Warhawks a 54-45 advantage. She is now just two 3-pointers shy of matching the program record for career 3-pointers made.
 
Palmer increased UW-Whitewater's advantage to double digits with 3:30 remaining on a layup, and the team never trailed by fewer than 10 the rest of the way.