The No. 12 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team was on the wrong side of a buzzer-beating, game-winning basket Saturday afternoon, falling 51-48 at UW-River Falls in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest in River Falls, Wis.
Three days after defeating No. 3 UW-Oshkosh on a shot by as time expired, the Warhawks (11-2 overall, 1-1 WIAC) were downed on a last-second 3-pointer by the Falcons' Brynn Liljander only seconds after senior guard
Brooke Trewyn (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) tied the game at 48-48 with a free throw.
Senior forward
Andrea Meinert (West Bend, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) posted a career-high 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor and 9-of-12 at the free-throw line. She added five rebounds.
Junior forward
Olivia Freckmann (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) tallied seven points and a team-best 14 rebounds, and Trewyn and sophomore guard
Camri Conley (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) registered six points apiece.
UW-Whitewater shot 20-of-30 from the free-throw line, but was held to 26.4 percent shooting from the floor. UW-River Falls outscored the Warhawks 18-11 in the fourth quarter.
Both teams shot under 30 percent from the floor in the first half.
Meinert started the scoring nearly three minutes into the contest for the Warhawks, who took a 13-12 lead in the first quarter.
The contest was tied three times in the first five minutes of the second quarter. Meinert gave UW-Whitewater a 21-19 halftime lead on a 3-point play in the final 10 seconds of the period.
UW-River Falls grabbed a two-point lead early in the third, but a 7-0 run capped by a 3-point play midway though the quarter by senior guard
Malia Smith (Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) gave the Warhawks a 31-26 advantage.
Meinert hit a pair of free throws to match UW-Whitewater's largest lead of the game at 37-30 with 20 seconds to go before the Falcons hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to close within four.
The Warhawks led by five midway though the fourth, but UW-River Falls closed the game with a 10-2 run.
The Warhawks return home to face UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Kachel Gymnasium.
