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The No. 14 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team wrapped up the regular season Saturday afternoon with its eighth straight victory, a 61-50 triumph at UW-La Crosse in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference affair in La Crosse, Wis.
 
The Warhawks (22-3 overall, 12-2 WIAC) held the Eagles to 32.1 percent shooting from the floor and held a 47-29 rebounding advantage, which helped to gain a 16-2 edge in second-chance points.
 
Senior guard Malia Smith (Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) tallied 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead UW-Whitewater. Junior forward Olivia Freckmann (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) registered 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals, and junior forward Sarah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) posted 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
The two teams stayed neck-and-neck during the first quarter. Trewyn's 3-point play with 2:20 on the clock gave UW-Whitewater its largest lead of the period at 16-11. Smith rebounded her own miss for a layup just before the buzzer sounded to give the team an 18-14 advantage heading into the second quarter.
 
Schumacher pushed the Warhawks' lead to eight on a layup with 7:02 left in the half. Freckmann helped UW-Whitewater gain a double digit lead for the first time after back-to-back buckets, including a layup at the 4:18 mark.
 
UW-La Crosse chipped away at its deficit, narrowing it down to 36-30 by halftime.
 
The Eagles took their first lead since the midway point of the first quarter with 7:09 to play in the third quarter at 39-37. UW-Whitewater scored the next eight points to take a 45-37 advantage with 4:07 to go in the period, and never relinquished the lead from there.
 
Over the final 14 seconds of the third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth, the Warhawks outscored UW-La Crosse 8-0, taking a 55-43 lead with 5:53 on the clock.
 
The Eagles made it a seven-point game with 2:30 to play, but a layup by Schumacher brought it back to three possessions.
 
The Warhawks will host the lowest seed remaining in a WIAC Championship semifinal Thursday at 7 p.m. at Kachel Gymnasium.