The No. 18 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball started with a strong first quarter and finished with a dominant fourth quarter Saturday night in a 75-43 triumph at Illinois Wesleyan in a non-conference contest in Bloomington, Ill.
The Warhawks (5-0 overall) outscored the Titans 22-7 in the opening period, including a 19-0 run, and closed with a 28-13 margin in the fourth quarter for their second straight road win against a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opponent.
UW-Whitewater forced 25 turnovers and scored 36 points off turnovers, and limited Illinois Wesleyan (1-2) to 28.3 percent shooting from the floor.
Veronica Kieres (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) led a balanced UW-W scoring attack with 12 points and five rebounds.
Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) also finished in double figures with 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds to go with two assists and two steals.
Rebekah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater),
Abby Belschner (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg) and
Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) each finished with nine points. Grundahl added six rebounds and two steals, Schumacher recorded three steals and Belschner contributed four rebounds and two steals.
The Warhawks held the Titans scoreless over the first seven minutes of action, starting the contest on a 19-0 run that included four points each from Grundahl and
Johanna Taylor (Wauwatosa, Wis./East). IWU closed to within 15 by the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Illinois Wesleyan got as close as seven points before UW-W got its lead back up to 11 by halftime. UW-Whitewater was limited to 14.2 percent shooting (2-of-14) in the quarter.
Schumacher hit back-to-back 3s to open the second half for the Warhawks, who led by 17 early in the period. UW-W boosted its advantage up to 20 after a 3-point play by Belschner with 1:09 remaining in the third, and led by 17 at the end of the quarter.
UW-Whitewater extended its advantage in the fourth, shooting 68.8 percent (11-of-16) in the period while playing 18 different players during that span. UW-W's largest lead in the quarter was 34.
The Warhawks conclude their three-game road stretch against CCIW foes Tuesday at Carroll. Tipoff in Waukesha is slated for 7 p.m.
