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2021 WIAC Women's Basketball Championship (Presented by Culver's)
 
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team will host UW-Stout this Monday in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (Presented by Culver's) starting at 7 p.m. inside Kachel Gymnasium.
 
Monday's game will be broadcast live by UWW-TV on Spectrum channel 989 for customers in the Whitewater area, channel 100.1 on campus and online. It can also be heard live on KIX 106.5 FM WKCH in the Whitewater area and online at 940wfaw.com.
 
The Warhawks are the No. 2 seed from the East Division, while the Blue Devils are the No. 3 seed from the West Division.
 
The winner of Monday's game advances to face the winner of the UW-Platteville/UW-Eau Claire first-round match-up in the semifinals. Site of the game is at the highest remaining seed.
 
UW-Whitewater in 2021
 
The Warhawks (6-2) enter the postseason coming off four straight wins, including a sweep against first-round opponent UW-Stout in the final week of the regular season.
 
UW-Whitewater currently ranks third in the conference in scoring offense, averaging 66.5 points per game while allowing 58.2 points per outing, good for second in the league. The team is allowing opponents to shoot only 35.7 percent from the floor, good for the No. 1 field goal percentage defense in the WIAC.
 
The Warhawks lead the conference in both blocked shots (45 / 5.63 per game) and steals (98 / 12.25 per game), and are No. 1 in the league in turnover margin (plus-6.13 per game).
 
Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) leads the team and ranks second in the conference in scoring with 16.4 points per game. She also ranks among WIAC leaders in rebounding (6.3 per game), field goal percentage (52.6), free-throw percentage (73.8) and steals (1.63 per game). Grundahl was named WIAC Player of the Week and earned a spot on the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week for Feb. 15-21.
 
Johanna Taylor (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) averages 9.3 points per game and is tied for fourth in the WIAC with a team-leading 6.6 rebounds per game. She is shooting 45.2 percent from the floor and currently leads the league with 29 blocks (3.63 per game). On Friday, Taylor moved into second place on the program's all-time career blocks list with 130.
 
Other frontcourt regulars include Courtney Oomens (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger), Abby Belschner (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg) and Erin Adams (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South), who've each appeared in at least seven games. Belschner enters the postseason tied for sixth in the WIAC with seven blocks.
 
UW-W's deep backcourt includes Emily Schumacher (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South), Rebekah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater), Adriana Wood (Racine, Wis./Horlick), Veronica Kieres (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection), Yssa Sto. Domingo (Streamwood, Ill./St. Edward) and Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest).
 
Rebekah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) leads the team in assists (18 / 2.25 per game) and steals (14 / 1.75 per game) to go along with her 6.8 points per game, while Emily Schumacher (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) leads all UW-W guards in scoring (7.5 points per contest). Wood is coming off a strong performance on her Senior Day, when she scored 10 of her season-high 12 points in the first quarter of Friday's win.
 
Sto. Domingo averages 1.63 steals per game, which is tied for fourth in the conference. Trautsch and Kieres averaged 6.0 points and 5.6 points, respectively, during the regular season.
 
UW-Stout in 2021
 
After a pair of wins over UW-River Falls to open the 2021 season, the Blue Devils (2-6) have lost six straight games entering the WIAC Tournament, including a pair against UW-Whitewater last week.
 
UW-Stout ranks fifth in the league in scoring offense with 66.1 points per game and is eighth in scoring defense, allowing 76.8 points per contest. The Blue Devils are the conference's No. 1 offensive rebounding team, grabbing 15.25 per game.
 
The Blue Devils' balanced offensive attack includes five players averaging between 8.5 points and 11.4 points per game. Anna Mutch leads UW-Stout in both scoring (11.4 points per game) and rebounding (7.0 per game). She also shoots a team-best 46.8 percent from the floor.
 
Other top scorers for the Blue Devils include Haylee Yaeger (11.1 ppg), Liz Oswald (10.5 ppg) and Tess Johnson (10.5 ppg). Johnson leads the conference with 20 steals (2.50 per game).
 
UW-Whitewater vs. UW-Stout All Time
 
UW-Whitewater owns a 52-30 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams, including a 27-12 margin under head coach Keri Carollo.
 
The Warhawks swept the season series last week, posting a 76-51 victory on the road Wednesday before compiling a 77-52 win Friday night at Kachel Gymnasium. Grundahl averaged 12.5 points in the two games, while Emily Schumacher (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) averaged 11.0. UW-W shot a combined 43.6 percent from the field while holding UW-Stout to 33.9 percent.
 
UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Championship
 
The Warhawks are 12-20 all time in the WIAC Tournament, but have reached three of the last four tournament finals. UW-W qualified for the semifinals in 2020.
 
UW-Whitewater is 0-1 in the tournament against UW-Stout, with the lone meeting coming in 2006, when the Blue Devils defeated the Warhawks 80-76 in a first-round game in Menomonie.
 
UW-Whitewater claimed league tournament championships in 2017 and 2018.
 
The winner of this year's conference tournament will be declared the WIAC champion.