The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team erased a double figure first quarter deficit to defeat Illinois Wesleyan University 70-61 in Kachel Gymnasium in Whitewater Wednesday evening.
 
The Warhawks struggled to find their offensive footing shooting less than 20-percent in the first ten minutes while the Titans came out on fire hitting 64-percent of their shots from the floor. That difference led to a 21-8 IWU lead when the first quarter buzzer sounded.
 
UWW started to chip away in the second quarter. Improving their shooting efficiency to 50-percent from the floor while limiting IWU to 43-percent, the Warhawks cut the deficit to eight, 38-31 by halftime.  
 
The Warhawks came out of the locker room with a new resolve and some fire. Lunden Alexander's (Dolton, Ill./Thornwood) eight-point quarter and Yssa Sto. Domingo's (Streamwood, Ill./St. Edward) pesky defense provided some of the spark for UWW. The Warhawks continued to narrow the gap eventually tying it up 46-46 as a Sto. Domingo steal led to an Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) layup with just over two minutes remaining in the period.
 
A flurry of action in the last two minutes had the momentum full shift in favor of the home team. Alexander drew a foul and dropped in both free throws. Sto. Domingo swiped the inbound pass and hit a nifty reverse layup followed by another Alexander bucket to give UWW a 52-48 lead heading into the fourth.
 
The Titans hit a pair of early free throws in the fourth to pull to within two but Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) had the answer from long range to make it 55-50 UWW and the Warhawks never looked back.
 
The Warhawks outscored Illinois Wesleyan 39-23 in the final 20 minutes to register the comeback victory.
 
Carollo paced the Warhawks with 20 points, eight of which she dropped in the fourth quarter. Alexander added 16 bolstered by a perfect 6-6 performance at the free throw line adding three assists in the game. Grundahl also posted double figures in the scoring column with 12 adding three assists and three blocks. Sto. Domingo tallied four of the Warhawks' 14 steals in the contest while Mallory Oloffson (Normal, Ill./Normal Community) posted a team-high six rebounds.