The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team, ranked ninth nationally, handed UW-La Crosse its first loss of the season with a 58-53 win on the road to open Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday night. 

The Warhawk defense held the Eagles scoreless for the final 4:16 of the first quarter and first 44 seconds of the second while dropping in eight points in that span to take a 14-10 lead. A couple of Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) three's and a Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) jumper extended the lead to eight at the 6:35 mark, 22-14. The Eagles wrapped up the second quarter on a 10-5 run to cut the Warhawk lead to three, 27-24, at the half. 

After a tight third quarter, the Warhawks went on a 12-0 spurt in final seconds of the third and into the first two minutes of the fourth to take a 47-37 lead in the game. A scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes for UW-Whitewater was broken by Abby Belschner (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg) to make it 51-45 with just over three minutes left. 

UWL tried to close the gap but the Warhawks sealed the game at the free throw line in the final minute of play. 

Trautsch registered a career-high 20 points on 7-14 from the field and 4-7 from beyond the arc. She added 10 rebounds and two blocks in the game. Carollo ended up with a double-double posting 13 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out five assists and grabbing three steals. She was 4-7 from the floor, 2-4 from long range and 3-4 from the charity stripe.