Related Links:
WIAC Women's Basketball Tournament Web Page
 
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team hosts UW-Oshkosh this Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a semifinal game of the 2022 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament (presented by Culver's) at Kachel Gymnasium.
 
Tickets for the game can be purchased at the door and are $8 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. WIAC students with a valid ID will receive free admission.
 
Wednesday's game will air live on UWW-TV on channel 100.1 on campus, Spectrum channel 989 for customers in the Whitewater area and online at uwwtv.org. Fans can also listen to the game on KIX 106.5 FM WKCH in the Whitewater area and online at kix1065.com.
 
The Warhawks (22-3 overall) are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, earning a double bye to the semifinals after finishing with a 12-2 league record during the regular season. UW-W won the WIAC regular season championship outright and enters the postseason ranked ninth in the nation by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and 11th by D3hoops.com.
 
UW-Oshkosh (19-5), the No. 4 seed, clinched its spot in the semifinals with a 65-50 win against UW-La Crosse in a second-round contest played Monday in Oshkosh.
 
The winner of Wednesday's game advances to Friday's final, which will be played at the highest remaining seed. The WIAC Tournament champion earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Warhawks and Titans split a pair of meetings during the regular season. UW-Whitewater won the first meeting 67-63 in overtime on Jan. 5 in Whitewater. Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation, and Yssa Sto. Domingo (Streamwood, Ill./St. Edward) hit back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime, including the go-ahead basket with 38 seconds left.
 
The Warhawks were defeated 60-57 at UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 16. Grundahl tallied 12 points, Veronica Kieres (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) recorded 11 points and six rebounds, and Sto. Domingo added nine points and five rebounds for UW-W, which was limited to 36.4 percent shooting from the floor in the contest.
 
UW-Whitewater, which entered the week ranked second in Region IX and seventh among the Top 16 by the NCAA, leads the conference in scoring offense, averaging 72.7 points per game, and ranks second in scoring defense, allowing 54.3 points per outing. UW-W ranks among the top 10 in the nation in turnover margin (plus-8.96 per game) and steals (346) and is 11th in steals per game (13.8).
 
Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) enters Wednesday's game ranked among the top five in the WIAC in socring (16.6 points per game), steals (62 / 2.48 per game), field goal percentage (51.1) and free-throw percentage (76.1). She is a two-time WIAC Kwik Trip Athlete of the Week and has scored 20 or more points eight times this season.
 
Johanna Taylor (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) joins Grundahl to form the starting frontcourt. The program's all time blocks leader, Taylor averages 8.5 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting with a team-high 65 assists and is currently among the league's top five in blocks (47 / 1.88 per game) and rebounds (7.1 per game).
 
Abby Belschner (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg) and Courtney Oomens (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger) also form key components of the frontcourt rotation. Belschner averages 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 20 blocks, good for fourth in the WIAC. Oomens averages 3.1 points and 2.0 rebounds per affair.
 
Veronica Kieres (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection), Rebekah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) and Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) headline UW-Whitewater's deep backcourt.
 
Schumacher ranks second on the team with 8.6 points per game and has made a team-high 43 three-pointers, while Kieres averages 7.1 points per contest and ranks second on the team with 52 steals. Trautsch is fourth on the team with 7.4 points per game and averages a team-high 29.3 minutes per game.
 
Yssa Sto. Domingo (Streamwood, Ill./St. Edward) and Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) are the first guards off the bench for the Warhawks. Carollo averages 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and has made 33 three-pointers, while Sto. Domingo (3.7 ppg) owns 42 steals and an assist-to-turnover ratio (49-to-23) better than 2-to-1.
 
All five of UW-Whitewater's guards, along with Grundahl, rank among the top 10 in the league in steals.
 
The Warhawks have reached the semifinals or further in six consecutive WIAC Tournaments, including four appearances in finals. UW-W finished as runner-up in 2021, when it was topped 74-58 in the final at UW-Oshkosh. Taylor registered 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks to lead the team.