The No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team fell to No. 23 UW-Oshkosh 57-46 in a fast-paced, physical battle Wednesday night in Kachel Gym.
The teams set a furious pace from the opening tip. The Warhawks jumped out to a quick lead in the contest courtesy of the
Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater)-
Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) connection. Carollo hit Grundahl for an open layup on the first possession and the pair connected once again on UWW's second time down the floor. Grundahl knocked down the and-one for a 5-0 lead less than two minutes in. From that point, the Titans outscored UW-Whitewater 15-5 to hold a five-point lead after the quarter.
The pace continued in the second quarter, favoring UWW for the 10-minute span. The Warhawks forced eight turnovers, scoring eight points off of UWO miscues, in the second quarter alone. The stifling full-court pressure led to a last second bucket as Carollo picked off a pass and banked in a triple from mid-court to send the Warhawks into the break with a 28-24 advantage. UW-Whitewater doubled up their opponents in the quarter, 18-9, bolstered by eight points and six boards.
The squads traded buckets early in the third, but the Warhawks maintained the lead for the majority of the period to head into the final quarter with a 39-36 lead.
Carollo picked the pocket of the Titans' point guard and went coast-to-coast early in the fourth to give UWW its largest lead of the game, 43-36, with 8:24 left. Carollo dropped in a three-pointer just over a minute later to make it 46-41 before the Warhawk offense fell cold. UW-Whitewater went scoreless in the final seven minutes of the contest.
Carollo led the Warhawks with 13 points on 5-10 from the field and 3-7 from long range. She added team highs in rebounds (8), assists (4) and steals (3).
Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) posted 10 points bolstered by a pair of three-pointers adding seven rebounds and three blocks.
UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh now share the lead in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference race with records of 7-2 and five games remaining in the regular season.
