The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team defeated Hope College 72-61 in Kachel Gym to advance to the Elite 8 for the fifth time under Head Coach
Keri Carollo. The Warhawks will host unbeaten Transylvania University Saturday, March 9 with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. and a ticket to the Final Four on the line.
Doors to Kachel Gym will open at 6 p.m. Tickets (cash only) can be purchased at the ticket window in the Williams Center near the gym entrance. No presale tickets will be available.
UWW got off to a good start for the third NCAA postseason game in a row. Late in the first,
Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) converted on an offensive board and followed up the bucket with a steal that turned into a
Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) layup to give the Warhawks a 20-11 advantage. Hope made the final basket of the first quarter to cut the margin to seven.
UW-Whitewater dominated the second quarter shooting 62-percent (8-13) from the floor and 63-percent (5-8) from three-point range to widen the gap to 18, 41-23, by the intermission.
Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) and
Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) paced UWW with six points each - both knocked down a pair of threes in the period.
After an even third quarter, Hope put together a run in the fourth, but the Warhawks held them off. A 7-0 spurt early for HC narrowed the gap to 11, 61-50, with seven minutes left. UWW responded with a 9-2 run bolstered by seven points from Carollo to push the lead back to 19 with four left to play.
The margin fell to 10 with under a minute to go but Carollo sealed the game from the free throw line for the final.
A major advantage for UW-Whitewater Friday came on the glass as the Warhawks enjoyed a 41-27 sway in the rebound column.
Grundahl led the way with 25 points on 12-20 from the floor. She was a single rebound shy of a double-double while adding three assists and three steals. Carollo dropped in 19 with four assists in the game.
Lunden Alexander (Dolton, Ill./Thornwood) knocked down three clutch triples to get the crowd going. She had 13 points off the bench for UWW.
Saturday's Elite 8 matchup with Transylvania will be the first time the two teams meet. The Pioneers (30-0) hold the longest active win streak across all sports in NCAA competition with their 63rd consecutive win earlier Friday - a 63-58 victory over UW-Stout.
