Bloomington, Ill. -- The No. 24 UW-Whitewater women's basketball team opened the Champions Classic hosted by Illinois Wesleyan with a 70-50 win over Millikin Saturday afternoon. The Warhawks will take on No. 13 IWU at 2 PM Sunday. 

UWW led by as much as six in the first quarter before the Big Blue scored six straight to tie the game 12-12 with just over a minute left. Renee Rittmeyer (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) hit a free throw for the final point of the first quarter. The Warhawks dominated the next two quarters to grab a hefty lead. In the second quarter, UWW outscored Millikin 13-5 holding the Big Blue to a shooting percentage of just 7-percent (1-14). 

UW-Whitewater picked up the offense on the other side of the break. UWW shot 50-percent in the third, outscoring MU 27-13 to open up a 53-30 gap. The Warhawks cruised the rest of the way for the 20-point victory. 

The Warhawks were dominant in the paint with a 42-14 advantage on points in the paint and a 20-10 sway in second chance points. 

Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) paced the UWW offense with 14 points adding a game-high eight rebounds. Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) joined Gillis in double digits with 11. Ashley Schlabowske (Grayslake, Ill./Carmel Catholic) tallied a game-high four steams as UWW forced 28 Big Blue turnovers in the contest.