Box Score Platteville, Wis. -- The UW-Whitewater women's basketball team held off UW-Platteville down the stretch for a hard fought 50-46 road win Wednesday evening. In the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll, UWW is ranked 14th and the Pioneers are 24th. The national rankings released by D3hoops.com has the squads listed at 16th and 17th respectively. 

After a tight first quarter, the Warhawk pace and defense allowed UW-Whitewater to gather a lead by the intermission. The UWW defense held the Pioneers to just nine points on 17.6% shooting from the floor in the second quarter. Meanwhile the offense surged with 17 points bolstered by three triples. 

A Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) three-pointer at the 8:23 mark in the second sparked an 8-0 UWW run. Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) knocked down a jumper before Camryn Nies (Platteville, Wis./Platteville) triggered a palindrome with a swish from deep that made it 21-12. The squads traded buckets the rest of the way as the Warhawks went into the break leading 28-19. 

The third quarter was even with both teams posted 10 in the score column to head into the fourth with UWW leading 38-29. The Pioneers responded early in the fourth opening the quarter on a 10-1 run to knot the game 39-39 with just over six to go. 

McCurdy, one of the top three in the league in steals, swiped the ball from a Pioneer guard and went coast-to-coast to reclaim the lead for the Warhawks with under five to play. UW-Platteville tied the game once again on a second chance opportunity with 3:25 on the clock. 

Gillis ripped the ball away from two Pioneers for a defensive board and quickly got the ball to McCurdy. The junior guard weaved through multiple defenders for the layin and a 43-41 lead with 2:14 left. The Pioneers took the lead a minute later with a three-pointer, but Nies had the response with a scoop shot that gave UW-Whitewter a 45-44 advantage with under a minute left. 

Nies came up with a huge rebound on the other end and was quickly fouled. Head Coach Keri Carollo called timeout and advanced the ball. With fouls to give, UW-Platteville was able to stop the clock two more times before finally sending the Warhawks to the line on the third whistle in four seconds. 

McCurdy hit the second of the pair to make it 46-44 as the Pioneers immediately called timeout to advance the ball to their offensive end with 27 seconds remaining. 

Out of the break, UW-Platteville was able to get a quick three-pointer off but the shot was no good and bounced out of bounds to give the Warhawks possession. Renee Rittmeyer (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) drew the foul on the inbounds and hit one of two to push the lead to three, 47-43, with 17 ticks left. The Pioneers signaled for timeout, advanced the ball and hit a jumper with 4.6 seconds left to narrow the gap to one, 47-46. 

Nies drained the backend of the pair and UWP called their final timeout with 4.2 seconds on the clock. The inbounds pass sailed over the intended Pioneer and out of bounds. Coach Carollo called for UWW's final timeout to bring the ball into the Warhawks' offensive end. Logan Lowry (Appleton, Wis./East) hit McCurdy on the inbounds and this time she nailed both free throws to seal the win, 50-46. 

Gillis tallied a double-double with a game-high 14 points and 10 rebounds. She added four blocks and a pair of steals. McCurdy added 13 in the score column bolstered by her three pivotal free throws late in the game. 

With three games left in the regular season, UWW and UWP share second in the WIAC standings with 7-4 marks in conference play. UW-Oshkosh leads the league at 9-1 with UW-La Crosse fourth at 6-4. The Warhawks will honor its senior class this Saturday as UWW hosts UW-Eau Claire at 3 PM in Kachel Gym.