Whitewater, Wis. -- The UW-Whitewater women's basketball team held off a late surge to defeat UW-Stevens Point 67-61 Monday evening in Kachel Gym. The Warhawks advance to face UW-La Crosse in a semifinal of the WIAC Tournament on Wednesday. Tipoff in La Crosse is slated for 7 PM.
The Warhawks' huge first quarter provided a cushion UWW needed late. An 11-0 scoring run for UW-Whitewater gave the Warhawks their first double digit lead of the game, 17-6 at the 3:49 mark in the first quarter. By the end of the period, the scoreboard had UWW leading 22-9.
After a bit of a back-and-forth second,
Renee Rittmeyer's (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) buzzer-beater sent UWW into the locker room with an 11-point advantage. As the final seconds of the half ticked down, Maddie Anderson threw up a desperation shot as both the shot clock and game clock neared zero. The ball hit the back of the rim and fell directly to Rittmeyer who quickly hoisted it back up for the layin as the buzzer sounded. The officials went directly to replay and a few moments later they whistled and signaled that the basket was good and the half was over.
On the other side of the intermission, both offenses registered their highest output of the game with an even 22-22 third quarter. In the fourth, the Pointers whittled away at the lead eventually narrowing the gap to five with a minute left.
Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) was perfect from the line down the stretch to maintain a two possession lead.
Brooke Stenklyft (Cambridge, Wis./Cambridge) hit the back end of a pair for the final point of the contest for the six-point victory.
Stenklyft and McCurdy each registered 15 points while Stenklyft was a rebound shy of a double-double.
Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) added 15 in the contest.
Lily Newton (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) had a phenomenal game for the Warhawks drawing three offensive fouls while hauling in seven rebounds, grabbing a pair of steals, tallying an assist and posting five points in nearly 34 minutes of action.
