The UW-Whitewater women’s basketball team claimed their spot in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship with a 69-63 win at UW-Stout Thursday night.  The box score and other details may be found here.

With the win, the Warhawks advance to face UW-Oshkosh for the WIAC Tournament title and the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship. The game is slated for a 3 PM tipoff in Oshkosh on Saturday. Here’s the link for the livestream.

Johnson Fieldhouse has been a notoriously tough place for the Warhawks to play, so UWW knew the WIAC Semifinal would be a battle, but they were up for the challenge. Showcasing strength through adversity, UW-Whitewater battled through foul trouble throughout much of the game. In the end, it was the free throw line that sealed the Warhawk win. 

In the first half, UW-Stout held the advantage in the foul and free throw columns. After the first 20 minutes of action, four Warhawks had been whistled for multiple fouls. The Blue Devils were a perfect 9-9 from the line while UWW was just 4-6 off of the five UWS fouls. 

Still, the Warhawks held the lead, although a narrow one, 31-30. Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) bolstered the first half of play with 20 points in 20 minutes with nine rebounds. 

On the other side of the intermission, the margin remained at three or less until late in the third. With Carollo on the bench in foul trouble, UW-Whitewater pressed forward putting together a 7-0 run to take a 48-41 lead, the largest of the game. The Blue Devils tallied the final bucket of the third on a jumper to narrow the gap to four heading into the fourth. However, UW-Whitewater now had four players with at least three fouls with just 10 minutes left to play.

The home squad whittled away at the margin eventually knotting the game 57-57 with 2:47 left. Coming out of a UWW timeout, Carollo hit a layup off a Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) assist. On the other end, Raegan Sorenson drew a shooting foul and hit one of two. 

After a few missed shots on both ends, Carollo hauled in a defensive board and went coast-to-coast with a wide open left-handed layin that gave UWW a 61-58 lead with 1:22 remaining. 

On UW-Stout’s next possession a jumper hit the back of the rim and bounced straight up. Carollo went up for the rebound and appeared to have possession as a Blue Devil reached in and tried to wrestle it away. Two officials blew their whistles at the same time – one signaling for a foul, the other for a jump. The pair came together to discuss and determined it was a jump ball as UWS retained possession on their offensive end. 

Carollo contested the shot on the ensuing possession, but was whistled for the foul – her fifth – with 51 seconds left. UW-Stout made both from the free throw line to narrow the gap to one, 61-60. 

The Warhawks called timeout and advanced the ball to their offensive end. The inbound found its way into Maggie Trautsch’s (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) hands near the top of the key. She pump faked and drove to her left using a pair of strong dribbles to create space before pulling up and draining a jumper from the elbow to give UWW a 63-60 lead with 27.3 seconds on the clock. 

The Blue Devils advanced the ball on a timeout and went to Sorenson – their main offensive threat. Hildebrandt was tough on the glass forcing a jump ball on the rebound with the possession arrow favoring UW-Whitewater. 

This time the Warhawks chose not to advance the ball. Instead Renee Rittmeyer (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) took the ball under the Blue Devil basket. Her inbound pass was intended for Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) but the sophomore guard was fouled and went to the line with 18.7 left. McCurdy hit both to extend the lead to five, 65-60. 

Once again, UW-Stout called timeout and advanced the ball. The inbound went directly to their shooter Lexi Wagner in front of the Blue Devil bench. She threw up an off balance shot, but Sorenson grabbed the rebound and hit the put back and the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play. 

The Warhawks used their final timeout to advance the ball with 15 seconds on the clock. Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) found McCurdy in the backcourt on the inbounds. She was immediately fouled and the sophomore went back to the line for a pair of huge free throws in the two point game. McCurdy hit both to push the lead to four, 67-63 with 13.9 to go. 

After UW-Stout’s final timeout advanced the ball to near their bench, the Blue Devil inbound pass was launched to the far side of the court. The desperation three was no good, but there was a Warhawk foul whistled on the rebound. The Blue Devils missed the first, then the second, and then the putback chance before McCurdy hauled in the rebound. 

McCurdy was fouled and sealed it with two more to remain perfect from the free throw line – not just for the game, but for the season. After hitting all eight of her chances from the charity stripe to seal the win Thursday, McCurdy is 23-23 on the season from the line. 

Carollo led UWW with a double-double posting 26 points and 13 boards. Hildebrandt added 13 points and a team-high three assists. McCurdy ended up with 11 bolstered by the eight free throws while pacing the Warhawks in the steals column with four. Trautsch rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 on the night. 

Correction 2/27/25 @ 2:35 p.m. – The player in the above photo was misidentified. This has now been corrected.

The UW-Whitewater women’s basketball team topped UW-River Falls 66-52 in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday in Kachel Gym.

With the victory, the Warhawks advance to play UW-Stout on the road Thursday. The WIAC semifinal game is set for a 7 PM tipoff in Menomonie. The conference
tournament championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on Saturday.

Senior guard Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) etched her name atop the WIAC record book in three-pointers Tuesday. Carollo needed just one to break the conference record with her 231st career three-pointer and she got it with the first bucket of the fourth quarter.

The game started on a different note, with the Falcons taking an early 7-3 lead less than four minutes in. UW-Whitewater responded in a big way holding UWRF scoreless the rest of the period while scoring 16 unanswered to take a 19-7 lead into the second quarter.

The Falcons cut the margin to six, 26-20, with just under two to go but the last minute of the first half featured a flurry of action. Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie,
Wis./DeForest) knocked down a three off a Carollo assist. Carollo hauled in the defensive board and that led to a Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) layup with 15 seconds remaining. UWRF got down the floor quickly for a buzzer-beater layup to make it 31-22 at the break. The Falcons coach was whistled for a technical following contact on the play. With the choice to shoot the free throws immediately or wait until the other side of the intermission – the Warhawks chose the latter and headed to the locker room.

Carollo went to the line before the start of the third and hit both free throws to push the lead back to double digits. The gap dipped back into single digits just once the rest of the way – on the final bucket of the third.

Trautsch paced the Warhawks with 18 points bolstered by a 3-8 night from downtown. Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) hit 6-9 from the floor and 5-8 from beyond the arc for 17 points – all career bests for the sophomore. Carollo posted 11 points and added 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals. Gillis registered 10 points on 5-7 shooting from the field with 5 assists in the contest.

Source: UW-W Athletics website
Copyright ©2025 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Athletic

Update 2/25 @ 3:55 p.m. – The team plays in the first round of the conference championship tonight, Tuesday 2/25 @ 7 p.m. – UW-W (#3) vs. UW-RF (#6)

Unconditional love and basketball: Warhawk Kacie Carollo builds on family legacy

Written by Chris Lindeke
Photos by Craig Schreiner, UW-Whitewater Athletics

The Carollo family name is synonymous with women’s basketball — and winning — at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

For more than two decades the family has been deeply associated with a team that has a strong legacy at the university and is a household name in NCAA Division III women’s basketball.

Keri Carollo was hired as head coach in April 2002. In 2008, her husband, Joe Carollo, joined her on the sidelines to be an assistant coach.

Fast forward to 2025, and their daughter, Kacie, is helping the family build on that exceptional success.

A two-time All-American, Carollo, an integrated science-business major, has been a linchpin in one of the strongest four-year stretches in the program’s history.

The run has included two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, one conference tournament title, and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the Final Four in 2022, the Sweet 16 in 2023, and the Elite Eight in 2024.

Carollo has thrived on and off the court — she is a recipient of multiple scholarships and is a five-time member of the Dean’s List — and enjoys the small-town, community-like atmosphere and the caring faculty.

“The professors have been very understanding of our schedules and the demands,” she said. “They understand the time and energy commitment to sports, which I’m very grateful for.”

With just four games remaining in the regular season, Carollo is cherishing every remaining moment as a part of the team.

“It’s basketball, so it’s not the most important thing in the world, but it is to our family, and it is to my teammates,” she said. “Valuing every single day — and the people around me — has been super important for me, because it goes by really fast.”

Carollo’s journey to becoming a Warhawk started more than two decades ago.

Raised to be a Warhawk

Carollo’s first memories of being involved in the program include “picnics” packed by her parents that included snacks, puzzles and games — all things to keep her occupied during the team’s practices and games.

She recalled being pushed around in the ball cart and being on the bus with her “big sisters” on the team.

“She was very outgoing, strong-willed, and personable,” Keri Carollo said. “You could tell she was a lot like me — she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and had a very strong personality but was also very caring and always looking out for everyone else.”

In 2008, when Carollo was just a small child, the Warhawks experienced their first big success under her mother’s leadership. The team made its first-ever trip to the Division III Final Four, where they went on to finish in third place.

More national success followed for UW-Whitewater. The team made back-to-back appearances in the Final Four starting five years later, finishing as national runner-up in 2013 and in third place in 2014.

Recruited to be a Warhawk

A three-sport athlete at Whitewater High School, Carollo worked closely with her parents to explore opportunities to compete in college basketball.

After a trip to St. Louis for a college visit as a high school senior, she realized that her home for the next four years may be right in her backyard.

Carollo was recruited closely by then-assistant coach Kirsten Hammer and then-graduate assistant Brooke Trewyn, who each earned a BSE in physical education and an MSE in professional studies from UW-Whitewater and were members of the Warhawk women’s basketball team as undergraduates.

“They asked me a lot of questions, and I could tell they really cared about me as a person,” she said.

Carollo enrolled at UW-Whitewater in the fall of 2021, joining a veteran-laden team that was poised for a big season after enduring a COVID pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign.

Four years of success

Carollo was an immediate fit with the Warhawks during the 2021-22 season. She played a supporting role in helping UW-Whitewater capture the regular season league championship and make a run through the NCAA Tournament to the championship game.

After the team punched its ticket to the Final Four with a victory over conference rival UW-Oshkosh, Carollo embraced her mother and coach with tears in her eyes.

“Everything happened so fast, and none of it was expected,” Carollo said. “It was just so huge for everybody in that moment … I know how hard my parents have worked, so it was cool for me to be an actual, tangible piece of it rather than just supporting them.”

Most importantly, she showed her ability to blend in both on and off the court — a characteristic that’s stuck with her over the last three-plus seasons even with her parents as coaches.

“I have to give Kacie a lot of credit — she’s made it easy — and I would also give credit to the teams she’s played with,” Coach Carollo said. “They have been very understanding of that dynamic, and we’ve never had teams that Kacie’s played with give us any pushback.”

Carollo evolved into a central leader on the team starting with the 2022-23 season. The team captured its second straight conference title, won the WIAC Tournament and reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

In 2023-24, UW-Whitewater, led by Carollo and another All-American — 2024 Jostens Trophy (National Player of the Year) recipient Aleah Grundahl — made a second straight run to the second weekend of the national tournament. The Warhawks finished one game away from a trip to the Final Four.

This year’s team is currently ranked #25 in the nation. The postseason begins the week of February 24, and the Warhawks are hopeful for another deep run.

“We value opportunity,” Coach Carollo said. “When you’re gifted an opportunity — not everybody gets to play college basketball — you make the most of that opportunity and try to get the most out of that experience. That goes for academics and social life, too, as not everyone gets to go to college. A lot of people take it for granted.”

Looking back (and ahead)

The Carollos have grown closer because of their basketball experiences inside of Kachel Gymnasium and around the country.

“We’ve always been close, but I think this has brought us closer, just seeing her go through the highs and lows and challenges of being a student-athlete and a woman,” Coach Carollo said.

The couple are also firmly embedded as leaders in other spaces around the Williams Center. Keri Carollo serves Warhawk athletics as senior woman administrator and assistant athletic director for compliance, while Joe Carollo is an assistant director for business affairs and event operations and a lecturer of kinesiology, teaching classes in the sport management minor.

“I know how much they care and how involved they are — it is literally their life,” Kacie Carollo said. “When they get after me or someone else, I know at the end of the day, it’s not personal — it’s just because they care.”

Carollo is on track to graduate in May 2025. She plans to remain in the area and pursue a career in health care administration.

Carollo’s focus remains on basketball as she hopes to help extend the season deep into March. She has already etched her name into the program record book, currently ranking second in both career points and rebounds, and now looks to add even more team success to an already sterling career ledger.

No result will break a mother and daughter bond that has only grown stronger after more than 20 years of bleeding purple together.

“I tell her at the start of every year that no matter what happens — wins, losses, whatever — I’m always going to be proud of you and love you unconditionally,” the coach (and mom) said.