By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Stevens Point, Wis. – The No. 10 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team outscored the Pointers 17-9 in the third quarter leading to a 64-51 win at UW-Stevens Point Wednesday night. Senior forward Aleah Grundahl had a monster night with 33 points on 12-16 from the floor and 8-11 from the charity stripe. She added eight boards, two blocks, an assist and a steal in 29 minutes of action.
Box Score
The Warhawks dominated in the paint in the second half scoring 24 points in the lane while holding the Pointers to just four. For the game, UWW enjoyed a 32-24 sway in points in the paint.
Katie Hildebrandt opened the game with a three-pointer off of a Maggie Trautsch pass eleven seconds into the game and UW-Whitewater maintained the lead through the first quarter. Trautsch got the second quarter off to a similar start knocking down a triple from a Grundahl dish to push the lead to eight, 21-13.
UW-Stevens Point whittled down the lead eventually taking the advantage on a layup, 25-23, with 6:14 on the clock. UWW regained the advantage in the next two possessions but a late and-one for UWSP sent the teams into the locker room with the Warhawks leading by just two, 30-28.
On the other side of the break, the Pointers tallied the first basket, a three-pointer to claim the lead. A few plays later, Trautsch found Lunden Alexander who powered through a foul on a layup. She dropped in the free throw to spark a 12-6 run through the rest of the quarter. The Warhawks ran through the Pointers in the 10-minute span, outscoring the host school 17-9 to open up a double-digit advantage, 47-37.
UWSP was able to cut the margin to five twice in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter but Grundahl and UWW would not be stopped. The senior forward dropped in 14 of the team’s 17 points in the final quarter. Grundahl played the entire period hitting 6-7 from the floor and 2-2 from the free throw line while adding four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Trautsch paced the Warhawks on the glass with 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end, adding a team-high five assists and three steals.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, UW-Whitewater holds second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings with an 8-3 record. The Warhawks are one game back from UWO (9-2). UW-Platteville (6-5) is third followed by UW-Stout (5-6), UW-River Falls (5-6), UW-La Crosse (4-7), UW-Eau Claire (4-7) and UW-Stevens Point (3-8).
