Bri McCurdy brings the ball up the floor in a game earlier this season (Tim Kruse)

By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team battled in a fast-paced, top 10 matchup against No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan Tuesday night in Kachel Gym. The Warhawks’ fourth-quarter comeback fell just shy in the 84-78 loss to the Titans. 

The game came down to the wire in the fourth quarter with the difference coming from the free throw line. A two-point IWU lead after the first grew to six points by halftime, 40-46. On the other side of the break, UWW narrowed the gap by one to head into the fourth trailing by five, 51-56. 

The Warhawks picked up the pace and put the pressure on in the fourth. UWW opened the period on a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead, 57-56, courtesy of a pair of free throws from Katie Hildebrandt and layups from Mallory Oloffson and Bri McCurdy. The Titans responded with an old fashioned three-point play, but Kacie Carollo answered on UW-Whitewater’s end with a triple to put UWW back on top 60-59. Oloffson jumped a passing lane and found McCurdy cutting through the paint for a lay-in to push the lead to 62-59 with 7:12 on the clock. 

The teams traded buckets until just under the five-minute mark when Illinois Wesleyan’s trips to the charity stripe took hold as they scored the next seven from the line. The Titans hit a three with 2:19 to go to take a four-point lead, 76-72. UWW scored quick with Oloffson hitting a layup off a Hildebrandt assist, but a pair of free throws for IWU had the gap back to four. 

The Titans negated a single free throw with a layup to take a five-point advantage, 80-75, with just over a minute to go. McCurdy knocked down a pivotal three-pointer to pull UWW to within two 30 seconds later. Forced to foul late, Illinois Wesleyan was able to seal the game at the line. 

The Warhawks held massive advantages in fastbreak points (40-3) and points in the paint (40-28), but free throws were vital. The Titans hit 21-22 from the charity stripe while UWW was 14-16 in the game. 

Carollo led all players with 26 points playing the entire 40 minutes. She added five boards, six assists and three steals. Oloffson knocked down 8 of 10 for 16 points. McCurdy drained 3 of 5 from deep en route to a 16-point performance. 

Maggie Trautsch paced UWW on the glass with six boards while Hildebrandt added three blocks and four steals.