By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
Warhawk Women’s basketball came within one game of their first national championship on Saturday, March 19 as they came out blazing in the first half in Pittsburgh, with the score tied at 34. The tide began to turn in the third quarter, which ended with Hope (#2) over the Warhawks (#12) by 56-49. The final score was 71-58. UW-Whitewater evidently had great fan support, as one of the CBS Sports Network commentators said that “half the town” was there.
******************************************************************************************
UW-Whitewater Women’s Basketball Finishes as National Runner-Up
By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The No. 12 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team wrapped up its fourth appearance in the Final Four Saturday afternoon with a 71-58 loss against No. 2 Hope (Mich.) in the national title game of the 2022 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Warhawks conclude the 2021-22 season with a 28-5 record, good for the second-most wins in program history. UW-W won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 12-2 league record and defeated Ripon, Illinois Wesleyan, Smith (Mass.) and UW-Oshkosh on the way to its fourth appearance in the national semifinals since 2008.
With Thursday’s 55-51 win against Amherst (Mass.), UW-Whitewater punched its ticket to the national championship game for the second time in program history and first time since 2013.
Playing in her final game at UW-W, Rebekah Schumacher tallied a team-high 14 points with three rebounds and three steals. Johanna Taylor, also closing her Warhawk career, posted 12 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, adding to her program-record total of 208 career blocks. Courtney Oomens also played in her final game as a Warhawk.
Aleah Grundahl, who was named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of play, registered 11 points, five assists and two steals. Kacie Carollo collected 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Yssa Sto. Domingo recorded eight points and three assists.
The two teams traded the lead in the first quarter before the Flying Dutch (32-1) took an 8-5 advantage just past the midway point of the period.
Taylor and Grundahl converted baskets to give UW-Whitewater the advantage, and the two teams exchanged the lead again before Grundahl’s layup just before the buzzer gave UW-W a 16-14 lead.
The Warhawks’ lead jumped to five in the opening minute of the second on a 3-pointer by Sto. Domingo. UW-W took its largest lead of the quarter at 27-21 with 6:07 on the clock following a jumper by Taylor.
Hope scored the next eight points, and the two teams exchanged buckets over the final three minutes of the half. Carollo’s 3-pointer tied the game at 34-34 heading into halftime.
The Dutch scored the first six points of the third and increased its lead to eight by the 3:33 mark. UW-Whitewater pulled to within four on two separate occasions in the final three minutes of the quarter, but Hope held a 56-49 advantage heading to the fourth.
A 3-pointer by Carollo one minute into the fourth quarter pulled the Warhawks within three before the Flying Dutch scored the next 13 points for a 69-53 advantage with 2:58 remaining. UW-W got no closer than 13 the rest of the way.
