Editor’s note: The following information was provided by UW-Whitewater.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team starts the 2021-22 season with high hopes as it is set to supplement a strong core of veterans with a talented group of younger players.
The Warhawks, who finished 8-3 and reached the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship game during a shortened 2020-21 season, are predicted to finish second in the WIAC by the league’s coaches and athletic communications personnel and are ranked 18th in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25.
UW-Whitewater kicks off the new season Tuesday at home against Calvin (Mich.) at 6 p.m. The team then embarks on an eight-game stretch of playing away from Kachel Gymnasium.
The Warhawks start with a two-game set at UW-Stevens Point Nov. 12-13, taking on Concordia Wisconsin and Benedictine (Ill.) out of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
UW-Whitewater then hits the road for six consecutive true road games, visiting College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opponents Augustana (Nov. 17), Illinois Wesleyan (Nov. 20) and Carroll (Nov. 23) before a trip to Dubuque, Iowa, to take on Loras on Nov. 27. Both Illinois Wesleyan and Loras, like UW-W, reached the NCAA Tournament in 2020.
The Warhawks then kick off WIAC play Dec. 1 at UW-Stevens Point before heading to UW-Stout for a game on Dec. 4.
UW-Whitewater resumes non-conference action Dec. 19-20 with games against Alfred (N.Y.) and Centre (Ky.) in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The team closes the calendar year Dec. 29-30 with home games against Lake Forest (Ill.) and Edgewood as part of the program’s four-team holiday tournament. UW-Platteville will play the same opponents on the opposite days. Edgewood was also a 2020 NCAA Tournament participant.
The Warhawks’ 12 remaining conference games will be played between Jan. 5-Feb. 16 and include seven home dates. Highlights include Parents Day against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 8, Alumni Day on Jan. 15 against UW-River Falls and Play4Kay on Feb. 12 against UW-Stout. The regular season closes Feb. 16 at UW-Oshkosh.
The WIAC Tournament will be played the week of Feb. 21, and the NCAA Tournament begins with regionals on March 4-5. Following sectionals (March 11-12), the NCAA Championship is slated for March 18-19 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Head coach Keri Carollo, who enters her 20th season at the helm of the program, returns 13 players from last year’s roster and welcomes eight newcomers to the program.
Guard Rebekah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) and center Johanna Taylor (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) enter their fifth season with the team.
Taylor garnered first team D3hoops.com All-Central Region, first team all-conference and WIAC All-Defensive Team accolades in 2020-21 after averaging 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game with 41 blocks, which ranked fourth in the nation. She was recently selected as a fourth-team Preseason All-American by D3hoops.com.
Schumacher averaged 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest a year ago and has played in 76 games in her career. A two-year starter, Schumacher finished among the top 10 in the league in steals (15) and assists (24) in 2020-21.
Fourth-year returners include guards Veronica Kieres (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) and Yssa Sto. Domingo (Streamwood, Ill./St. Edward), and forward Courtney Oomens (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger).
Kieres averaged 4.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and totaled 16 steals, good for a tie for fifth in the WIAC, last season. Sto. Domingo also ranked among the league’s top five with 16 steals while averaging 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per affair.
Oomens, a key member of the frontcourt rotation for the last two years, played in nine games last season. In the team’s last full season in 2019-20, she averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Lunden Alexander (Dolton, Ill./Thornwood), Abi Baumgartner (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central), Abby Belschner (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg), Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) and Kailey Ketz (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) comprise the team’s third-year returners.
Grundahl earned first team All-WIAC honors last season after tallying a team-high 14.3 points per game on 45.4 percent shooting. The forward also grabbed 6.6 rebounds per contest and finished among the top 10 in the conference in steals (15), assists (24) and free-throw percentage (73.1). Grundahl was the WIAC Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in 2019-20.
Belschner, also a two-year frontcourt mainstay, averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and ranked 10th in the league in 2020-21 with seven blocked shots. Baumgartner, also a forward, appeared in four games a season ago.
Alexander and Ketz, both guards, combined to appear in eight games last season.
Guard Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) and forwards Erin Adams (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South) and Kendall Roquet (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) enter their second year as Warhawks.
Trautsch posted 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per outing and started three games in the backcourt in 2020-21. Adams played in nine games.
Newcomers to the program include guards Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater), Eden Frick (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), Abby Guthrie (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), Rebecca Schauer (Fredonia, Wis./Ozaukee), Olivia Tinder (Beloit, Wis./Turner) and Hailey Voelker (Colby, Wis./Colby), and forwards Mallory Oloffson (Normal, Ill./Normal Community) and Olivia Zuege (Green Bay, Wis./Preble).
The following UW-Whitewater student-atheltes from your coverage area are members of the 2021-22 Warhawk women’s basketball team:
Rebekah Schumacher of Whitewater (Whitewater High School), a senior majoring in elementary education.
Kacie Carollo of Whitewater (Whitewater High School), a freshman majoring in integrated science and business.
