The UW-Whitewater women’s basketball team cruised into the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 75-53 win over Principia College in Kachel Gym in Whitewater on Friday night.
With the win, the Warhawks advance to host UW-La Crosse Saturday at 7 PM in Kachel Gym. UWW defeated the Eagles in both regular season meetings — 62-56 on the road and 74-62 at home — this season. The Eagles topped Colorado College 79-52 in the first round.
Editor’s note: Whitewater had a good-sized crowd on Friday evening, and hopefully Saturday will be even better. Parking is free in lots 11 and 24 and tickets are purchased onsite. Adults are $15, Senior Adults, Students, and Children ages 6-17 are $10. Children under 6 are free. Those unable to attend may find links for listening or viewing the game here and here together with other information about the contest.
UW-Whitewater got off to an incredible start in Friday’s game against the Panthers. Mallory Oloffson (Normal, Ill./Normal Community) opened the scoring with a three-pointer off of a Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) assist. Less than 30 seconds later, Trautsch hit her first attempt of the night – also from long range – off a Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) pass for a 6-0 lead. Trautsch answered a Principia basket with another triple before draining her third three in the first six minutes of the contest to give UWW a 14-4 advantage.
By the end of the first quarter, the gap ballooned to 24-18. Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) hit the first basket of the second quarter to push the margin into the 20s. Another three-pointer, this one from Renee Rittmeyer (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) with less than a minute left in the half, extended the Warhawk lead to 30, 47-17. Hildebrandt capped the first 20 minutes with a jumper to send UWW into the intermission with a 32-point advantage.
The Warhawks were efficient in the first half shooting 47% and 67% in the first two quarters respectively. Meanwhile, the defense held Principia to 15% and 31% from the floor in the first and second quarters.
The Panthers won the third and fourth quarters outscoring UWW 18-13 in each period for the 75-53 final.
Hildebrandt led the Warhawks with a double-double hauling in 15 boards to go with 15 points. Trautsch and Oloffson each scored 16 while Rittmeyer added 11.
Scores for other Wisconsin teams on Friday:
UW-Superior lost to Whitman 54-77
UW-Oshkosh beat Calvin 61-52
UW- Stout beat Ripon 87-57
Gustavus Adolphus over Wisconsin Lutheran 61-49
