Photo by Dane Sheehan
Scranton, PA — A phenomenal season for the UW-Whitewater women’s basketball team came to a close in the Sweet 16 following a 62-56 loss to UW-Stout.
The Warhawks cap the 2024-25 campaign with a 24-7 record. UWW won the WIAC Tournament title for the fourth time in program history to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in program history. The Sweet 16 appearance is the fourth straight for UW-Whitewater and seventh under Head Coach Keri Carollo.
Friday’s game against UW-Stout marked just the second time two WIAC schools met in the Sweet 16, but it was the fourth time this season that the Warhawks and Blue Devils clashed. This game was like all of the others between the storied programs – a battle until the end.
The contest was close throughout setting up a down-to-the-wire fourth quarter. The Blue Devils pushed to a seven-point lead, 50-43, at the 6:12 mark, but the Warhawks responded. Defense turned to offense as Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) came up with a big block and defensive board. On the offensive end, Bri McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) found Maggie Trautsch (Sun Prairie, Wis./DeForest) for an in-rhythm three-pointer that cut the margin to four.
After a layup for UW-Stout, it was McCurdy’s turn to knock one down from deep, this time it was Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) on the dish, to cut the gap to 52-49. Carollo pulled down the defensive board, pushed the pace and was fouled. Her two free throws narrowed the margin to one, 52-51, with 4:33 on the clock.
Carollo hauled in another defensive board to put UWW back on the offensive. As the shot clock ticked down, Gillis found McCurdy who drove to the lane for a floater as the buzzer sounded. The shot hit the glass and went in with the officials immediately heading to the monitor. The play on the court stood, the jumper was good and the Warhawks claimed the lead, 53-52, for the first time since the first quarter with 3:29 remaining.
A flurry of action under the Blue Devils’ hoop on their next possession led to a layup as UW-Stout reclaimed the advantage with 2:11 on the clock.
Neither team was able to capitalize offensively for over a minute forcing UWW to foul as the clock neared the 30-second mark. The Blue Devils made a pair from the charity stripe to widen the gap to 56-53.
UW-Whitewater called timeout and advanced the ball to their bench side but couldn’t knock down the triple forcing the squad to foul immediately.
Stout made both once again to make it a five-point, 58-53, game with 24 left. The Warhawks called timeout and advanced the ball. This time Carollo drilled the three to pull UWW within two with under 20 seconds to play.
UW-Stout hit four more free throws down the stretch to seal the game.
Carollo led the Warhawks with one more double-double in her final game for UWW. The senior registered 23 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. She set the program record for points in a season and ends the season averaging 20.5 per game – another UW-Whitewater record. Katie Hildebrandt (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds with 4 blocks. Trautsch also registered double digits in the scoring column with 10.
Carollo amassed one of the greatest careers in Warhawk history with 1828 points, 902 rebounds, 371 assists, 226 steals and 58 blocks. Prior to the game Friday, Carollo was named a finalist for the Jostens Trophy – a full release will be announced Saturday.
