Oshkosh, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s basketball team took down #10 UW-Oshkosh 64-61 on their home court to hoist the WIAC Tournament trophy and claim the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The tournament title is the fourth in program history for UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks will find out what lies ahead in their 23rd – and ninth consecutive – NCAA Tournament appearance during the Selection Show set for 1:30 PM Monday. Fans can watch the selection show live on ncaa.com. The first round is scheduled for Friday, March 7.
After the two regular season meetings between these two squads featured a combined three overtimes – UWO winning both – basketball fans knew Saturday’s matchup was going to be a great game, and it certainly was.
UW-Whitewater got off to a quick start, scoring the first five points of the contest bolstered by a Katie Hildebrandt three-pointer. The Warhawk advantage would hit five three more times in the period including on the final bucket of the quarter – a jumper by Kacie Carollo (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) that made it 18-13.
The gap swelled to double digits in the second quarter with the Warhawks enjoying a 13-point, 38-25, lead at the intermission.
Although the margin dipped into single digits twice in the third, UWW pushed it back to double figures by the end of the quarter to hold a 51-41 lead going into the final quarter.
The Titans whittled away at the gap until pulling withing one, 58-57 with less than two to go. Hildebrandt knocked down a layup with 54 seconds to go to push the lead back to three, 60-57.
Mia Gillis (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) pulled down the defensive board on a missed layin for UWO and the Warhawks immediately called timeout. The inbounds went to Carollo and the senior hit one of two to make it a two possession game, 61-57, with 21 seconds left.
UWO scored quickly and fouled quickly to send Carollo back to the line with just seven seconds taken off from the previous set of free throws. Carollo missed the first but hit the second to make it 62-59 with 14 seconds on the clock.
The Titans put up a three-pointer that caromed off the rim and was nearly hauled in by Carollo but an Oshkosh player was able to gain possession and kick it back out for another deep shot. The shot was good, but to the dismay of the home crowd, the officials signaled for two, not three. The referees went to the replay computer to take a second look and came back with the same result – the shooter’s foot was on the line and the Warhawks maintained the lead, 62-61, with five seconds remaining.
The final play for UWW was an inbounds to Carollo, a foul and a pair of free throws for the senior guard to make it 64-61 with just two ticks of the clock left.
Oshkosh had an opportunity at the buzzer, but the floater inside the arc was no good as UWW gathered at center court in celebration.
Carollo picked up her 10th double-double of the season to tie the career record for career double-doubles with 28. She posted 20 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block in 37 minutes played.
Hildebrandt added 18 points and 6 boards while Gillis dropped in 12 points and hauled in 5 rebounds.
Prior to the start of the game, Carollo was named the WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar Athlete for Women’s Basketball. A complete release on this accomplishment will be announced next week.
