The No. 13 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team grabbed the lead early in the second quarter Saturday afternoon and never relinquished it in a 53-51 triumph at Coe in a non-conference affair in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
The Warhawks (6-0 overall) held the Kohawks to 35.2 percent shooting from the floor and forced 18 turnovers, capitalizing with 20 points off the miscues.
 
Senior guard Malia Smith (Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) registered a team-high 15 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals, and senior forward Andrea Meinert (West Bend, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) posted 14 points and six rebounds to lead the frontcourt.
 
Senior guard Brooke Trewyn (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) collected eight points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and enters next week with 998 career points. Junior forward Sarah Schumacher(Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) posted six points, four rebounds and one block off the bench.
 
UW-Whitewater trailed for a majority of the first quarter. After Coe (2-5) grabbed its largest lead of the period at 14-10, Smith hit a 3-pointer to bring the Warhawks within one entering the second quarter.
 
The Warhawks took an 18-16 advantage at the 8:46 mark of the second after another 3-pointer by Smith and never trailed again in the contest.
 
Meinert put UW-Whitewater ahead by seven with 2:58 to play in the quarter, but the Kohawks narrowed their deficit to 26-24 by halftime.
 
The Warhawks tallied six straight points to start the second half on a layup by Smith, a jumper by Trewyn and a layup by Meinert with 8:34 on the clock that put the team ahead 32-24.
 
UW-Whitewater led by eight again midway through the third after a jumper by Schumacher, and held a four-point lead by the end of the quarter.
 
Coe closed to within 39-37 one minute into the fourth quarter. Smith hit a jumper with 6:47 remaining, and after a turnover by the Kohawks, Meinert converted a layup for a six-point lead with 6:10 to go.
 
Coe narrowed its deficit to one point by the 3:27 mark, but sophomore guard Camri Conley (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) responded one minute later with a layup to bring the Warhawk lead to three.
 
After a jumper by the Kohawks, Meinert responded with a jumper at the other end to make it 49-46 with 1:42 left in the contest.
 
Coe closed to within one point again with 44 seconds left, but Meinert and Trewyn combined to go 4-of-4 from the line over the next 30 seconds to bring the UW-Whitewater lead to five with six seconds remaining.
 
The Kohawks hit a 3-pointer with four seconds to play, but the Warhawks ran out the clock to secure their 28th regular season, non-conference win in their last 29 games.
 
UW-Whitewater returns to action Tuesday as it hosts MSOE. Tipoff at Kachel Gymnasium is slated for 7 p.m.