Different night, same script.  UW-W shook off a shooting percentage in the early going that resembled a Wisconsin thermometer, smothered another opponent with a blitz and, for good measure, broke the school record for steals in a 79-63 win over Bethany Lutheran College Wednesday night at the Surf N' Slam Tournament in San Diego, California.  The win sets up a matchup between two top twenty teams in the tourney title game Thursday.

UW-W, which missed its first seven shots in Tuesday's win over Point Loma Nazarene, went three better (worse), missing its first ten field goal attempts against Bethany Lutheran.  Despite that, UW-W trailed just 8-3 because the Vikings started out 2-7 from the floor.  Emily Bestor hit Whitewater's first basket at 14:55, just eleven seconds after the Warhawks' first score Tuesday night, and junior forward Megan Theune tied the game at 8-8 with a three pointer at 13:48.  Theune followed up with a layup at 13:12 to give UW-W its first lead, 10-8.  Whitewater managed a five point lead three times in the half, the last at 25-20.  BLC followed with a 6-0 streak to regain the lead 26-25.  Jamie Swanson's three pointer put UW-W back in front 30-29 at 2:37, and the teams went into the intermission knotted up 32-32.

Whitewater fouls put Bethany in the bonus for more than ten minutes of the first half, with the Vikings hitting 15-20.  Nine Warhawks scored in the first half, while Bethany was led by senior guard Nicole Jones' 13 points and junior guard Anna Cepek's 11.

UW-W warmed up at halftime, blowing past the Vikings with a 25-5 start to the second half.  The whirlwind included a 13-0 run, with freshman guard Mary Merg contributing seven points in the run.  Whitewater led 57-37 with 11:31 left in the game.  The lead never sank below fifteen points the rest of the way for the Warhawks. 

The Warhawks broke the school record for steals with 29, topping the previous mark of 26 set November 23, 1993 against the University of Chicago.  Junior forward Chantel Burg led the team with five steals, one of eleven Warhawks to record a theft in the game.   Freshman guard Kaitlyn Thill moved into the top twenty in season steals (ten games into a season), picking up four to move to 57 this season, passing Wendy Beatty (1981-82) and Colleen Graham (1991-92) with 55.  The steals played a large role in Bethany Lutheran 's 33 turnovers, the most since UW-W forced UW-Superior to turn the ball over 34 times February 20, 2010. 

Whitewater used 17 players in the game, 13 of them broke into the scoring column.  Senior center Dana Thompson led UW-W with 12 points, and Thill added 10.  Burg also led both teams with 11 rebounds, and Bestor dished out a game high six assists.

Bethany Lutheran, 2-6, was led by Cepek's 17 points, taking game scoring honors.  Jones contributed 15 points, a team high five assists, game high nine rebounds -- and eighteen turnovers.  Junior center Jessica Englund chipped in with 14 points and tied Jones with nine boards.

UW-W, 8-2, won the Slam division of the tourney with a 2-0 mark.  The Warhawks will face George Fox University, 2-0 in the Surf division, for the tournament title Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Central.  Both teams are 8-2, with GFU ranked fourteenth in the D3hoops.com Division III national poll and Whitewater seventeenth.

For additional information:  Keri Carollo, UW-W coach, 262-472-5782