The showdown wasn't.  UW-Whitewater, ranked seventeenth in the D3hoops.com national poll, defeated fourteenth ranked George Fox University 73-56 Thursday in the championship game of the Surf N' Slam Tournament hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. 

Unlike their previous two games in the tourney, UW-W got off the beach fast, starting out 6-0.  The Warhawks followed that up with a 9-0 run, keyed by two three pointers from junior forward Megan Theune, to lead 15-4 with 14:30 on the clock. 

Leading 21-14 at 7:35, the Warhawks ballooned the margin with another burst, this time 13-3, to build their lead to 34-17 with 2:07 left in the half.  The halftime margin of 38-19 was the largest of the first twenty minutes.

Whitewater made 11-14 free throws in the first half, George Fox just 3-7, and the Warhawks limited the Bruins to 30% field goal shooting in the half.   Warhawk senior center Dana Thompson had 13 points in the first twenty minutes.

After Whitewater scored the first basket of the second half George Fox scored six straight to hint at a comeback.  The Bruins were still within range at 48-36 with 10:14 left, but a 12-3 burst by UW-W took the margin to 60-39 and ended any thoughts of a GFU comeback.

UW-W had it on the line.  The Warhawks made 25-35 free throws, while GFU hit just 50% and had fewer attempts, 10-20.

Thompson, the MVP of the tournament, took game scoring honors with 24 points.  Theune, who hit 4-5 threes, wound up with 15.  Junior guard Jamie Swanson took game honors with nine rebounds, and freshman point guard Kaitlyn Thill led the team with four assists and four steals.  George Fox was led by junior wing Keisha Gordon's 15 points, with junior guard Arianna Mohsenian hitting 4-6 three pointers to contribute 12 points.  Sophomore center Hannah Munger, who came in averaging 16.4 points and 10.7 rebounds, was held to seven points and four boards.

UW-W's win streak increases to five, and the Warhawks have won nine of their last ten.  Now 10-2, Whitewater will host Edgewood College Wednesday, January 5 at 7:00 in Kachel Gym of Williams Center.   George Fox is 8-3.