UW-Whitewater upped its record to 10-4 with a 64-53 win over nineteenth ranked UW-River Falls, 12-2, in Kachel Gym in Williams Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin Saturday.

Sophomore guard Mary Merg (Greendale/Greendale) gave UW-W a five point lead, 11-6, with a jumper at 15:51.  The Warhawks held a razor thin lead, with one exception never larger than four points again, until 5:41 on the clock when a layup by junior guard Nikki Guhr's layup put the Falcons in front 20-19.  A three-pointer by senior guard Tiffany Gregorich put UW-RF in front 23-19, the largest lead the Falcons had in the first twenty minutes.  UW-W tied the game, for the fourth time, at 29-29 on another Merg jumper, but UW-RF closed out the half with a 31-29 advantage.

River Falls shot 54% from the floor in the half, Whitewater 34%, and the Falcons had a big advantage on the boards, 22-10.  Whitewater countered by committing just four turnovers and forcing 12 by UW-RF.

With River Falls in front 37-35, UW-W scored the next seven points over a span of 1:30 to regain the lead, 42-37.  In less than two minutes the Falcons were back in front, 45-44, which also turned out to be the last time UW-RF led in the game.  The teams were tied, for the eighth time, at 48-48 with 11:28 left in the game.  Over the next 5:05 the Warhawks outscored the Falcons 12-3 for a 60-51 lead at 6:23.  And then both teams stopped scoring.  There wasn't another point scored for the next six minutes, until two Katie Burton (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) free throws pushed Whitewater's lead to 62-51 with 0:23 remaining. 

UW-W found the shooter's eye in their locker room at halftime, coming out to hit 58% of their shots in the second half, while limiting the Falcons to 31% for the final twenty minutes. 

Whitewater used turnovers (14 for UW-W, 21 for UW-RF) and three point shots (Whitewater 6-14, River Falls 1-15) to compile their winning margin.  UW-RF won the battle on the boards 35-26.

Merg was the game's leading scorer with 20 points, the third time this season she has scored at least 20.  She hit 3-4 from beyond the arc.  Sophomore guard Katie Burton (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) added 14 points on 6-9 shooting.  Sophomore guard Kaitlyn Thill (Belgium/Ozaukee) contributed 12 points, and game highs in assists, 6, and steals, 3.  Senior center Maranda Dohrn tallied a double-double for UW-RF, with 15 points on 6-8 shooting, and ten rebounds.  Guhr chipped in with 12 points, and senior guard Tiffany Gregorich score 11.  Junior forward Brittany Gregorich led UW-RF with four assists.

Whitewater will play at UW-Platteville Wednesday at 7:00 and return home to host UW-Superior Saturday at 1:00 in Kachel Gym of Williams Center.

For additional information:  Keri Carollo, UW-W coach