MENOMONIE (January 21, 2012) - UW-Whitewater broke a 12-all tie midway through the first half and never trailed again as the Warhawks defeated UW-Stout, 72-55, Saturday, at Johnson Fieldhouse.

The young Blue Devils (4-14, 0-9) fell behind early, but overcame a seven-point deficit on a pair of free throws by Rachel Hanley (So, Minong), a bucket and a free throw by Nicki Alexander (Fr, Wabasha) and a free throw by Whitney Rawdon (Jr, Eau Claire).

But that would be as close as the Blue Devils would get the rest of the night as the Warhawks (14-4, 6-3) went off on a 9-0 run to take a 21-12 lead at 6:59 f the first half.

Whitewater took a 35-19 halftime lead, then came out of the locker room on a 12-3 run to take a 25-point, 47-22 lead at 16:50. The lead would stay in the upper 20s throughout the rest of the game.

The Warhawks were led by Mary Merg with 20 points. Merg dropped in 5-of-9 shots from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and all seven of her free throw attempts. Cortney Kumerow tossed in 18 points and Chantel Burg pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

Brea Boomer (Fr, Grand Portage, Minn) and Rawdon led Stout with 11 points each. Rawdon added six rebounds, while Boomer had four.

Stout shot 34.5 percent from the field (20-58), 6.7 percent from 3-point range (1-15) and 58.3 percent (14-24) from the line. The Warhawks shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the floor, 35.3 percent (6-17) from beyond the arc and 76.2 percent (16-21) from the line. Stout outrebounded the Warhawks, 36-33.

Stout will be at UW-River Falls, Wednesday, Jan. 25.