UW-Whitewater held on to first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 58-56 win over UW-La Crosse at Mitchell Hall in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  UW-W improves to 10-2 in the WIAC, 15-5 overall.  UW-L is 3-8 in league play, 9-11 on the season.

UW-W ran uphill the entire first half.  La Crosse jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Whitewater came back to knot the game at 11-11.  The Eagles came back with a 10-2 run that gave them the largest lead of the half, 21-13 on Trisha Van Dusseldorp three at 7:42.  Whitewater came back to tie the game 25-25 on Katie Burton's jumper, and the teams ended the first twenty minutes tied 27-27.

Eagle senior guard Briana Radowicz led all scorers with 16 first half points, going 6-10 from the floor, including 2-2 from beyond the arc, and hitting both of her free throw attempts.  Warhawk senior forward Cortney Kumerow blocked three shots in the half, making her the second women's player, and the third combining men and women, to total 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.  Kumerow got her 100th blocked shot at the 17:13 mark.  Lindsey Buechner was the first Warhawk woman to accomplish the feat, accumulating 1,205 points, 665 rebounds and 100 blocks from 2004-2008.  James Hodges is the only member of a Warhawk men's team to reach all three marks, with 1,516 points, 701 rebounds, and 151 blocks.

Both teams shot 39% from the floor, both made four free throws, but La Crosse went 3-6 from long range and Whitewater went 1-5.

A Kumerow layup at the 18:03 mark made it 31-29, Whitewater's first lead of the game.  Kumerow scored the first six points of the second half.  Sam Quandt's jumper at 10:33 gave UW-W its biggest lead, 46-34.  Whitewater led 52-40 with 8:09 on the clock, but by the 4:40 mark the Eagles had capped off a 10-1 run that cut Whitewater's lead to 53-50.  With 1:45 left UW-W went ahead by six, 57-51 on a layup by Lisa Palmer. 

UW-L closed the gap again, to 57-56 with 1:00 left.  Kaitlyn Thill made the second of two free throws to give UW-W a 58-56 lead.  With :09 left UW-L missed the tying shot, got the rebound and went to the line, where Erin Levenhagen missed the bonus shot and, after grabbing the rebound, called a timeout.  The Eagles last possession ended with a turnover.

UWW shot 23-56 (41%) from the field and 10-14 (71%) from the free throw line, while La Crosse shot 18-49 (36%) from the field and 15-20 (75%) from the free throw line for the game.

Whitewater was lead by Kumerow's 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Thill added 14 points and 3 steals. La Crosse was lead by Radowicz 22 points and 8 rebounds.


The Warhawk women will travel to UW-Platteville Wednesday, February 6 for a 7:00 tipoff.  The next home game will be Saturday, February 9 at 3:00, with UW-Superior visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center for the annual Alumni Day for Warhawk women's basketball.