The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team earned the program's ninth 20-win season in the last 10 years and punched its ticket to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship semifinals Saturday with a 68-56 triumph over UW-Eau Claire in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Warhawks (20-5 overall, 10-4 WIAC), who finished the regular season alone in second place in the WIAC standings, will host the highest remaining seed in the tournament Friday at 7 p.m. with a trip to Sunday's WIAC Championship final on the line.
UW-Whitewater outscored the Blugolds (13-12, 7-7) by a 19-6 margin on the free-throw line and held a 39-24 advantage in rebounding for a 10-3 edge in second-chance points.
Junior guard Brooke Trewyn posted a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, while sophomore forward Olivia Freckmann tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds to go along with three steals and 8-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Reilly Stewart contributed 13 points, and junior guard Malia Smith collected 11 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
The Warhawks fell behind 11-4 early in the first quarter but fought their way back to take a 12-11 lead at the 4:08 mark.
UW-Eau Claire led by one at the end of the first and grabbed a six-point lead one minute, 31 seconds into the second.
Trewyn knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game two minutes later, and Freckmann completed UW-Whitewater's 11-0 run with a jumper with 2:34 left in the half.
The Warhawks took a four-point lead into the locker room and extended the advantage to nine less than one minute into the third quarter. The Blugolds tied the game at 43-43 with 3:18 to go in the period before Smith and Freckmann hit consecutive jumpers to send UW-Whitewater into the fourth quarter with a 47-43 lead.
Trewyn and Stewart combined for the first seven points of the fourth to give UW-Whitewater a 54-43 advantage with 7:45 remaining.
UW-Eau Claire got as close as six with 1:43 to go, but Smith hit a jumper on the next possession and the Warhawks continued to pull away from there.
Potential semifinal opponents for UW-Whitewater include third-seeded UW-Stevens Point, No. 4 seed UW-La Crosse and the fifth-seeded Blugolds.