The No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team earned their 20th victory of the season with a 59-55 win over UW-Platteville on Wednesday night in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.
The Warhawks (20-2 overall, 10-2 WIAC) held the Pioneers (11-11, 3-8) to 25.0 percent shooting in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.
UW-Whitewater assured itself of a top-two seed in the WIAC Tournament and will host a semifinal game Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. inside Kachel Gymnasium.
Senior Becky Raeder (Sheboygan Falls, Wis./Sheboygan Falls)led the team with 19 points while junior Johanna Taylor(Wauwatosa, Wis./East) recorded 16 points and four blocks. Freshman Aleah Grundahl (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore Yssa Sto. Domingo(Streamwood, Ill./St. Edward) handled two assists.
UW-W was able to put points on the board first, but the Pioneers took and held the lead with 6:21 left in the first. The rest of the quarter nearly went possession for possession as UW-P held a six-point advantage heading into the second.
The Pioneers continued to hold their lead and only let the Warhawks within four points of their own score. They found their largest lead of 10 points with 1:49 on the clock. UW-W found six unanswered points to head into the half with a 32-28 disadvantage.
UW-Whitewater tied the game with 35 points apiece two minutes into the third quarter with a layup from Veronica Kieres(Chicago, Ill./Resurrection). But, the Pioneers found a nine-point scoring run to add to their advantage. The Warhawks countered right back, holding UW-P scoreless through the final four minutes of the quarter and taking the lead back for the first time in 27 minutes, entering the final quarter with a 45-44 lead.
Neither team was able to score until Raeder broke the dry spell with a 3-pointer halfway through the fourth. With two minutes left to play, the Pioneers led 51-50. Raeder found another 3-pointer to take back the lead shortly before the game was tied up yet again with 1:06 left on the clock.
UW-W held their lead in the final 20 seconds after a layup from Raeder tied the game 55-55. She would make her free throw and Taylor hit three of her opportunities from the line to clinch the win with a final score of 59-55.