The No. 9 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team maintained its first place standing in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wednesday night with a 74-69 victory in double overtime against UW-Stevens Point in a thrilling contest at Kachel Gymnasium.
The Warhawks (17-2 overall, 8-1 WIAC), who now hold a two-game lead in the league standings, flexed their muscles near the rim, outscoring the Pointers 50-26 in the paint and grabbing 18 offensive rebounds for 17 second-chance points.
With four blocks in the contest, Johanna Taylor passed Vanessa Rieder (1998-2000) for first place on the program's all-time career blocks list. She recorded No. 175 of her career with three minutes to play in the first overtime.
Taylor added a career-high 24 points on 12-of-23 shooting as well as nine rebounds and three steals. Kacie Carollo registered a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists, and Aleah Grundahl tallied 13 points, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
Taylor put UW-W ahead for good on a put-back layup with just under a minute to play in the second overtime.
Rebekah Schumacher drilled a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to increase the lead to four. After the Pointers narrowed their deficit to three, Carollo knocked down two free throws on the other end to put the game out of reach.
In the first quarter, the two teams exchanged the lead in the first four minutes of action before UW-Whitewater scored eight straight points, including back-to-back layups by Grundahl, to take a 12-8 advantage with four minutes remaining. The two teams were tied 12-12 by the end of the quarter.
UW-Stevens Point (9-7, 2-5) started the second on a 13-4 run, including a trio of 3-pointers, for a 25-16 lead at the 6:07 mark. UW-W scored the next seven to draw within one point, but the Pointers finished the period on a 10-3 run for an eight-point halftime advantage.
The Pointers' lead remained over the first five minutes of the third quarter and stretched to 12 by the 5:06 mark. The Warhawks scored the next seven points, including five from Carollo, to draw within five with 2:26 remaining. The two teams exchanged buckets in the final two minutes for a five-point UWSP lead heading to the fourth.
UW-Stevens Point maintained its lead throughout the fourth quarter until the 1:45 mark, when Veronica Kieres converted a 3-point play to tie the game at 55-55. Both teams had chances to take the lead over the final minute of regulation but were unable to convert.
UW-Whitewater jumped out to a 59-55 advantage early in the first overtime and led by four after Kieres' floater with 1:11 to go. The Pointers closed the period with four straight points, all from the free-throw line, to tie the game and send it to a second overtime.
The Warhawks close out the non-conference portion of the regular season Sunday against Lake Forest (Ill.). Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Kachel Gymnasium.