The No. 8 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team led nearly wire-to-wire Saturday afternoon to remain in first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings with a 63-54 victory at UW-River Falls.

The Warhawks (20-2 overall, 10-1 WIAC) surged to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and built on the advantage in the third to pick up their eighth true road win of the season.

Aleah Grundahl tallied a game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor and added four rebounds and four steals. Johanna Taylor posted nine points, nine rebound and two blocks, and Kacie Carollo added seven points, two assists and two steals.

UW-W shot 39.3 percent from the floor, including a 66.7 percent clip (8-of-12) in the third quarter, and held the Falcons (9-10, 2-8) to 36.5 percent shooting for the contest.

A layup by Taylor and a 3-point play by Grundahl gave UW-Whitewater a 5-0 lead just over a minute into the game. The advantage swelled to double digits by the 2:52 mark of the first quarter following a pull-up jumper by Veronica Kieres, and UW-W held a 21-10 lead by the end of the period.

The Warhawks' lead grew to 16 with 7:16 on the clock in the second quarter following a pair of free throws by Abby Belschner. UW-River Falls trimmed its deficit to nine just over three minutes later, but UW-W scored two minutes later and maintained a 31-20 lead into halftime.

UW-Whitewater pulled away in the third quarter thanks to strong shooting from the floor (8-of-12) and the free-throw line (7-of-9). Belschner made it a 19-point game with 1:20 on the clock with a jumper, and after a UWRF bucket, Maggie Trautsch knocked down a free throw in the final minute for a 55-37 UW-W lead through three quarters.

Grundahl gave the Warhawks their largest advantage of the game at 58-37 with 8:53 to go. The Falcons chipped away and whittled their deficit down to eight with just over a minute to play but were unable to get any closer the rest of the way.

UW-Whitewater hosts UW-Platteville Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Play4Kay Night presented by UW Credit Union at Kachel Gymnasium. All fans are invited to join the Warhawks in wearing pink to support breast cancer awareness.