The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team punched its ticket to the program's eighth appearance in the championship game of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament (presented by Culver') with a 67-59 win against UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday night at Kachel Gymnasium.
With the victory, the top-seeded Warhawks (23-3 overall) advance to host No. 3 seed UW-Eau Claire in the the title game this Friday at 7 p.m. inside Kachel Gymnasium.
Aleah Grundahl posted 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead UW-Whitewater, which closed the game on a 12-4 run. Rebekah Schumacher hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with just under two minutes to play and tallied 12 points with two blocks.
Johanna Taylor registered 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and Kacie Carollo collected 11 points and five rebounds.
UW-W held the fourth-seeded Titans (19-6) to 35.0 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
The Warhawks jumped out to an 8-0 advantge, holding the Titans scoreless until the 5:11 mark of the first quarter.
Carollo gave UW-Whitewater a 14-5 advantge with 3:06 left, but UW-Oshkosh finished the quarter on a 10-0 run for a 15-14 lead.
The Warhawks responded with a 9-0 run to start the second, including five points from Grundahl, for a 23-15 advantage with 7:14 on the clock. UW-W led throughout the final 9:16 of the quarter, but the Titans drew to within 32-29 by halftime.
UW-Oshkosh scored the first eight points of the third and led by as many as six points in the quarter. UW-Whitewater took the lead at 43-42 with 2:49 left on a 3-pointer by Carollo, and back-to-back jumpers by Veronica Kieres and Schumacher gave UW-W a 49-46 lead headed to the fourth.
The Warhawks started the fourth with six straight points for a 55-46 advantage with 6:54 on the clock, but the Titans responded with seven straight points to trim their deficit to 55-53 near the halfway mark of the period.
One minute after UW-Oshkosh tied the game with 3:12 on the clock, Schumacher put UW-W ahead for good with a 3-pointer, and Grundahl's 3-point play made it a six-point game with 1:25 remaining.
After a basket by the Titans, Grundahl pushed the lead back to six with just under a minute to play. Carollo hit a pair of free throws with 29 seconds to go, and Maggie Trautsch hit two more with 20 seconds left.
UW-Whitewater and UW-Eau Claire will match up for the third time this season. The two teams split a pair of games, with the Blugolds taking the most receng game 81-71 on Jan. 22 in Eau Claire.
The Warhawks seek their third WIAC Tournament championship in program history.