By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Warhawks’ women’s basketball team entered the NCAA tournament, beginning on March 4, riding a three-game losing streak and found themselves outside the top-25 rankings going into postseason play.
With the struggle down the stretch, the Warhawks were forced to travel to St. Louis, Mo. for its first two rounds of potential games. On March 4, in the opening round, the ’Hawks faced Bluffton (Ohio).
Bluffton entered with a 25-2 record overall and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. UW-Whitewater, who despite missing the postseason a year ago, isn’t unfamiliar with the tournament.
In the opening quarter, the ’Hawks got out to a 15-11 lead, and eventually owned a 32-29 lead going into halftime. The team then outscored Bluffton in both the third and fourth quarters, leading to the 66-54 opening round win.
Brooke Trewyn, a Whitewater High School graduate, led all scorers with 23 points thanks to going 4-of-5 from three-point range. Trewyn was the only ’Hawk in double figures and added nine rebounds. Lisa Palmer also pulled down nine rebounds, leading to the team’s eighth 20-win season in the last nine years.
A second round matchup with the host school, Washington University of St. Louis, ensued. The Bears are another team that consistently makes the NCAA tournament, and despite having home-court advantage, only had a 39-34 lead over UW-Whitewater entering the fourth quarter.
In that fourth quarter though is where the Bears pulled away. A 12-point difference and 23-point output by the Bears led to the ’Hawks’ final game of the season, losing, 62-45.
Warhawk senior guard Abbie Reeves scored a game-high 12 points and in the process, made a 3-pointer that gave her over 1,000 points scored while becoming the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals made. By the game’s end, Reeves’ career came to a close with 1,003 points and 204 made 3-pointers attached to her name in the record books.
The ’Hawks were stifled offensively throughout the night, shooting just 25.9 percent from the field, which marked the team’s season-low. The team never held a lead in the game.
With the season over, UW-Whitewater ended its year with a 20-8 overall record and for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons, the team has won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament.
