By Daniel Schoettler
Sports Correspondent
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Women’s Basketball team punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship over UW-Oshkosh, 65-56.
This marks the first time in program history that the women’s team has accomplished the feat.
The Warhawks were the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, and played UW-La Crosse last Friday night in a 69-54 win to advance to the conference championship game. The Warhawks had a 34-16 lead at the half and were outscored in the second half 38-35.
Former Whitewater High School player Brooke Trewyn made her mark on the conference tournament, as she was one of four Warhawks in double digits with 18. Sophomore Becky Deichl had 17 while a enior Reilly Stewart and junior Malia Smith both had 11 points in the win.
“Brooke played really well and I think I played a bit too much,” head coach Keri Carollo said. “She’s a gamer and she is always going to come and try to hit big shots.”
The Warhawks depth has been tested all year after losing junior Andrea Meinert to an ACL injury during the conference season.
“The depth is always important in our program,” Carollo said. “You just don’t know if or how players are going to step up and our team has done a nice job of filling that gap (losing Meinert early during the conference season).”
The Warhawks went back and forth with the Titans taking a 13-11 lead late in the quarter. After that the Warhawks went on a 19-1 run to take a 20 point lead, and led 18 at the half after a Brooke Trewyn buzzer beating basket.
In the third quarter, the Warhawks took their largest lead of the game after a Trewyn three-point play to make it 48-17 with 4:07 left in the quarter. After trailing by 30 after three quarters, UW-Oshkosh finally began chipping away at the lead as they cut it to 12 twice before cutting down to 10 with 36 seconds left.
Trewyn led way for the Warhawks in the championship game with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Smith, along with sophomore Olivia Freckmann, contributed 11 points in the win.
“She lives for these moments and she never lets us down,” Carollo said. “That is something we are really happy that she is capable of doing for us.”
By winning the tournament the Warhawks received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and traveled to Kentucky late this week. They lost to Hope College last night, bringing the season to a close.
