In a crucial conference match up, the No.18 UW-Whitewater women’s basketball team (16-3, 6-2) outlasted UW-Eau Claire 61-58 Jan. 27 at Zorn Arena in Eau Claire.
Despite UW-W shooting 36.5 percent from the field and being outrebounded 35-24 by the Blugolds, the Warhawks used the turnover margin to their advantage.
While the Warhawks committed 18 turnovers, the Blugolds turned the ball over 26 times. The Warhawks outscored the Blugolds 22-12 on points off turnovers.
After the Warhawks tied the game at 13-13 with 1:22 remaining in the first quarter, the Warhawks didn’t trail in the game until the Blugolds hit a three with 1:14 in the fourth quarter to take a 56-55 lead.
UW-W senior guard Malia Smith drew a foul on the next possession and converted two free throws to put the Warhawks up 57-56 with 0:46 left in the game.
The Blugolds turned the ball over on their following possession, and then intentionally fouled multiple times to put senior forward Andrea Meinert at the free throw line. Meinert cashed in from the charity stripe to put the Warhawks ahead 59-56 with 0:19 remaining.
“Eau Claire had four fouls to give, so we had to enter the ball and get fouled four different times,” head coach Keri Carollo said regarding the late stages of the game. “As a coach, you get a little nervous how we’ll handle that. They handled it extremely well and obviously got the ball to the right people. We want to make sure we get it to our best shooters, and we got it in our seniors’ hands. It was great to see them knock them down.”
After a quick Blugolds layup, UW-EC then put Smith back at the free throw line with 0:12 left in the game. Smith hit both free throws, and the Blugolds misfired on a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the contest.
Smith finished with a team-high 17 points, including three made 3-pointers and a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line.
“It’s important for her to just shoot the ball well,” Carollo said. “She’s our best 3-point shooter, and we feed off of her quite a bit. It’s tough for us to win if she doesn’t get it going.”
The Warhawks had two other double-digit scorers in sophomore guard Camri Conley with 10 points and Meinert with 12 points.
With the win the Warhawks move into a two-way tie at the top of the WIAC standings. UW-Oshkosh and UW-W both sit at 6-2 in conference. UW-River Falls, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse are all one game back at 5-3.
With six conference games left, the title of WIAC champions will be highly contested down the stretch.
“Everyone matches up with each other so differently,” Carollo said regarding the conference teams.  “It’s going to be execution down the stretch, leadership and mental focus. Every game is going to matter. If you lose one or two, it’s not the end of the world. It’s going to be a tight race.”
As last year’s WIAC tournament champions, the Warhawks know what it takes to win against their conference competitors.
“We all know what we’re capable of if we play together and play our game,” said sophomore guard Becky Raeder. “We know we can beat anybody.”
While attainable, it won’t be an easy task.
“We just have to come to practice ready to go every day,” senior guard Brooke Trewyn said.  “It comes down to us playing the game we’re capable of and playing our style of play. It’s going to be a battle, but we’re excited for the second half of the WIAC season to start up.”
The Warhawks will look to pick up another conference win when they kick off their three-game homestand against UW-Stevens Point Jan.31 at Kachel Gymnasium.