The Warhawk women’s hoops team carried its surge of weeks long momentum to an eight-game winning streak. UW-W’s victories against UW-Stevens Point Feb. 6 and UW-Stout Feb. 9 bring its season record to 16-7 overall and 9-3 in the WIAC.

Whitewater currently stands tied for second in conference with UW-La Crosse, but does not own the tiebreaker due to the Eagles having a better overall record. However, the team is just one game behind conference leader UW-Oshkosh.

In UW-W’s 70-58 road victory to the Pointers, senior forward Olivia Freckmann netted a career-high 27 points to lead the Warhawks’ scoring. The Warhawks were also helped by sophomore Emily Schumacher, who scored 17 points. She made three of the team’s four 3-pointers, going 50 percent from behind the arc.

The Pointers were held in-check on their 3-pointers, shooting just 3-of-15 from that range.

Head coach Keri Carollo, who has struggled coaching against Stevens Point her entire career here (she was 13-24 overall coming into the season) has now taken the last four.

Three days later, the Warhawks celebrated Senior Day with a 74-60 victory against UW-Stout.  Freckmann put up her ninth double-double of the season in her final regular season home game.

Freckmann, who scored 11 points and corralled 10 rebounds, noted she understood how much a victory on Senior Day meant to the group.

“It’s very important,” Freckmann said. “It makes us all feel good. Honestly it feels like another game, but it feels more special that we got the win.”

The Warhawks jumped out early against the Blue Devils and led 40-34 at the half. Baseline jumpers and backdoor cuts helped the Warhawks shoot over 50 percent from the field in the first half.

“We always like to have a lot of action towards the rim to try to get defenses to really have to defend off the dribble and collapse,” said Carollo.

Stout made the contest close until Emily Schumacher hit a big three to shift the momentum back to Whitewater. Schumacher made quick decisions throughout the game as the Blue Devils would shift their defense from man to a 2-3 zone.

“You always gotta remember to just stay calm and just bring the ball up,” [Emily] Schumacher said.  “You gotta make sure you recognize what we’re in and recognize what they’re in to so we know what to do.”

UW-W closed it out at the free throw line to clinch the win. Senior guard Juliette Vainisi converted the final two free throws of the game to cap off her final regular season home game.

Vainisi, Freckmann and centers Sarah Schumacher and Becky Deichl were honored at halftime as a part of the Senior Day activities. The Warhawks won the conference regular season title once, the conference tournament twice, and made three NCAA tournament appearances during their tenure. They have a chance to win more of those over the next few weeks.

Next up for the Warhawks are road games against UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls to conclude the regular season.

“You can’t overlook anybody, can’t underestimate anybody,” Freckmann said. “These last two games are just as important as everything else, so we’re hoping to finish strong.”