After taking down Principia College and UW-La Crosse in the first weekend of the NCAA DIII tournament, the UW-Whitewater Warhawks found themselves slated for a fourth matchup this season against the UW-Stout Blue Devils, this time in the Sweet 16. It was a back and forth battle between the Warhawks and Blue Devils, but in the end Stout was able to hold Whitewater off, winning 62-56 and advancing to the Elite Eight.
“Congratulations to Stout. If one of the two of us WIAC [teams] could move on, I was hoping it would be us but I’m happy for them and hopefully they continue their success,” head coach Keri Carollo said. “It was a tough game. It was the fourth time we’ve played [UW-Stout] this year so we knew it was going to be a battle. I thought we took good shots and defensively we were locked in, it just didn’t go our way.”
The Warhawks trailed 27-21 at halftime, as the offense made just 9 of their 30 shot attempts, including going 0-10 from three. Senior guard Kacie Carollo scored 10 of the Warhawks’ first 14 points and broke another program record in the process. This time it was the season scoring record of 613 points, which was set just last season by Aleah Grundahl.
The Warhawks slowly chipped away at the Blue Devils’ lead in the second half, outscoring them in the third quarter, with senior guard Maggie Trautsch hitting Whitewater’s first three pointer of the game with 1:53 left in the third quarter to cut Stout’s lead to one.
Stout got the lead back up to seven points early in the fourth quarter, but a 10-2 run capped off by a layup from sophomore guard Bri McCurdy gave the Warhawks the lead with 3:29 to go in the game. It would be their last lead of the game, as fouls and turnovers allowed the Blue Devils to extend their lead to the point where there wasn’t enough time for the Warhawks to mount one last comeback.
Throughout the game, the Warhawks found consistency on offense from senior forward Katie Hildebrandt, who was able to control the paint due to her height advantage over Stout. Hildebrandt finished the game with the second most shot attempts on the team, notching a double-double with her 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Other notable players include Kacie Carollo, who also recorded a double-double with her 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Maggie Trautsch who scored 10 points and had two of the Warhawks’ three made 3-pointers.
The end of the season at the collegiate level is always a little extra painful, as some team members will be graduating and not returning to the team the following season. The Warhawks will lose five seniors this year, who all accomplished a lot with the program, including making four straight Sweet 16 appearances.
“I have five amazing seniors and I feel blessed to have coached them,” coach Carollo said. “It’s a really special group, every time they had their back against the wall they rallied together. I’m really grateful for the amount of energy, effort, focus, and love that they have for our basketball program.”
Kacie Carollo and Trautsch were visibly emotional in the postgame press conference, and it was clear just how much this program and their teammates meant to them.
Trautsch has been with the program for five years, and earlier in the season she became the 20th in program history to score 1,000 career points.
“This has been everything. I’m super grateful for every opportunity given. This feels like a family and I’m going to miss them a lot,” Trautsch said.
Kacie Carollo played for Whitewater for four years, but she has been around the program her entire life as her parents have coached the team. During her time with the Warhawks she set several program records.
“This has been my life since I was a little kid,” Kacie Carollo said. “This is my family. My best friends. This is what I pride myself on every single day. I’m really proud of everything we’ve accomplished, and I’m honored to have such an amazing program to play for. It’s hard to say goodbye for sure.”
Coach Carollo acknowledged that while the loss stings right now, the players will be able to look back and be proud of what they accomplished this season. Going forward, she looks to carry on the tradition of success the program has.
