The No. 14 UW-Whitewater Warhawks lost to UW-Stevens Point in a close, devastating game 66-63 Feb. 18. The Warhawks battled the Pointers possession-by-possession, but a late push by Stevens Point sealed the outcome.
During the first period, Stevens Point came out aggressive from the opening tip. The early intensity from the Pointers set the tone for the entirety of the game. The first quarter resulted in a tie of 19-19.
By halftime, neither team could break free from the tie and the score was 28-28.
“Once that tone was set it was hard to dig ourselves out of that hole,” head coach Keri Carollo said. “Defensively, we were not doing a great job today either, and it allowed Stevens Point to hit some big shots and some free throws.”
The defensive comments that Carollo made were evident during the game, especially in critical moments, as the Pointers found themselves utilizing key opportunities throughout the game.
“The halftime message focused on a lot of adjustments that needed to be made based on what Stevens Point was doing defensively,” Carollo said.
During the third quarter, Stevens Point found a slight advantage as the score carried to a 48-47 lead.
Once the final period started, the Warhawks responded with back-to-back baskets to reclaim the lead. However, the Pointers responded with a 5-0 run that swung the momentum back in their favor for the remaining six minutes of the game. Although the game was close, the Warhawks came up short.
“Our execution wasn’t there tonight and that cost us the game,” junior guard Bri McCurdy said.
As junior forward Mia Gillis pointed out, the loss meant the Warhawks would not have the No. 1 seed in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament and they will have to play at least one game on the road.
After following the Stevens Point loss with a 65-57 loss to UW-River Falls, the Warhawks fell into a three-way tie for third in the conference. With the Falcons going 0-4 against the top two teams, and the Warhawks going 2-0 against UW-Platteville, they secured the three seed in the WIAC Tournament. They will rematch against the Pointers, who are the six seed, in the first round.
“It’s the conference tournament so it’s always really fun and has a lot of excitement around it so hopefully we can just build off of that,” Carollo said.
Wednesday’s game was also the team’s senior night, celebrating guard Renee Rittmeyer and forward Logan Lowry, who will be ending their time at UW-Whitewater.
“To our seniors, we love you, we love your leadership, and we’re going to miss you next year, thank you,” McCurdy said.
“They’ve both been just the cornerstone of our program for the last four years and I’m so proud of them and all they’ve accomplished,” Carollo said.
The Warhawks’ rematch against the Pointers’ will take place Feb. 23.
