By Brandon Feivor

The women’s basketball team (17-5, 11-2) played its third consecutive WIAC road game Wednesday night against UW-Platteville.

The `Hawks won 81-62, and have won five games this season by 19 points or more. The victory extends their winning streak to five games.

Twenty-three seconds into the first quarter, the Pioneers went up 2-0. Junior Kaitlyn Thill responded with a three-pointer and the `Hawks kept the lead for the remaining 39 minutes and 37 seconds.

The first few minutes were slow, but then the `Hawks ripped off a 15-7 run, while their defense suffocated the Pioneers, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half alone.

At one point UW-P was down by 14 points, but after four air balls, the Pioneers managed to fight back to within five just before halftime.

Coming out of halftime, the pace of the game slowed again, but five minutes in, the `Hawks hit their stride.

UW-W went on an 18-3 run that the Pioneers would not recover from. During the run, the `Hawks went 6-6 at the free throw line. The `Hawks’ largest lead of the night was 22 points.

Thill led all scorers with 26 points, which is a new season-high, and made three, three-pointers.

This season the `Hawks have made just over 72 percent of their free throws, but dominated the free throw line on Wednesday night, finishing at 20-25, while the Pioneers went 6-9.

The team returns home Saturday Feb. 9, to host the UW-Superior Yellowjackets and its final three games of the regular season are at home.

The `Hawks will play UW-Superior, UW-Oshkosh and UW-River Falls, and currently have a one-game lead over UW-Stevens Point in the WIAC standings.

The Yellowjackets and Titans handed Whitewater back-to-back losses in mid-January. The `Hawks own the tiebreaker over the Pioneers, having swept them this season, but another pair of losses could give the Pointers a shot at the WIAC regular-season title. However, the ’Hawks are undefeated at home this season.