No. 17 Warhawks too much for host Pioneers

PLATTEVILLE – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team suffered a 74-47 WIAC loss to visiting No. 17 UW-Whitewater Wednesday night on Bo Ryan Court.

Junior Elisa Bilderback (Platteville) scored a team-high 10 points and grabbed three rebounds in a losing effort as the Pioneers fell to 4-14 overall and 1-6 in the WIAC after a six straight loss.

Freshman guard Morgan Horstman (Rochester, Minn.) added seven points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Kassie Buchholz (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) chipped in seven points as well for UW-Platteville.

Senior Abbie Reeves made 6 of 14 three-point attempts and scored a game-high 24 points off the bench to lead the Warhawks, who improved to 15-3, 4-3. She also grabbed six rebounds, had three assists and three steals.

Sophomore Katie McVay added 14 points off the bench for the winners. UW-Whitewater reserves outscored the UW-Platteville bench 56-29 in the game.

The Pioneers hung with the 17th-ranked Warhawks in the early going. Bilderback twice tied the game with back-to-back jump shots in the first two minutes of the second quarter, and junior guard Morgan Hartman (Rochester, Minn.) made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 16-16 with 7:48 left in the opening half.

But Reeves scored eight straight points to ignite an 18-0 run over the next seven minutes as the Warhawks built a commanding 34-16 led.

A three-pointer by Buchholz with 28 seconds left in the half, stopped the bleeding, but the Pioneers entered the half down by 15 points.

The lead ballooned to as much as 20 points, 47-27, in the third quarter. UW-Platteville trimmed the deficit to 15 on a three-point play by Horstman with 9:51 left to make it 47-32, but that's as close as the home team would get the rest of the night.

Coach Megan Wilson's Pioneers will return to action Saturday at UW-La Crosse (6-12, 0-7). UW-Platteville's last win, 66-60, came against the Eagles on Jan. 6 in the WIAC opener for both teams. UW-L is coming off a 95-64 loss at UW-River Falls on Wednesday.

Written By: Jason Nihles, UW-Platteville Sports Information Assistant