Pioneers Upset No. 19 Warhawks On Wednesday

WHITEWATER, Wis. – A 31-point night from freshman Ella Mackiewicz along with a strong defensive effort helped the University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team (9-9, 2-5 WIAC) upset No. 19 UW-Whitewater (13-5, 4-3 WIAC) on the road inside the Williams Center on Wednesday night. The win was the Pioneers first against the Warhawks since 2015.

A 15-2 run in favor of the Pioneers allowed UW-Platteville to jump out to a 24-9 lead after the first quarter. Mackiewicz scored 13 points in the first, including the final nine for UW-Platteville. The Warhawks cut the deficit down to single digits early in the second quarter before four more Mackiewicz points put the Pioneers back up 13 at 30-17 with 4:30 left in the half. In the closing minutes of the half, UW-Platteville went on an 8-0 run to lead 38-21 at halftime.

Back-to-back threes by Mackiewicz and sophomore Brynlee Nelson kicked off the third and the Pioneers maintained a double-digit lead throughout the quarter. UW-Platteville pulled ahead by 22 early in the fourth on a three by senior Allison Heckert and a pair of free throws by Mackiewicz. The Warhawks were unable to get closer than 16 in the final quarter as the Pioneers wrapped up a 65-49 victory.

Mackiewicz posted a new career high with 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting to pace the Pioneers. She was nearly perfect from the free throw line, going 10-of-11, and she grabbed nine rebounds to lead the team. Nelson put together an efficient 15 points, shooting 7-of-9. The Pioneers shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and were 12-of-17 from the free throw line (70.6 percent). UW-Platteville scored most of their points in the paint, finishing with 44, and the team did not miss from inside the paint during the first quarter. The Pioneers also dominated on the boards, outrebounding UW-Whitewater 54-32.

Aleah Grundahl led the Warhawks with 20 points and Kacie Carollo added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. The Pioneers defense held UW-Whitewater to 30.9 percent (21-of-68) in the game, including just 18.5 percent (5-of-27) from beyond the arc.

The Pioneers return home to host UW-Stevens Point on Saturday at 3 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a $3 Pioneer burger the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering 10 tacos for $10 the day after each Pioneer win.