Pioneers Fall to No. 4 Warhawks

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team (9-7, 2-3 WIAC) battled back-and-forth in the first half of Wednesday night's game on Bo Ryan Court, but fourth ranked UW-Whitewater (16-0, 5-0 WIAC) used a second half surge to pull ahead 67-42.

The Pioneers led for nearly 15 minutes in the first half on their way to a six-point advantage at the half. The Warhawks got on the board first, but back-to-back layups by sophomore Ella Mackiewicz and senior Sarah Mueller put the Pioneers ahead 5-4 midway through the first quarter. Junior Brianna Prieve's three-pointer gave UW-Platteville a 10-6 lead at the quarter break and the Pioneers never trailed for the remainder of the half. The Warhawks drew within one, but junior Brynlee Nelson's three-pointer from sophomore Madalyn Reichmann gave the Pioneers their 27-21 lead at intermission. 

At the 3:35 mark in the third quarter, UW-Whitewater held a slim 34-33 lead but an 11-2 run put the Pioneers down 45-35 with ten minutes remaining in regulation. The Warhawks went on to shoot 53.3 percent (8-of-15 percent) in the final quarter while the Pioneers were unable to match their 40.7 percent shooting from the first half of play. 

Nelson paced the Pioneers with 10 points and Reichmann pulled down a team-high five rebound. Overall, the Pioneers shot 30 percent (15-of-50) and 19 percent (2-of-21) from beyond the arc. 

UW-Whitewater's Aleah Grundahl had a game-high 22 points and Kacie Carollo had a game-high nine rebounds. The Warhawks shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) and were 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from three-point territory. 

The Pioneers will return to action on Saturday, January 20 when they host UW-Stout at 3 p.m. on Bo Ryan Court.