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UW-Whitewater women routed out of WIAC tournament

WHITEWATER — UW-Whitewater women’s basketball coach Keri Carollo could only shake her head in amazement.

Whitewater limped off the Kachel Gym floor at halftime of its WIAC tournament semifinal game against Eau Claire with eight points, seven turnovers, and an 11 percent field-goal percentage.

The second half wasn’t much better.

UW-Eau Claire took full advantage of Whitewater’s 3-for-27 first-half shooting performance and pummeled the Warhawks, 61-34, here Thursday night.

Heidi Arciszewski had a game-high 14 points, while Heather Witt had 12 and Ellen Plendl added 10 to propel Eau Claire (23-4) into the WIAC tournament championship game at UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers advanced by knocking off Stout, 76-64.

Meanwhile, Carollo and the Warhawks get to spend the weekend wondering if they shot their way out of the NCAA Division III tournament.

“Obviously if they (Blugolds) win at Stevens Point, they get the automatic bid,” Carollo said. “We have to hope that Stevens Point wins (WIAC championship game) because that’s to our advantage, and hopefully then we’ll get in the tournament.”

But a Stevens Point victory will not be easy with the Blugolds playing at the top of their game.

“We haven’t played as well on the road as we do at home,” Eau Claire coach Tonja Englund said. “But this was an important win for us because we now know we can do it wherever we have to go.”

Eau Claire’s confidence certainly was aided by Whitewater’s poor shooting.

The Warhawks opened the game on a nearly seven-minute scoring draught. Freshman Chantel Burg’s turnaround jumper in the lane with 13:13 left in the first half finally ended the draught and trimmed the deficit to 6-2.

The Blugolds, however, were just getting warmed up.

Arciszewski’s six straight points helped Eau Claire close out the half with a 20-6 spurt and a commanding 26-8 lead.

“We needed to knock down shots,” Kelsey Hendrickson said. “It opens it up for our post players, and when we’re not hitting shots, it doesn’t help us get the ball inside.”

Eau Claire didn’t let up in the second half.

Arciszewski’s four quick points helped build the Eau Claire advantage to 32-11 with 17:30 left. The Blugolds led by as many as 31 points in the second half before both teams used their bench players to close out the game.

EAU CLAIRE 61, WHITEWATER 34

Eau Claire (61)—Fremstad 2-5 2-2 6, Witt 4-11 4-4 12, Arciszewski 5-11 4-4 14, Mesick 2-9 0-0 4, Plendl 5-6 0-0 10, Lindner 1-4 0-0 2, Kaye 1-4 2-2 4, Gillberg 1-1 0-0 2, Anderson 3-6 1-1 7. Totals: 24-57 13-13 61.

Whitewater (34)—Hendrickson 2-11 0-0 4, Woolever 0-6 0-0 0, Morton 2-8 3-4 6, Sonntag 2-7 0-0 2, Schmidt 2-6 0-0 4, Donohoo 0-2 0-0 0, theune 0-3 0-0 0, Bundy 1-3 0-0 3, Flack 2-3 0-0 4, Thompson 1-3 0-0 2, Burg 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 13-56 3-4 34.

UW-Eau Claire 26 35—61

UW-Whitewater 8 26—34

Three-point goals—Eau Claire 0-8, Whitewater 5-29 (Hendrickson 2-10, Sonntag 2-6, Bundy 1-3, Woolever 0-6, Donohoo 0-1, Theune 0-2, Flack 0-1). Fouled out—none. Rebounds—Eau Claire 46 (Mesick 11), Whitewater 28 (Morton, Thompson 6). Assists—Eau Claire 15 (Witt 5), Whitewater 8 (Woolever, Morton, Donohoo, Thompson 2). Total fouls—Eau Claire 5, Whitewater 12.

Attendance—132.