It’s not every day that history is made in the UW-Whitewater women’s basketball program, but lately it’s been fairly commonplace.
In the Warhawks’ 89-65 victory over Millikin University in the Division III NCAA tournament’s round of 32, Kacie Carollo etched her name into the record books with the first triple-double in program history.
Carollo racked up 27 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out 10 assists.
“Playing with (Aleah Grundahl) makes everything so much easier,” Carollo said. “The fact that we can give everyone the one-two punch from perimeter and the post is awesome.”
Carollo, a Whitewater High School product, led the team in scoring on a 9-of-14 shooting clip, including 3 for 5 from beyond the arc.
Grundahl added another 26 points to the Warhawks total. Whitewater’s offense saw four players in double figures with the additional help coming from Mallory Oloffson and Katie Hildebrandt.
While Whitewater’s offensive success was a huge factor, it was their defense that really gave them the opportunity to win. Millikin entered the game averaging more than 80 points per game but were kept in check Saturday.
Warhawks head coach Keri Carollo was hoping to keep their opponents around the 60-point mark, which she called a tough goal given Millikin’s offensive prowess.
Elyce Knudsen, the Big Blue’s scoring leader on the season, had 30 points on 12-of-34 shooting.
“(Knudsen) is incredible. She can hit about any midrange jumper that I can imagine. There’s really no containing her, to be honest. We didn’t even talk about trying to stop her in our game plan,” Kacie Carollo said.
Knudsen was able to score 14 points in the third quarter, which helped her team finally get an offensive rhythm after being held to just 25 first half points.
“It felt like we got a groove going in that third quarter. … I think that helps us obviously when we see the ball go in for (Knudsen),” Millikin head coach Olivia Lett said.
The third quarter, despite Millikin finding offensive success for the first time on the night, ended up being a wash as both teams scored 24 points. The 21-point lead the Warhawks held heading into the fourth quarter gave them plenty of breathing room as they looked to get the win.
The Big Blue, while putting up a valiant effort, were outsized by the Warhawks and did not have anyone in double figures besides Knudsen.
“They’re very big. I try my best. I think we’re very hard-working and do what we’ve got to do to get the win,” senior guard Sophie Darden said.
Whitewater was able to hold the high-powered Millikin offense to 32.9% shooting and just 30.4% from long range. The Warhawks, meanwhile, made 60.4% of their shots from the field and 45.5% from 3.
Whitewater’s Sweet 16 game will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Hope College (Michigan), while UW-Stout will play reigning national champion and Transylvania University (Kentucky), which was ranked No. 2 in the country in the final regular season D3Hoops.com top 25 poll.
UW-WHITEWATER 89, MILLIKIN 65
Millikin;15;10;24;16;—;65
Whitewater;24;22;24;19;—;89
Millikin (fg ftm-fta pts) — Knudsen 12 3-3 30, Coffman 3 2-2 8, Brenneisen 2 0-0 6, Darden 1 0-2 2, Tellis 1 0-0 2, Block 3 1-1 8, White 2 0-0 5, Rice 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 6-8 65.
UW-Whitewater (fg ftm-fta pts) — Carollo 9 6-7 27, Grundahl 10 6-11 26, Hildebrandt 3 6-6 13, McCurdy 2 0-0 5, Rittmeyer 2 0-0 4, Oloffson 4 2-3 10, Nies 1 0-0 2, Gillis 1 0-0 2. Totals 32 20-27 89.
3-point goals — M 7 (Knudsen 3, Brenneisen 2, Block, White), UWW 5 (Carollo 3, Hildebrandt, McCurdy). Total fouls — M 21, UWW 15. Fouled out — Block (M).
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