Warhawks move on to Division 3 Elite Eight

WHITEWATER -- UW-Whitewater broke from the gate with a 13-2 run to establish a lead that #24 Wheaton College (IL) was never able to recover from in a NCAA III Tournament sectional game on the WIlliams Center court, Friday night. #8 UW-W, (26-4), will host #6 Virginia Wesleyan, (27-3), Saturday night for the right to advance to the Division III final four. The Marlins defeated #7 Whitworth College 74-71 in an earlier game Friday night.

UW-Whitewater senior center Chris Davis scored the first six points of the game en route to a quick 13-2 lead.  Wheaton recovered, twice closing the gap to five points twice.  The Warhawks inched up the margin, and then closed out the half with a 9-2 surge to take a 36-20.Whitewater shot 60% from the field in the first half, continuing the shooting that propelled them to regional wins last week over Northwestern (MN) and Saint Thomas.

Wheaton turned the tables in the second half, starting with an 11-2 run that saw Whitewater's lead shrink to 38-31.  The scoring gap then vacillated from seven to ten points over the next five minutes.  The Thunder made one last push with a late 6-0 run and trimmed the score to 59-54, but UW-W closed out the game from the charity stripe.

Whitewater forced 20 Wheaton turnovers.  The Warhawks also made the most of their free throw attempts, hitting 16-24.

This is the first time UW-W has made the Division 3 Elite Eight since Coach Pat Miller helped lead the Warhawks to winning the 1989 championship.