Whitewater, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team's second half comeback came up a little short as it fell 53-51 at UW-Whitewater Friday night in Kachel Gymnasium in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (Presented by Culver's).
 
The Eagles fall to 22-5 on the season and will await word Monday to see if they have earned an at-large bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships.
 
The Warhawks improve 18-8 overall with Friday's win and will face number one seed UW-Oshkosh Sunday, February 24 in the WIAC Championship.
 

It was UWL's third straight season and fifth overall in the conference semifinals (2006, 20011, 2017, 2018, 2019).  The Eagles are now 5-16 all-time in the league tournament.
 
UWL got off to a slow start in the first period Friday night as UW-Whitewater jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 3:12 left. UWL would cut its deficit to 19-10 at the end of the first period on a layup from Delaney Schoenenberger with :12 left.
 
The Warhawks would score the first five points of the second quarter as they took their largest lead of the game at 24-10 with 7:54 left in the first half. UWL scored on back-to-back possessions to cut its deficit to 27-19 with 2:47 remaining in the second period.  However, that would be as close as they would get in the first half as UW-Whitewater led, 35-21, at the half.
 
The Eagles would make some adjustments at halftime and came out in the third quarter to outscore the Warhawks, 23-5, to take a 44-40 lead into the fourth quarter. Schoenenberger scored six points in the third period including a four-point play with 3:36 remaining. UWL wassix-of-nine from the floor and nine-of-nine at the free throw line in the quarter.
 
UW-Whitewater would score first in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by Becky Raeder and would tie the game up at 46-46 on another Raeder three-pointer with 5:56 remaining. The score would be tied up three more times, including 51-51 with 1:42 left.  UW-Whitewater took a 53-51 lead with :04 left on Camri Conley's layup. UWL was not able to get a shot off after calling a pair of timeouts in the final :03 of the game. 

UWL finished the game shooting 18-of-54 (33.3%) from the floor, including three-of-16 (18.8%) from behind the three-point line and 12-of-13 (92.3%) at the free throw line. Schoenenberger led the Eagles for the third straight game as she recorded her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Dani Craig also finished in double figures with 10 points while Emma Gamoke added eight.
 
UW-Whitewater shot 18-of-66 (27.3%) from the floor, including seven-of-15 (46.7%) from three-point range, and 10-of-12 (83.3%) from the charity stripe. Raeder led the Warhawks with 15 points while Emily Schumacher finished with 13.