WHITEWATER, Wis. — The UW-River Falls Women's Basketball team saw its WIAC Tournament stint come to a close, falling to UW-Whitewater 66-52 in the first round on Tuesday, February 35.

Olivia Hoerl led UWRF with 23 points, capping off her season with 19 consecutive double-digit scoring efforts. The Falcons' six wins in WIAC play this season marked the most for the program since 2017-18.

The Falcons opened the game leading 7-3, as Hoerl scored a three-pointer and second-chance bucket to give UWRF an early lead. Off a timeout, the Warhawks responded with an emphatic 16-0 run to close out the quarter, putting the Falcons behind  19-7 at the end of the first frame.

The Falcons started off the second quarter on an 8-5 run, and a jumper by Jocelyn Plonski cut the lead to single digits, with UWRF trailing 26-17 with 4:29 to go in the half. UWRF cut the deficit to 26-20, before UW-Whitewater extended the lead to 31-22 at halftime. Hoerl led UWRF with 11 points off 5-10 shooting in the first half.

The third quarter was dead even, as UWRF and UWW played out a 14-14 period. The Falcons entered the final frame looking to overcome a 45-36 deficit.

The Warhawks started the final quarter on an 11-5 run, which put the Falcons down 57-41 with 5:35 to go in regulation. UWRF managed to trim the lead to as low as 11 in the final stages of the game, but ultimately UW-Whitewater pulled away to win 66-52.

Hoerl finished the night with a game-high 23 points off 9-15 shooting — her nine rebounds was also tied for the most of any player in the game. Zoey Buchan finished with nine points, five rebounds, four steals, and two assists.

As a team, UWRF finished 20-54 (37%) from the field.The Falcons capitalized off 32 points in the paint and 20 points off turnovers.