Photo by Luke Zayas/Backwards Hat Media
BELTON — Playing in front of a packed house of local elementary schoolers in Wednesday’s Education Day game, the home environment for UMHB women’s basketball was that of an NCAA Tournament matchup in noise level and crowd size.
The opponent, UW-Whitewater, was undoubtedly NCAA Tournament caliber as well. The Warhawks brought a 6-1 record to Texas as the nation’s 10th-ranked team in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
And over a 40-minute span in the midday matinee, UWW (7-1) backed up that lofty ranking on both ends of the floor, holding UMHB’s offense to a shooting percentage of just 27.5% while scoring 42 points of their own in the paint. Driven by exceptional post play, the visitors from Whitewater outscored The Cru (4-8) in all four quarters of a 66-37 victory to tip-off the 2025 UMHB Christmas Classic.
“That’s some of the best post play I think we’ll see all year,” UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir noted postgame of the challenging matchup. “I thought our bigs did a pretty good job of at least making shots tough for them and making them work. Our rebound battle was even; I’m proud of us for that. But we can’t have seven assists and 31 turnovers. We can’t win games like that.”
The negative assist-to-turnover ratio made it difficult for UMHB’s offense to find a flow, particularly in the first half. The Cru opened with back-to-back single-digit quarters—trailing 32-15 at the half—before putting 22 points on the board over the final 20 minutes.
It was the first time an opponent held UMHB below 40 since Dec. 8, 2012, when Mississippi College did so, a credit to UWW’s defensive pressure which made things difficult for the Crusader guards all afternoon. The Warhawks entered the day with the 14th-best defensive efficiency in the country, per D3Datacast.com.
“I don’t think we could get in enough of a rhythm on offense because we had so many turnovers,” Novak-Lenoir said, when asked where the offensive issues stemmed from. “I think that killed us the most. I loved the shot selection from our bigs. I thought it was great. There were maybe only a few that weren’t good. Our guards seemed a little panicked, held the ball too long, and didn’t move enough. I think some of that was the pressure, and some of it was the physicality of the game.”
The positive takeaway came in the post, as Novak-Lenoir said afterwards that she felt The Cru utilized its posts more effectively against UWW than in any previous game in the current season. Freshman Allie Uzzell led the way, with the Flatonia High School product scoring a career-best 13 points in her first collegiate start. She added six rebounds, going toe-to-toe with UWW’s Mia Gillis and Caden Krohn on multiple possessions.
“That was a great game for her,” Novak-Lenoir said of Uzzell, who played 25 minutes. “If she wasn’t in foul trouble, she would’ve played more. We were just trying to make sure she could be on the floor, and then at the end, we were trying to save her a little bit for tomorrow.
“I think that was a good confidence builder. She started the year with a concussion and got behind a little bit just from being out. So it’s nice to see her coming into her stride, which is something we need on the floor.”
In addition to Uzzell, forwards Karlee Cronk and Kyley Atkinson contributed with double-digit minutes, providing the consistency in the post that Novak-Lenoir referenced postgame. It allowed UMHB to match UWW’s rebound total, as the two tied on the boards at 36-36. But the Warhawks had plenty of consistent frontcourt production of their own, with Krohn emerging as the key catalyst. That ultimately allowed UWW to find separation as the game unfolded, leading by no fewer than 20 points over the final 13 minutes.
A transfer from D2 Maryville University, Krohn came off the bench with 20 points, 12 of which came over the final two quarters. The 6’1 forward from Waukesha, Wisconsin shot an efficient 9-of-11 from the field, including a pair of 3s in the second half.
“She’s really coming along, which is great to see,” UWW head coach Keri Carollo said postgame. “It’s a new system, and a new program, so I think she’s finding where she fits in. It’s really nice to see her starting to perform at a high level as we’re getting ready to move into the conference season.
“It’s nice to see that for us, each night it’s someone different [stepping up]. It’s a healthy balance for this team, and I’m hoping that trend continues.”
Along with Krohn, UWW got six points from forward Mia Gillis—who made 3 of her 4 field goal attempts—and five points from freshman forward Brooke Stenkylft, who was 2-of-3 from the field. Bri McCurdy paced the Warhawks in the backcourt with 15 points, while fellow guard Renee Rittmeyer dished out six assists. UWW finished with a season-best 19 assists in the win, even while playing over 1,100 miles away from home.
“It’s really important for us to play teams that are outside of our area,” Carollo said when asked about the advantages of the holiday trip to the Lone Star State. “It’s a totally different type of basketball. We see a lot of zone [defense] when we come to Texas. It’s a different style of play, and I think it’s really good for our team to be able to learn to adjust to that.”
Wednesday marked the first-ever meeting on the court between UMHB and UWW, whose football teams have a storied history of memorable playoff matchups over the last two decades. It also went down as the most-attended Division III women’s game of the 2025-26 season to this point, with a recorded attendance of 1,800 inside the Mayborn Campus Center. Education Day brought out students from seven Belton ISD elementary schools, who made their presence known from the opening tip until the final buzzer in an atmosphere that both teams looked at with appreciation. It isn’t often a December regular season game generates that sort of a charged environment.
“It was awesome, what a great idea,” Carollo said. “It was so fun for the kids and great for the women who are playing. Hopefully maybe some little girl was watching today and gets excited about playing basketball. That’s what it’s all about.”
“That was amazing,” Novak-Lenoir added. “I know that we appreciated that. Months and months of work went into this day, so we’re grateful that Belton brought all their kids out. That was a fun environment for sure.”
UMHB now turns its focus to Trinity (TX), playing on consecutive days for the third time this season. The Tigers carry a 2-6 mark into Day 2 of the UMHB Christmas Classic, having gained recent wins over Concordia and Texas Lutheran before dropping a 70-58 contest against ETBU in Belton on Wednesday.
“Hats off to Whitewater,” Novak-Lenoir said. “They can really rebound and they move the ball. That’s an excellent team right there. I thought we did some things really well, but we struggled with some easy things as well. We need to keep it simple. We’ve got another opportunity tomorrow.”
