SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team fell to No. 21 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Wednesday afternoon, 82-45. The loss in the first of two games in California for the Cougars drops the team to 1-9 on the season.

A Jay Kwateh layup put Minnesota Morris ahead in the opening minute of the game and Jadyn Sondrol later made one of two at the line to tie the game at 3-3 with two minutes elapsed. From there, the Warhawks went on an 11-0 run over four minutes to jump ahead by double-digits before Malory Anderson ended the drought with a steal and coast-to-coast layup. By the end of the opening quarter, UW-Whitewater had opened up a 25-10 lead on the Cougars.

The Warhawks had a 10-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to push their advantage to 31-10 prior to a three-pointer from Haley Wollschlager. The Cougar offense struggled in the second quarter, scoring just four more points at the free-throw line going into halftime. UW-Whitewater extended out to a 44-17 lead at the break.

Minnesota Morris kept things much closer in the second half. Wollschlager scored on the opening possession of the third quarter and the Cougars went on a 7-2 run to start the second half, cutting it to 46-24. UW-Whitewater answered the challenge with an 8-0 run, keeping the Cougars scoreless for more than three minutes. Though Maddie Smart scored twice in the final minute of the third, UMN Morris headed to the fourth quarter trailing, 64-29.

Sondrol began the scoring in the final quarter with a three to cap a 7-0 run for Minnesota Morris. The Cougars had another 7-0 run later in the fourth with Tariq Brownotter hitting a triple along the way, cutting it to 74-41. Smart added two more buckets in the final two minutes to finish the scoring on the afternoon for the Cougars.

Wollschlager finished the day with a team-high 11 points. Sondrol, who had 10 points, joined her in double-figures. Smart led the bench crew with eight points. Anderson paced the defense with six steals.

Minnesota Morris wraps up its trip with a game at No. 18 UC Santa Cruz tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. (CDT).