Whitewater, Wis. - In a battle of two teams ranked in the top 25 of both national polls, Wisconsin-Whitewater held off DePauw, 64-58, in the opening game of the UW-Whitewater Tipoff Tournament. The game was the season opener for both squads as DePauw entered the year ranked 22nd in the coaches' poll and 24th by D3hoops.com and the Warhawks are fourth in both rankings.

UW-Whitewater took an 18-14 lead into the second quarter and expanded it to 32-29 at the half. DePauw closed the gap back to 34-32 early in the third, but the hosts put together a 13-2 run to expand the lead to 47-34. The Tigers still led by 13, 51-38, as the teams headed to the final period.

The lead reached a high of 17 points in the opening minute of the fourth before DePauw went on a 15-4 run to close to within six with 1:35 left. The Warhawks knocked in four straight free throws to seal the win.

Ava Hassel paced DePauw with 17 points followed by Riley Mont with 11 along with a game-high nine rebounds. Ainsley Boras dished out four assists.

Kacie Carollo led the hosts with 19 points and five assists with Maggie Trautsch following with 11. Four different Warhawks had four rebounds.

DePauw shot 41.8 percent from the field to the Warhawks' 51.1 percent. The Tigers held a 33-25 rebounding edge, but committed 21 turnovers to UW-Whitewater's 17.

The Tigers face UW-Stevens Point tomorrow at 3 p.m. CST.