Sheboygan Falls Native Raeder to Play for UW-Whitewater Women's Hoops in 2016-17

2016 Nov 11

Becky Raeder, a native of Sheboygan Falls, WI, and graduate of Sheboygan Falls High School, will compete for the 2016-17 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's basketball team, which looks to build on its long-standing tradition of success starting Tuesday with a non-conference affair against Lakeland at 7 p.m. at Kachel Gymnasium.

Raeder, a freshman at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in finance.

The Warhawks are coming off their eighth trip to the NCAA Division III Championship in the last nine years and a 19-7 season that included a 12-0 start, the program's best start since 2007-08. The team reached the second round of the national tournament after a 66-54 triumph over Bluffton (Ohio) in the first round.

This season, UW-Whitewater is picked to finish third in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in a preseason poll of the league's coaches and athletic communications personnel and is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25.

Head coach Keri Carollo, who enters her 15th year at the helm of the program, is encouraged by the team's progress leading up to next week's season opener.

"This team has really come together," Carollo said. "We have already seen a real collective group of women who have decided to be very selfless. I don't think they are looking to rely on one or two people to make a difference. I think they're more concerned about the end result and not their individual statistics."

Guard Reilly Stewart (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) is the team's lone senior after fellow guard Andrea Olsen (East Troy/East Troy) was lost for the season due to injury. A three-year contributor, Stewart has started at least 10 games in each of the last two seasons and averaged 5.2 points per game in 2015-16.

Guards Niki Lazar (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley), Malia Smith (Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley), Brooke Trewyn (Whitewater/Whitewater) and forward Andrea Meinert (West Bend/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) form a strong junior class to round out the veterans.

Smith, Trewyn and Meinert were three of the team's top four scorers from a season ago. Trewyn averaged 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest, while Meinert averaged 8.1 and 4.4, respectively, while ranking among the league's top five in offensive rebounding.

A two-year starter, Smith was named honorable mention All-WIAC and earned a spot on the WIAC All-Defensive Team last season after averaging 7.9 points per game and leading the team with 59 steals (2.11 per game).

"These players have had significant contributions from the time they were freshmen," Carollo said. "They understand the complexities of the league and the season, and how you really kind of have to pace yourself throughout the year. Even though we have only one senior, we definitely have some strong leadership with that group."

Returning sophomores include Becky Deichl (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Olivia Freckmann(Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) in the frontcourt and Emily Kraft (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and Juliette Vainisi (Prospect Heights, Ill./John Hersey) in the backcourt.

Freckmann averaged 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds and shot 66.7 percent from the floor in 15 games last season. Deichl, Kraft and Vainisi each appeared in at least eight contests a year ago.

Freshmen Camri Conley (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland), Mikinzie Cull (Durand, Ill./Durand), Dena Dryer(Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial), Nikki Foster (Janesville, Wis./Craig), Kaelynn Lesniak (Pewaukee, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran), Gilley Martinelli (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central), Taylor McIlwraith (Mequon, Wis./Mequon Homestead), Becky Raeder (Sheboygan Falls, Wis./Sheboygan Falls), Morgan Rosencrants(St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) and Auhea Simmons (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) are new to the program and look to make an immediate impact.

"Our freshmen are going to have to contribute right away, and we are excited about that group because they've made the transition very fast," Carollo said. "This group is very mature and they're gelling rather quickly."

After Tuesday's game, the Warhawks will play nine of their next 11 games away from home, including six at neutral sites. The team returns home Dec. 10 for Parents' Day against Coe (Iowa) before hosting Carroll on Dec. 13. Two weeks later, the team wraps up the calendar year in Columbus, Ohio, for the two-day Capital University Tournament.

UW-Whitewater opens its 14-game conference slate Jan. 4 at UW-La Crosse, and plays its first league home game three days later on Jan. 7 against UW-Eau Claire on Alumni Day at Kachel Gymnasium.

The Warhawks will face three teams during the WIAC season who are ranked among the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 - No. 12 UW-River Falls (Jan. 11-A, Feb. 11-H), No. 14 UW-Oshkosh (Jan. 18-H, Feb. 15-A) and No. 22 UW-Stevens Point (Jan. 25-A, Feb. 8-H).

Senior Day is slated for the Feb. 11 contest against UW-River Falls, and the team's regular season finale is set for Feb. 18 at UW-Eau Claire.

Expectations for Carollo, who has led UW-Whitewater to three Final Fours and four WIAC championships, remain as high as they've been over the last decade.

"There aren't a lot of places where you can say you have an opportunity to win a national championship every year," Carollo said. "That's the ultimate goal.

"That will always be a conversation we have with our players no matter what the lineup looks like. Our freshmen need to know that it's the expectation from the moment they commit to us as recruits to the time they're done here is that's what we're working toward. They wouldn't come here if they didn't want it.

"We've had fantastic years where we've fallen short, but that's always going to be the level of expectation we have for our players."