WHITEWATER — Back and forth, up and down, made shot after made shot. Sooner or later, someone was going to flinch.

But it wouldn't be this group, a seasoned, seen-it-all bunch that isn't afraid of any shot or any situation.

So when Dana Thompson stepped to the free throw line with 31.6 seconds remaining in a tie game with a Final Four berth on the line, the mood on the court was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I wasn't thinking about anything but Trisha (Thill)," the UW-Whitewater sophomore center said.

"We always have this thing we do on free throws. I looked at her, she was laughing, and I knew what to do."

Thompson split the pair of free throws to give Whitewater an 81-80 lead, and Thill added two more 14 seconds later as the No. 8 Warhawks beat defending national champion and sixth-ranked DePauw 83-80 in an NCAA Division III sectional final Saturday night before a crowd of 452 at the Williams Center.

The Warhawks (28-3) advance to play Howard Payne (Texas) on Friday at the Final Four in Holland, Mich.

Thompson, a former Belleville athlete, scored only six points, but she got the most important one.

"I knew I had to make at least one of (the free throws)," Thompson said.

Thompson's heroics came after a see-saw, fast-paced second half that saw four ties and five lead changes in the first 11 minutes, 26 seconds.

"Pace and tempo (were) very important to us," said guard and former Monroe athlete Kelsey Hendrickson, who hit three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. "We wanted to run because they aren't very deep."

Heidi Sonntag's 3-pointer from the right wing gave the Warhawks a 71-67 lead with 6:28 left before star guard Cassie Pruzin nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Tigers within 73-70. Sonntag immediately answered with another long-range shot to give Whitewater a 76-70 lead.

But DePauw (28-4) reeled off seven straight points, the last two coming on a putback by Emily Marshall that gave the Tigers a 77-76 lead with 3:28 left.

Pruzin again buried a
3-pointer, this time from near the scorer's table, to give the Tigers an 80-78 lead.

Former Middleton athlete Lindsey Buechner tied the game for the Warhawks with a layup with 1:40 to go.

After an empty possession for DePauw, Thompson, playing with four fouls, posted up on the right block and drew a foul on DePauw's Andrea Travelstead as she was shooting.

"I didn't know how many fouls I had, but I knew if I made a strong move I could get to the free throw line," Thompson said.

DePauw had one last chance after Thill's two free throws gave Whitewater an 83-80 lead, but Pruzin's 3 from the right wing barely drew iron.

"I wanted the ball, I just didn't make the shot," said Pruzin, who buried seven 3s and finished with a game-high 23 points.

"If we needed to, we were going to foul up three points," Whitewater coach Keri Carollo added. "But (Pruzin) kept dribbling around and dribbling around, and they weren't really setting anything up, so I felt comfortable with where we were at."

Buechner missed two free throws with 1.2 seconds left, but DePauw couldn't control the rebound and never got off a shot as time expired.