The 18th-ranked UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs took a late lead against Wisconsin-Whitewater, but a late run by the Warhawks gave the visitors a hard-fought 61-60 win at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

UW-Whitewater, last season's National Runner-Up, was ranked 21st in the latest D3hoops.com poll, making it the first matchup ever in Santa Cruz between two nationally-ranked teams.

After a fast-paced even first quarter, the Warhawks went on an 8-0 run to take a 29-18 lead with 4:31 until halftime, their biggest lead of the game. UC Santa Cruz with a 9-0 run capped by Aubrey Wagner's layup to get within 2 with 19.9 seconds left. The Warhawks hit the last shot to make it a 31-27 lead at the break

The Warhawks then hit the first two shots of the third quarter to push the lead to 35-27. The Banana Slugs found their rhythm and were within 2 when Ashley Kowack's layup made it 44-42 with 2:05 left in the quarter. Wagner then hit a three with 21 seconds left that gave UC Santa Cruz back the lead at 46-45 at the end of the third. The Banana Slugs extended the lead to as much as 8 at 55-47. In the last minute, however, Whitewater tied the game at 59-all on two free throws from Yssa Santo Domingo. After a stop, Santo Domingo then made an acrobatic layup with 8.6 seconds left to give the Warhawks back the lead.

The Banana Slugs couldn't tie it at the end and Whitewater ran out the clock for the win.

Kowack led UC Santa Cruz with 20 points on 8-17 shooting. Wagner had a season-high 15 points along with a team-high eight assists. Kaylee Murphy had 11 points to hit 990 points in her career. Murphy added a team-high 9 rebounds as well as five assists to pass Krista McDonald (1997-00) for second on the school's career assist chart with 265.

Kacie Carollo had a game-high 21 points to lead three Warhawks in double figures.

UC Santa Cruz (9-2) concludes the Classic on Thursday when they host Minnesota-Morris at the West Field House.