MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team took over in the second half to claim a 69-47 victory over Chicago State University Sunday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.
 
The Panthers (4-6) used a decisive 17-0 scoring run after intermission to open up the game against the Cougars (2-9) and cruised from there.
 
"I actually had to call a timeout in the first few minutes of the second half to get our team refocused and re-motivated," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "From that moment on, I felt like we were really locked in. We talk a lot with our team about having fun on the court and letting our defense being the reason we are having fun. I left like during that 17-0 run our team was really having fun out on the court. We moved the ball better and we were communicating on defense."
 
Senior Ashley Green just missed a double-double, scoring a game-high 25 points to go along with nine rebounds. It's the sixth time in 10 games that Green has scored at least 20 this season.
 
"Ashley is always easy to talk about," Rechlicz said. "From the beginning she really wanted this win. She was locked in and focused and we talked about how she needs to be a little bit more aggressive. She was looking to score the basketball and we need that from her consistently."
 
Freshman Jenny Lindner was in double-figures again with 14, also just missing her first double-double with nine boards. Junior Sydney Howard added a career-high nine points. Classmate Jordyn Swan finished with eight points and a career-high eight rebounds.
 
Jakeisha Wells made six of seven shots to pace Chicago State with 13 as the only player in double-figures.
 
The second half was all Panthers. Green's 3 to open the period pushed the lead to double-figures for the first time at 37-27.
 
The Cougars scored to make it 37-29 and the Milwaukee defense clamped down from there, forcing a pair of misses and 10 turnovers over a span of 7:41 on the clock, with the 17 straight points pushing the lead to 25 at 54-29 on a nifty hustle play by Swan. She jumped over the baseline to save a rebound, with her pass finding a wide-open teammate for the layup in the lane with 10:27 to play.
 
The lead never fell under 20 the rest of the way.
 
Milwaukee did lead the entire first half, but could not pull away, on top by as many as eight on a pair of occasions. The Panthers were up 16-9 early, shooting well and taking the 21-13 advantage on a three-pointer by Howard at the 8:39 mark.
 
Despite shooting almost 50 percent prior to the halftime horn, the lead was seven at 34-27.
 
For the game, UWM ended the day at 40 percent (26-of-65), but forced 27 turnovers to combat 46.7 percent (21-of-45) shooting by the Cougars. Milwaukee dominated the boards, 40-24, and grabbed a season-high 20 on the offensive end.
 
The team is off for a week to enjoy the Christmas break, returning to action on the road next Sunday at IPFW. Game time is set for 1 p.m. CST.