CLEVELAND, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team trimmed a 15-point first-half deficit down to three on numerous occasions in the second half, but could not get any closer in falling to Cleveland State University, 67-58, Thursday night at the Wolstein Center.
 
"It's one of those hard-fought battles on the road," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "You have to knock down shots and unfortunately, our shooting tonight was not on. It's something that we can learn from and something that we will take into our next game at Youngstown State."
 
The Panthers (7-12, 3-4 Horizon League) used a 12-1 run spanning both halves to get back into the game against the Vikings (11-8, 3-3 Horizon League). Milwaukee pulled within three one final time at 48-45 with about seven minutes remaining before running out of gas down the stretch.
 
Senior Ashley Green and junior Jaleesa Armstrong both scored 16 points to lead the offense. Green also added seven rebounds despite spending time on the bench after getting poked in the eye.
 
Freshman Jenny Lindner set a season high with 11 rebounds and added 10 points to record her first collegiate double-double.
 
"It's tough when you get in foul trouble early and you are playing people that haven't been on the court as much," Rechlicz said. "But I thought that some people really stepped up. Kelsey Cunningham is one in particular that played a lot of minutes and had a really good game for us. Cree Hammond gave us some really good minutes. It was an opportunity for us to see some new faces out there."
 
Cori Coleman scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half to lead the Vikings, who won despite being forced into 19 turnovers by the Milwaukee defense. Imani Gordon added 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
Foul trouble and a tough-shooting first half limited UWM's chances of posting its third straight victory. After making it a one-possession game on a free throw by Armstrong with 6:53 to play, Milwaukee saw CSU score eight straight as part of a 12-2 run to take control at 60-47 and fend off the Panthers from there.
 
Milwaukee scored nine of the final 10 points of the half to trim the deficit to seven at 33-26 after Cleveland State went ahead by as many as 15.
 
Foul trouble loomed large, with both Lindner and junior Jordyn Sawn sitting early with three personals. Green also missed a big chunk of the first, sitting five-plus minutes following that eye injury.
 
A large CSU scoring run played a key role in the first 20 minutes. Milwaukee came out playing strong defense, tallying nine points in a row after the Vikings scored to open the contest to lead 9-3. The defense forced nine CSU misses in a row and held it scoreless for a stretch of nearly six minutes.
 
The Vikings flipped the switch at that point, putting together an overall run of 20-3 that included 14 straight points at one time to go ahead 23-12 at the 7:49 mark. The advantage would grow to 15 at 32-17 before UWM clawed back in down the final few minutes of the frame.
 
Milwaukee ended the day at 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the floor and made just 4-of-20 from long distance. The Vikings finished at 37.7 percent (23-of-61) but turned 18 offensive rebounds into a 20-8 advantage in second-chance points.
 
Up next, the Panthers close the month of January with a Saturday matinee at Youngstown State. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. CST against the Penguins.