Dec. 10, 1999

HONOLULU, Hawaii ? The UWM women?s basketball team erased an 11-point halftime deficit and went to overtime, but fell to Hawaii, 87-85, during the first day of the Hawaii Invitational on Friday.

The Panthers, 3-3 on the season, play Wichita State on Saturday.

"This is the team we have the potential to be," said UWM coach Sandy Botham. "We just need to do it with consistancy."

Corrin Von Wald scored six points in the first seven minutes of the second half and finished with a season-best 20 points.

Jessica Wilhite scored 16 and Janelle Jonason and Teri Stoltenberg added 12 for the Panthers.

The Rainbow Wahine outscored UWM, 17-6, and led, 41-30, at halftime. Hawaii enjoyed a 27-12 rebounding advantage at the break and shot .500 (15-30) in the first half.

But it was a different story in the second half, as UWM cut the deficit to one point, 57-56 with 9:23 remaining on a Von Wald jumper. The Panthers took a 60-59 lead with 7:41 remaining on Jessica Wilhite?s two free throws.

"We talk about it all the time," said Bohtam. "If we play hard and put it all on the floor, we?ll be there in the end. In the second half, we battled and we successful."

The Rainbows fought back to tie the game, 71-71, on a lay-up by Kylie Galloway with 1:30 remaining.

With 10 seconds remaining and the score tied, 75-75, UWM inbounded the ball from halfcourt and got off a shot, collected an offensive rebound and got off another shot, but could not win in regulation.

Hawaii took the lead in overtime with a three-pointer and never surrendered it.