Nov. 25, 2001

Bozeman, Montana - UWM jumped out to an early first-half lead and hung on through a Montana State rally on their way to a 64-61 win to finish second in the GranTree Classic.

"This was a great win in hostile territory for our program," head coach Sandy Botham said. "I'm just so proud of them. Yesterday when things weren't going well, we hung our heads and didn't fight. Tonight we fought for this win."

Jessica Wilhite led all scorers, dropping in 21 points. Maria Viall was the only other Panther in double figures, scoring 15 and grabbing six rebounds. Stefanie Kaufmann added eight points and seven boards for UWM. Isabel Stubbs had 15 to lead Montana State. Viall and Wilhite were both named to the all-tournament team for their performances.

The Panthers came out on fire, connecting on three lay-ups by Maria Viall and a three-pointer by Jessica Wilhite to take an early 7-0 lead. Montana State opened up cold, missing their first six shots and turning the ball over four times. Another lay-up by Viall and one by Wilhite stretched the lead to 11-0. The Bobcats finally scored just over five minutes into the game on a jumper by Rebecca Alvidrez.

The Panthers got into foul trouble early, with Viall picking up her second foul eight minutes into the game. Viall's replacement, Kimberly Becker, picked up her second foul with seven and a half to play, forcing coach Sandy Botham to dig deeper into the bench. UWM picked up their seventh team foul with more than seven minutes left to play, allowing MSU to claw back into the game from the charity stripe. The Panther lead, once as large as 11, was cut to eight with six minutes to play in the first half.

"Our bench came through tonight," head coach Sandy Botham said. "We're going to need them a lot, and they got a lot of confidence tonight."

The Panthers countered their foul trouble, and the ensuing Bobcat run, by putting in a full-court press with their smaller, quicker lineup. The press immediately paid dividends, as UWM forced three straight turnovers and pushed the lead up to 12.

UWM's cold shooting continued, as Montana State cut the lead to just six with two minutes to play. Angela Wenzel ended the shooting drought by hitting an 18-footer from the top of the key. A Bobcat turnover and a foul gave the Panthers a pair of free throws, which Jessica Wilhite converted one of two and pushed the lead back up to nine. A lay-up by Stefanie Kaufmann and a pair of foul shots by Holly Tamm pushed UWM back up into a double-digit lead at the break, 32-21.

UWM dominated the statistical categories at the half, out-rebounding the Bobcats 18-12. The Panthers forced 16 turnovers in the first period, though UWM turned the ball over the same number of times. Milwaukee held MSU to just 29 percent shooting from the floor, while shooting a torrid 52 percent pace.

MSU started the second half on a 7-2 run to cut the Panther advantage to six, but the Panthers answered with an offensive rebound and a lay-up by Viall. Again foul trouble plagued Milwaukee, as the Panthers picked up their third foul just three and a half minutes into the second half and the Bobcats cut the margin to four. Another offensive rebound by Viall led to another lay-up and a six-point advantage, though the Bobcats wouldn't go away.

"We talked about it at half, they were not going to lay down and die," Botham said. "The first five minutes, we wanted to set the tone, but they were much more aggressive, we were back on our heels."

MSU cut the lead to three with 12 minutes to play, but foul trouble caught up to the Bobcats as well. Each team was in the bonus with more than 11 minutes to play, and Montana State cut the margin to just two with 10:40 left. They tied the game on a lay-up by Ember Harberts with just over ten minutes to play. Milwaukee answered in the form of Holly Tamm. Tamm grabbed her own rebound on a three pointer and was fouled on her lay-up attempt. Tamm converted both free throws, and UWM got a critical charge call at the opposite end of the floor to slow the MSU run.

With the score deadlocked at 46-46, Montana State point guard Rebecca Alvidrez hit the floor hard after a shot attempt. Alvidrez left the game but later returned. The Panthers could not take advantage of the absence of MSU's floor leader, however, as the Bobcats took the lead for the first time with 6:36 on a pair of free throws. Wilhite answered with a baseline jumper to knot the game back up at 50. Wilhite then drained a three from the top of the key to put UWM up by three.

After a Kaufmann lay-up, Angela Wenzel picked up a steal and threw the outlet to Wilhite, who was fouled. She converted both freebies to push the lead back up to five.

MSU just would not go away, however. A lay-up and a foul gave MSU's Isabel Stubbs a chance to tie with a foul shot with 42.3 seconds left, but her shot rattled off the rim. Wilhite was fouled on the ensuing Panther possession, and she converted both of her foul shots to give UWM the three-point lead. The shot at the horn from MSU's Cassie Johnson drew iron, and the ball bounced out of bounds as time expired, allowing UWM to escape with the 64-61 victory.

"The girls just responded so positively," Botham said. "This game was just a good gut check for us, coming off a loss and not playing with the kind of moxie and confidence and intensity that I knew we had and that we needed. Our backs were against the wall two or three times tonight, but we just stayed with it and stayed focused."

UWM won't have long to savor their victory, as they host cross-town rival Marquette Tuesday night at the Klotsche Center. Game time is 7 p.m.