Dec. 5, 2001
VALPARAISO, IND. -- UWM (3-4) allowed Valparaiso (2-3) to take over a close second half and win down the stretch, 61-57, Wednesday night at Athletic Recreation Center.
Maria Viall led UWM with 18 points and Holly Tamm added 17 on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor. The Panthers finished shooting 45.3 percent from the floor just ahead of Valpo's 44.4 percent. UWM led, 27-26, at the half, but closely tailed Valpo for most of the second half.
"Hats off to Valparaiso," UWM coach Sandy Botham said. "They had only won one game before us, but they made some big shots down the stretch and executed real well. We missed defensive assignments and they capitalized on it."
Though the game was never out of reach, UWM trailed for most of the second half and were down by as many as seven points. The Panthers came back to lead, 55-53, when Maria Viall converted two free throws with 2:52 left. But the Crusaders scored three points to take the lead and grabbed an important offensive rebound that set up a three pointer by Kathryn Knoester. With Valpo leading 59-55, Tamm hit a field goal to cut the lead by three points with 36 seconds remaining. Jeanette Gray scored a field goal on the next possession to cap off the scoring at 61-57.
"I'm disappointed," Botham said. "I felt we were out of sync and never really got into a rhythm. Defensively, we gave up some easy shots and missed some key box outs down the stretch. We just didn't keep our composure."
Gray led Valpo with 21 points while Knoester added 14 points. The Panthers allowed the Crusaders to connect on 8-of-19 from behind the arc, including 4-of-7 in the first half. Valpo forced UWM to record a season-high 21 turnovers, while just making 13 assists. Valpo recorded 16 assists and 17 turnovers, but were outrebounded, 33-29. Neither team reached the charity stripe often and combined to make just 9-of-15 free throws.
Trailing by five points with 7:22 remaining in the game, UWM got a spark when Allison Klaas hit a jumper at the buzzer to begin a 7-2 run. Viall scored on a turnaround jumper and then helped the Panthers on their next trip to the basket. Valpo's Marlous Nieuwveen grabbed the defensive board off a UWM shot, but Viall stole the ball out of her hands and quickly layed it in. Jessica Wilhite scored her first and only points of the game when she hit a shot from downtown, allowing UWM to tie it up at 50 points a piece with just over five minutes to go.
"Our team doesn't adjust well when other teams give us different looks," Botham said of Valparaiso, including its nagging defense on Wilhite. "Valparaiso did just that and it took us out of the game."
Valpo took a 10-2 run to begin the second half and led UWM by seven points. Ali Klaas sank a three and Viall added a layup to trim the lead to two, but the Crusaders nailed consecutive three pointers to build it back up with 14 minutes left in the game. Valpo would carry at least a five-point lead over UWM for most of the second half.
Tamm opened the game scoring the first eight points for the Panthers on a pair of three pointers and a long-range jumper. UWM took its biggest lead of the half with six points when Tamm converted a three-point play and Viall followed on the next possession with a layin off the glass. Down, 25-19, Valparaiso caught up on the strength of a Knoester three pointer and a short jumper by Amber Schober. Stefanie Kaufmann's layup with a minute left gave UWM 27 points on the half, but Valpo's Katie Boone made a field goal to cut Milwaukee's lead to one point at the half.
Tamm led with 13 points in the first half, making 5-of-6 from the field including 2-of-3 from the arc.
