Feb. 8, 2001
MILWAUKEE-Led by freshman center Maria Viall's 21 points, the Panthers lost a close battle by Detroit-Mercy, 84-79, Thursday afternoon in Detroit, Mich. UWM drops back to .500 with a 10-10 overall record, and end a four-game conference winning streak to go 6-2 in the MCC.
Milwaukee tied the game twice down the stretch, both times coming from freshman Charlene Smith. Smith made one free throw, and then hit a jumper to tie it at 79-79 with 1:54 remaining. The Panthers couldn't get a defensive stop as Detroit's Randee Henry made a jump shot on the next possession. With 19 seconds left on the clock and UDM's possession, Milwaukee found themselves down by a basket and were forced to foul. Detroit's Michelle James made both free throws while Shari Hill added one at the line near the end.
"We are now the hunted," said UWM coach Sandy Botham. "They came out aggressive and set the tone. They shot well and we couldn't quite come back. We did play them even in the second half, but we were playing on our heels. We have to play defense, and we have got to get stops."
With Detroit leading by as many nine points, the Panthers came back to take the reigns with 8:25 left in the game. Viall put in a lay-up off lob-pass over the defense from Jessica Wilhite, and then followed up with a pair of free throws to capture the lead, 66-65. Detroit soon took it back, and the Panthers played catch-up until the end.
Wilhite buried a three-pointer at the 16:38 mark to trail by three, giving her the school record in three-pointers made in a season. She finished with 18 points on 6-of-18 from the field, including three from downtown.
The Panthers finished with 44 percent field goal shooting, while Detroit shot well with 57 percent from the field. Milwaukee took the slight advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Titans 35-33. Detroit ended the game making 22 assists and committing 24 turnovers, while UWM recorded the 13-18 ratio.
UWM trailed from the beginning, but three consecutive buckets from Holly Tamm put the Panthers on the board. Detroit built on its lead to go 18-10 at the 12:41 mark, but UWM woke up to an 11-0 run after a timeout. Smith penetrated to the hoop and quick dished it to Viall, who finished with a lay-up to take the lead at 21-18.
After the Titans regained the lead, Smith scored on a layup to tie the game at 38 a piece with 2:08 remaining in the half. Detroit sank a three-pointer and added a jumper to take the five-point lead into halftime.
Tamm finished with 12 points, while Stefanie Kaufmann posted a game-high nine rebounds and added nine points. Smith also added nine points for the Panthers.
