Jan. 12, 2002
Indianapolis, Ind.- Maria Viall scored a career-high 33 points to lead UWM (10-5, 4-0 Horizon League) past Butler (1-15, 0-5 Horizon League), 79-42, Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Panthers grabbed their sixth-straight win to remain undefeated in the league and record their best-ever conference start in school Division I history.
"Our biggest goal was to put Butler down and keep them down in the second half," UWM coach Sandy Botham said. "Against Wright State (Thursday night) in the second half, we kind of let down and let them back into the game. Today, we kept at it in the second half and I'm really proud of our team for that."
UWM finished with 45.5 percent shooting after a sluggish start from the field in the first half. The Bulldogs ended with 30.2 percent shooting, making just 16-of-53 field goals. Sarah Bolten led Butler with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Jessica Wilhite scored 10 points as the only other UWM player in double figures
Viall surpassed her previous career high when she connected from the field with eight minutes and 13 seconds left in the game. That bucket gave UWM its largest lead at that point with a 28-point margin at 62-34. Viall finished shooting 13-of-19 field goals and 7-of-11 at the line. She was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds on the game.
"We settled for jumpers early and that gave us a slow start, but Maria dominated inside and that was definitely the factor," Botham said. "Also, once our defense got going, it helped create our offense."
Milwaukee recorded 16 steals for the second-consecutive game and tied a season high. The Panthers forced 25 turnovers, while they committed 16 themselves and made 13 assists.
A 14-0 run in the second half helped UWM distance itself from Butler and take a 25-point lead. Viall scored six of those points in the streak, while Allison Klaas hit two treys and Holly Tamm added a jumper. Angel Mason drove in for a layup to break Butler's silence with under 12 minutes remaining.
"I was disappointed with the lull we had in the first 10 minutes of the game. When we fight with that intensity and determination, we're a great team. But when we don't, we're a bad team. I thought that was the problem early, but we fixed that in the second half," Botham said.
Milwaukee finally connected from the field in the first half at 6:30 into the game after missing its first seven attempts and committing five turnovers. Jessica Wilhite nailed a three pointer to trail Butler 5-4, and then converted two at the line on the next possession to give UWM the lead for good. Her points started a 22-2 run for the Panthers to get them into the game.
Viall scored 16 of UWM's final 28 points to close the half with the 32-20 lead. Butler finished the half shooting 20.7 percent from the field after ending on a 9-2 run, with Tiffany Smith scoring five of those points off two UWM turnovers. Milwaukee managed a 36.4 percent field-goal shooting after recording 10 turnovers in the half.
The Panthers hope to stay undefeated in the league when they host Cleveland State on Thurs., Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Detroit on Sat., Jan. 19 at 2 p.m.
