Jan. 29, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Maria Viall posted her third straight "double-double" but it wasn't enough as Chicago State University grabbed a 66-60 non-conference road win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in women's basketball action here Wednesday (Jan. 29). Chicago State put three players in double figures on the night in winning just the second time in the 15 all-time meetings between the two schools. UWM falls to 8-11 on the season while the Cougars improve to 7-10.

"These kids need to be mentally prepared for every game, no matter who we play," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "This has got to be a motivator for us. This kind of game has to inspire us for the ones to come. We just got out-hustled and out-played tonight."

Chicago State appeared to be the aggressor from the get-go, taking it to UWM on offense and frustrating the Panthers on the defensive end. CSU shot 54.5% from the floor in the first half and held Milwaukee to 33.3% en route to a 31-25 lead. Foul trouble hurt the Panther cause in the first half as Viall sat out the last 10:50 of the frame with two fouls. Cougar post player Kafayat Davies took advantage of Viall's absence to score all 12 of her points in the stanza.

Milwaukee enjoyed just three leads on the night, the largest of which came at the 10:48 mark, when Anne Witte converted a steal into a breakaway layup to make it 14-11. Chicago State then went on a 12-4 run to go ahead 23-18 on a pull-up jumper by Tina Hill with 5:51 remaining in the half. The two teams see-sawed back and forth before the Cougars took the five-point lead into the break.

Things went downhill in a hurry for UWM in the beginning of the second half as CSU went on a 7-0 run to take a 38-25 just 1:21 into the session. Bridgette Kelly scored the first four points of the run before Lorette Ellul canned her third three-pointer of the night. The Cougars maintained between an eight and 18-point lead until Milwaukee made one last push in the game's final five minutes.

With the score 55-41 with 4:36 remaining, UWM scored nine straight points to cut the lead to five, 55-50, with 2:19 remaining. After a Chicago State bucket the Panthers cut it to five again, this time on a Viall layup with 1:33 left. However, a baseline three-pointer by Kelly on the Cougars next possession sealed the Panthers' fate as the visitors hung on for the six-point victory.

Viall ended the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds, both game-highs, while connecting on six-of-ten shots. Jessica Wilhite added 12 points on four three-pointers while Kimberly Becker and Witte each added 11 points. Kelly led all scorers with 19 points while Ellul and Davies added 18 and 12, respectively.

The Panthers will look to get back on the right track on Saturday when they return to Horizon League action. UWM will play host to Loyola at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Klotsche Center. Milwaukee will be looking to avenge a 66-57 loss to the Ramblers on Dec. 30.