Feb. 12, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Stifling defense and rebounding were the keys to the game here Wednesday (Feb.12) as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee defeated the University of Illinois-Chicago 61-49 in a key Horizon League women's basketball contest. The victory moved Milwaukee into sole possession of second place in the league at 8-4 while moving above .500 for the first time this season with a 12-11 overall mark. Meanwhile, UIC falls to to 13-10 overall and third place in league play with a 7-5 standard.

"I'm really proud of the kids and we are just playing better and better," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "We frustrated UIC a little bit and it was enough to get the win. We've won four games in a row now and we are starting to play well at the right time."

Nerves seemed to play a factor Wednesday as both teams staggered out of the starting gates. The two teams played the first 5:42 of the game without scoring before UIC's Consuela Hall hit a layup to give the Flames the 2-0 edge. Milwaukee's Maria Viall scored on a layup just 26 second later to tie the game. Senior guard Jessica Wilhite drilled three-point shots on the next two Panther possessions to give UWM an 8-2 lead they keep for the remainder of the game.

The Panthers actually went on a 15-0 run in the first half, as buckets by Molly O'Brien and Teri Huff preceded Wilhite's third tri-lighter of the game as UWM grabbed a 15-2 cushion with 8:50 remaining in the half. Illinois-Chicago struggled shooting the ball from the get-go and connected on just one of its first 14 shots before finally making a run midway through the half.

The Flames outscored UWM 19-10 over a six minute stretch in the first half to cut the lead to three, 24-21, on another Hall layup with 4:05 on the clock. An O'Brien free throw and Huff jumper proved to be the last points of the half as Milwaukee ran to the halftime locker room with a 27-21 cushion. The Panthers held UIC to 24.2% (8-33) shooting in the first half but kept the visitors in the game by turning the ball over 16 times.

Milwaukee continued to harass the Flames defensively into the second half, forcing the visitors into turnovers and heavily guarded shots. The Panthers continued to control the pace of play in the early portion of the second half and grabbed its biggest lead of the night, 48-30, on a pair of Viall free throws with 9:53 left to play.

UIC made one final push, thanks to aggressive offensive drives to the basket and solid defense. The Flames cut the UWM lead to seven, 49-42, with 4:42 to go on a Jaysie Chambers rebound putback. However, UIC ran out of gas in the end as Milwaukee put the game away thanks to free throws and six Viall points in the final 2:47. UWM hit five consecutive free throws to push the lead to 61-46 before a UIC three-pointer with nine seconds to go closed the final margin to 61-49.

The UWM defense continued to be the story in the second half, as UIC hit just 8-of-31 from the floor in the second half to finish the game shooting a season-low 25.0%. The 25.0% field goal defense is the third lowest total in UWM women's basketball history. Furthermore, the 49 points and 16 made field goals were also season-lows for UIC and season-bests for Milwaukee.

"We want to be in that No. 2 spot in the tournament and tonight's game helped us a lot," noted Botham. "We had an ugly start to the season but we never lost faith in getting to this point. We have to have everyone pitching in and tonight Nichole Drummond played well. We have someone new stepping up every night."

Wilhite battled for 37 minutes and led UWM with 15 points while adding 11 rebounds for her second career double-double. Viall, who struggled with foul trouble, finished with 12 points and seven boards while Drummond collected her first double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Chambers paced the Flames with 13 points while LeKesha Williams added 11.