Feb. 8, 2003

Box Score

CLEVELAND - Kimberly Becker scored a career-high 28 points in leading the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team to its third straight win with a 88-81 victory over Cleveland State University here Saturday (Feb. 8). In one of the wildest games of the season, the Panthers blew a 17-point halftime lead but rallied to win their fourth straight league game and fifth straight game on the road. UWM gets to the .500 mark for the first time all season at 11-11 while improving its Horizon League record to 7-4. With the loss, Cleveland State falls to 6-15 overall and 4-7 in league play.

UWM took control of the game early in the second half, thanks to solid shooting and patience on offense. Cleveland State ran a 2-3 zone while double and triple teaming Maria Viall on every possession. As a result Becker and freshman Molly O'Brien were given ample room to operate in the lane and both players made the most of it. Becker led all scorers with 14 points at the break on five-of-seven shooting while O'Brien set a career-high by the midway point as she scored 12 on six-of-ten shooting. The Panthers cruised to the 48-31 halftime lead on the strength of 54.3% shooting from the floor and 55.6% from three-point land.

The run-and-gun Vikings came out firing in the second half and took a huge chuck out of the Panther lead early in the second frame. In fact, CSU outscored UWM 34-18 through the first 9:35 of the second stanza to take a 64-61 lead on a Erika Roudebush three-pointer with 10:25 remaining to play. The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes the Panthers took the lead for good on Viall's first career three-pointer with 7:58 to go. Cleveland State cut the lead to two, 69-67, on its next possession but four consecutive points by Teri Huff pushed the Panther lead to 75-72 with 6:00 left.

Cleveland State kept the margin between two and five points before Nichole Drummond put the nail in the coffin with a threeball from the top of the key with 1:00 left in the game. Two Anne Witte free throws pushed the lead to 88-79 before CSU scored late for the final margin.

In addition to Becker's career and game-high 28 points, O'Brien added a career-high 16 tallies while Drummond added 15. Despite double and triple teams Viall ended up with another double-double, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ashley Schrock led CSU with 21 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, while Shannon Sword added 20.

Milwaukee is now in a second place tie with Illinois-Chicago in the league standings at 7-4. The two teams will play for sole possession of second place on Wednesday (Feb. 12), when they meet at 7:00 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.