Jan. 15, 2004

Box Score

CLEVELAND - A valiant second-half effort fell just short as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee team dropped a 59-57 game to Cleveland State University in Horizon League women's basketball action here Thursday (Jan. 15). UWM had two chances to tie the game in the last 15 seconds but Kiley Johnson's jumper bounced off and a follow by Maria Viall rimmed out. The loss drops Milwaukee to 6-8 overall and 3-1 in the league while Cleveland State improves to 7-8 overall and 4-1 in the loop.

Poor shooting doomed Milwaukee in the first half as the visitors connected on just 23.1% of their shots. Cleveland State was able to take a 31-20 lead into the break as Shannon Sword scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes. The Panthers, who also turned the ball over nine times in the half, did hit six-of-eight from the charity stripe to keep the game close.

The Panthers played spirited basketball in the final 17 minutes after loosing starting point guard Aubrey Hampton to injury at the 17:37 mark. The freshman, who led UWM with six points at the time, hurt her right knee on a drive to the basket. Here availability for future games is uncertain.

Milwaukee hung around for the early part of the half but could never cut the CSU lead under 10 points for the longest time. UWM cut the lead to ten, 43-33, at the 11:02 mark only to see the Vikings Erin Martin drill a three-pointer on the subsequent possession. The Panthers then made its late game run thanks in large part to stifling defense and aggressive play offensively.

A Maria Viall free throw at the 3:51 mark cut the Viking lead to six, 52-46, with 3:52 to play. After a defensive stop Kimberly Becker drilled a 15-foot jump shot to bring the Panthers within four at the 3:12 mark. However Martin, a sophomore guard, stopped the Panther run with the third of her three second-half three-pointers with 2:39 left to give the hosts a 55-48 lead.

UWM continued to battle and an Anne Witte three-ball from the right corner and a Nichole Drummond driving layup cut the margin to two, 55-53, with 1:12 to go. Sword delivered for CSU on the ensuing possession, only to see Drummond score again on another acrobatic drive to the rim. The Panthers got a stop on the next possession and had the ball with 25.6 seconds to play. However after a nice setup, Johnson missed her ten-foot pull-up jumper and Viall missed on the second chance. Milwaukee fouled Ashley Schrock on the rebound and the senior hit both ends of a one-and-one for a 59-55 lead with :08 to play. Witte missed a last gasp three-pointer and Becker was fouled on the rebound where she then hit two free throws with .4 seconds left for the final margin.

Drummond came up big off the bench for UWM as she scored a season and team-high 14 points. Viall added 11 points and a game-best 15 rebounds while Becker added 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. Sword led CSU with 18 points while Schrock added 13 points and 11 rebounds.