Jan. 29, 2004

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - If you ever want to lead a basketball game, there's no better time than when the final buzzer sounds. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team found that out here Thursday (Jan. 29) as a Nichole Drummond three-pointer with 32 seconds left propelled UWM to a 49-47 Horizon League victory over the University of Detroit-Mercy. The basket gave the Panthers their only lead of the game as they improve to 8-10 overall and 5-3 in Horizon League play. With the loss, Detroit (9-9, 6-2) falls out of the top spot in the league race.

"This was a big win for us," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "We were able to take care of business at home and beat the league's first place team. We stayed calm, kept out composure and pulled it out in the end."

Neither team will make a highlight film out of the first half as Detroit took just a 19-15 lead into the break. UDM scored the first eight points of the game before Milwaukee finally broke through on a Molly O'Brien jumpshot with 11:07 remaining in the half. The Panthers missed their first 14 shots of the half and 20 of their first 21 before finally getting on track.

Milwaukee made just six-of-32 shots in the first half for 18.8%. Detroit was able to connect on 40.0% of its shots in the frame but kept UWM in the game with 11 first half turnovers. Katie Solner led all scorers with six points at the break while Anne Witte led UWM with four markers.

Detroit came out firing in the second half and grabbed its biggest lead of the game, 25-15, on back-to-back three-pointers by Melissa Harakas and Solner. UWM's Maria Viall began her second half domination as she scored her team's next six points as the Panthers cut the cushion to 29-25. A Drummond free throw at the 12:56 mark brought UWM within one, before a 5-0 Detroit run made it 34-28 with 10:32 left to play.

The Titan lead remained between three and five points for much of the rest of the half as Milwaukee could never get over the hump. Detroit controlled the pace of the game with solid man-to-man defense and a deliberate half court offense. Viall, the senior from Waukesha, was able to keep UWM within striking distance as she scored the last of her 17 second half points to make it 44-42 with 4:19 to play.

Detroit held a 47-43 cushion with 2:38 left after Nicole Anaejionu split a pair of free throws. UWM's Molly O'Brien was able to slice the lead to one, 47-46, with a three-pointer with 1:42 left. After the two teams traded possessions Milwaukee got a defensive stop which helped set the stage for the end of the game.

Milwaukee took control of the ball with 48 seconds left and setup its offense. Witte drove baseline to a collapsing UDM defense and found a wide open Drummond on the left baseline. The sophomore collected the ball and drained the eventual game-winner, helping erase a tough shooting night for the Kenosha-native. Detroit had one last chance to win the game but Lindsay Pasquinzo's contested three-pointer bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

"My player went to double team Maria in the post so I went to the open area," Drummond said. "I saw Anne driving so I spotted up on the baseline. She found me and I knew it was going in as soon as I released it."

Viall led all players with 19 points thanks to her strong second half. O'Brien scored eight points on the game but led everyone with ten rebounds to go with two assists and three steals. Solner was the only Titan in double figures as she notched 13 points. The Panthers shot 57.9% from the floor in the second half while outrebounding the visitors 37-24 for the game.

UWM will return to action on Saturday (Jan. 31) when the Penguins of the Youngstown State University come to town. Gametime is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.