Jan. 3, 2004

Final Stats

MILWAUKEE - There's no place like home for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team. After playing eight of its first nine games of the season on the road, UWM took out its frustrations with a 74-58 win over the University of Illinois-Chicago in early season Horizon League action here Saturday (Jan. 3). UWM snapped a season-long three-game losing streak to improve to 4-6 and 1-0 in league action while UIC fell to 5-6 on the year and 0-2 in the loop.

"Boy is it nice to be home," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "On the first play of the game Kiley comes down and hits the jumper and I told my staff 'It's nice to be back home.' I thought we put it all together for the most part today except for a little lapse in each half. It's nice to start off the league season with a victory."

The two teams came out of the gates trading baskets which led to an 8-8 tie at the 15:28 mark. UWM turned it up coming out of a timeout and scored the next nine points to grab a 17-8 lead at the 11:07 point in the first half. The Panthers stretched the lead to eleven, 30-19, following a second Anne Witte three-ball and a layup by Viall with 5:42 left to go in the half. However, Viall picked up her second foul of the game at the 3:55 mark and went to the bench for the remainder of the half. UIC took advantage of the All-America Candidate's departure and scored eight of the last ten points of the stanza to cut the margin to three, 34-31, at the break.

Viall led UWM with 10 points on perfect four-of-four shooting while Johnson and Witte added six apiece. UIC was able to stay in the game despite nine turnovers thanks to 51.9% shooting from the floor. Chrissy Dizon posted nine points in the first half to go with four-of-five shooting from the floor.

Milwaukee put the pressure on right away in the second half as Johnson opened up the second half just like the first, this time drilling a trifecta from the left corner. An Aubrey Hampton three-ball on the next possession and a Viall layup gave UWM a 42-31 cushion just 2:53 into the second half. The Flames continued to battle, however, as they went on a 19-6 run over a 5:52 stretch to grab a 50-48 lead, their first cushion since the games opening minutes.

Fortunately for the Panthers the lead didn't last long as the home team scored the next 10 points, six of which came from the senior Viall. UIC was able to cut the lead under ten points just one more time, 58-52, on a LaShonda Grant jumper in the lane before another Johnson tri-lighter pushed the Panther cushion to 63-52 with 7:21 remaining. Milwaukee's stifiling defense forced four UIC turnovers over the last seven minutes on the way to the 16-point victory.

Viall, the preseason Horizon League Player of the Year, paced UWM with 22 points and nine boards while the freshman Johnson added 16 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the floor. Dizon led UIC with 13 points while Gina Hugelier and Dejeanette Flournoy added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

"Kiley knows she's out there to score and she never hesitates to pull the trigger," Botham noted. "We need her to continue to play that way to help balance what Maria does inside."

Milwaukee will stay at home but step back out of conference for a crosstown showdown on Tuesday (Jan. 6). UWM will host Marquette at the Klotsche Center with the game scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.