Feb. 23, 2004

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Give Maria Viall this, she certainly knows when the spotlight is on. On what basically amounted to Maria Viall day here Monday (Feb. 23), the senior center led all players with 24 and 13 rebounds while leading the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team to a 71-69 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The victory helped keep the Panthers' (15-11, 11-4) hopes alive for a share of the regular season Horizon League title. With the loss, the Phoenix fell to 19-7 overall and 12-3 in the league, while still holding on to first place in the league standings.

"I just want to give a lot of credit to the fans tonight for showing up and creating a great atmosphere," Viall said. "It was a really big win for us. We needed to get back on track after Saturday's loss and this helps us get some confidence with the tournament coming up."

Milwaukee controlled much of the first half, and trailed just twice in the frame. With the score tied at 10, the Panthers went on a 6-1 run as Viall scored on two layups and Anne Witte nailed a driving layup. UWGB scored the next six points to take a 17-16 lead with 10:54 to play and the two teams traded buckets for the next three plus minutes.

A long Kiley Johnson three-ball with the shot clock winding down gave UWM a 24-21 cushion with 7:24 on the clock and a Teri Huff trifecta made it 27-23 with 6:16 left in the half. Green Bay got back to within two on a pair of Abby Scharlow free throws at the 5:13 mark but the Panthers kept the visitors at bay the rest of the half and took a 35-31 lead into the break.

Milwaukee shot a red-hot 60.0% in the first half, connecting on 15-of-25 shots, many of which were layups. Meanwhile, the visiting Phoenix shot just 40.0% from the floor and were outrebounded 19-12 in the half. Viall scored 12 points in the first half while Molly O'Brien added four points, six boards, and three assists.

The Panthers continued to control the pace of play throughout the early part of the half before a run midway through the frame gave the Phoenix a second-half lead. UWGB went on a 9-0 run over a 6:54 stretch to grab a 44-41 lead with 12:59 to play. Milwaukee grabbed the lead back at 10:19 on an O'Brien three-pointer before the Pheonix scored five of the next six points to storm back ahead, 51-48, with 8:37 remaining. Green Bay held on to the lead for the next two plus minutes before the homestanding Panthers took control of the game.

Trailing 55-54, UWM went on an 11-0 run, to grab a 65-55 cushion with 4:09 to play. Viall scored four points during the stretch which was highlighted by an O'Brien tri-lighter from the right wing. UWGB cut the lead to four, 68-64, on a Scharlow leaning jumper but one Viall free throw and two more by Nichole Drummond made it 71-64 with 37 seconds left. The Phoenix kept it close by hitting a three-pointer with 14 seconds left while UWM missed three-of-six free throws in the final minute. Green Bay cut the final margin to two when Nicole Soulis hit a baseline 18-footer as time expired.

The Panthers shot 51.9% for the game, matching their best shooting performance of the campaign. UWM hit five-of-fifteen from three-point land but connected on just ten-of-21 free throws. The Phoenix turned it up in the second half, hitting 58.6% of its shots to finish the night at 49.2%. UWM outrebounded the visitors 39-25 while registering 18 assists to 14 for Green Bay.

In addition to Viall's big night, O'Brien scored a season-high 14 points to go with seven rebounds, a game-high five assists, and team-best three steals. Drummond added 13 points while ripping down nine rebounds and dishing out three helpers. Scharlow led Green Bay with 19 points while Tricia Grassell added 17.

Milwaukee will hit the road for the regular season finale and will play at Youngstown State on Saturday (Feb. 28) at 4:00 p.m.. UWM needs to beat YSU and hope UIC defeats Green Bay to nab a share of the league crown. The Panthers will then play host to the 2004 Horizon League Tournament from March 2-9. Regardless of the results on Saturday, UWM has clinched the No. 2 seed in the league tourney which will be played at the Klotsche Center.