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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Nov. 30, 2005) - Khara Smith had a game-high 23 points and 16 rebounds as No. 14 DePaul defeated the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team, 91-79, Wednesday night at the Klotsche Center.

Allie Quigley also scored 23 points, including 20 in the second half, for the Blue Demons (6-0), while freshman Traci Edwards led the way for the Panthers (2-3) with 21 points and eight rebounds. Like Edwards, senior Nichole Drummond also cracked the 20-point mark for the second-straight game, scoring 20 to go with six boards.

UWM had cut DePaul's second half lead to six points at 69-63 when senior Molly O'Brien converted a three-point play on a lay-up and at the line with 7:27 to go in the game. The Blue Demons then began to pull away, building a 15-point advantage with a 9-0 run. Quigley capped the run, which included a Jenna Rubino lay-up and four free throws, with a three-pointer making it 78-63 at the five-minute mark.

The Panthers battled to cut the lead to 11 on multiple occasions, but could get no closer than 12 down the stretch. Milwaukee scored the final five points of the game on two Drummond charity tosses and a three-pointer by freshman Emily Markert.

"In the second half they got the ball into Khara Smith more consistently and she was able to hit a lot of easy shots," head coach Sandy Botham said. "They really turned it up coming out of the break and we got back on our heels a bit and started to play tentatively."

For the game, UWM shot 51 percent from the field, 45.5 percent on three-point tries and 84.6 percent on 26 free throw attempts. It committed 26 turnovers, but shared the ball well with 21 assists on 26 field goals made. The Blue Demons shot 57.1 percent in the second half to finish at 44.6 percent for the game, but outrebounded the home team by 13 (45-32). The Panthers forced 17 turnovers and allowed DePaul to hit on just 27.3 percent of its three-point field attempts.

"DePaul has a level of confidence we just don't have yet. They think that they can't be stopped and that helps them," Botham said. "We need to get that mentality. Our players have to want the ball more and knock down their shots."

Milwaukee had led throughout the first half, before heading into halftime trailing 37-36. The Panthers scored the first four points of the game and, after falling down 10-9, went on a 10-0 run over 90 seconds to make it 19-10 seven minutes into the game. A pair of free throws by freshman Turquoise McCain kick-started the streak. Freshman Katie Fournier then converted a fast-break lay-up and junior Aubrey Hampton and O'Brien hit back-to-back three's for the team's biggest lead of the game.

Both teams traded baskets with UWM's lead falling to four before a three-point play by Edwards and a Meredith Onson lay-up pushed it back to nine at 26-17 at the midway point of the half. A pair of jumpers by Erin Cattell and a Smith lay-up made it 26-25 down the stretch. Smith hit another lay-up with seven seconds remaining to provide for the halftime score.

Despite shooting 56.5 percent in the half, hitting all three 3-point attempts and seven free throw tries, Milwaukee turned the ball over 18 times. The Blue Demons shot just 35.4 percent for the half, but grabbed 17 offensive boards and held a 25-17-rebound advantage.

"I'm proud of how our players came out and took it at them. It proved we could play with anybody," Botham said. "Our game plan was definitely good and we managed to keep them off balance."

Coming out of the break, Milwaukee managed to regain the lead 32 seconds in, when Drummond converted two free throws for the first points of the second half. Edwards then converted another three-point play for the team's last lead of the game at 41-39. Quigley scored the first six points after halftime for DePaul as it started to pull away. The game's fourth and final tie was at 45-45 when Drummond hit a lay-up with 16:26 to play.

O'Brien also reached double-figures for UWM, scoring 14 points, grabbing eight boards and dishing three assists. Three more Blue Demons scored in double-figures, each tallying 11.

The Panthers continue a span of three games in five days, when Southeast Missouri State visits the Klotsche Center Friday (Dec. 2) at 7 p.m. UWM and SEMO met last Friday in Cape Girardeau, Mo., with Milwaukee winning in double overtime, 90-87.