Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Nov. 13, 2006) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team nearly erased a 16-point, second-half deficit in falling to the University of Miami, 78-71, Monday afternoon in Coral Gables.

The Panthers (0-2) trailed the Hurricanes (2-0) by 16 as late as the 13:06 to go mark in the second half, but fought to pull within two at 71-69 with 1:55 to play. Miami then hit its free throws down the stretch to provide the final margin.

"I'm proud of how our team bounced back in the second half," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "Even being down, the executed the game plan well and put themselves in a position to beat Miami late in the game. We didn't lose focus and got back on track doing the little things on offense and defense.

"We lost our focus at South Florida (Friday) and weren't able to get back in the game. Today, we kept our focus and were able to fight back."

Junior Meredith Onson led four players in double-figures with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and four 3-pointers. After halftime, she hit all five shot attempts, including all four of her three's, and had 14 points for the half.

Sophomore Traci Edwards added a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards on the day, while senior Megan Rogers with 11 and sophomore Katie Fournier with 10 points also reached double-digits.

"Meredith had a huge second half for us. We moved Aubrey (Hampton) to the point to allow her more shots as our shooting guard," Botham said. "We told her to hit her shots and she went out there and did."

Renee Taylor scored a game-high 23 points for the host Hurricanes and was joined in double-figures by Latoya Cunningham with 12 and Albrey Grimsley with 10.

Milwaukee shot 64 percent in the second half to storm back into the game, hitting on 7-of-12 three's in the half and missing just one free throw (5-for-6). The Panthers finished shooting 48 percent from the field and 42.9 percent on three-point tries. Miami shot 44.3 percent for the game. Both teams grabbed 33 rebounds, while UWM committed seven more turnovers (22-15).

The Hurricanes expanded their 12-point halftime lead to 16 at 48-32 just over three minutes into the second half and again at 56-40 before Milwaukee staged its comeback. Onson hit a lay up and Hampton hit back-to-back three's. After five-straight points by UM's Carla Williams, senior Kiley Johnson hit a jumper and Onson followed with a three to make it a seven-point game at 60-53 with 9:02 remaining.

Miami's lead got back to 10 at 67-57, before Onson knocked down two-straight three's. Taylor helped the `Canes stave off the charging Panthers with a three of her own, but they would eventually make it just a two-point game when sophomore Turquoise McCain grabbed consecutive offensive boards and hit a layup to make it 71-69.

The home team then went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe in the final 29 seconds to ice the game.

UWM had gotten off to a slow start early, falling down 14-4 on an Eboni Sadler three for Miami with 12:33 to go in the opening half. The Panthers then went on a 15-5 run to tie the game at 19-19. Rogers sparked the run with five-straight points and sophomore Katie Fournier tied the game by converting two free throws with 6:17 to play in the half.

Miami then began to pull away, pushing its lead to 11 at 34-23 on two Taylor free throws. The lead would peak at 14 (39-25) in the period's final minute before heading into halftime a 12-point game at 39-27.

"Their run at the end of the first half killed us," Botham said. "We said coming in that we needed to get rebounds and keep our turnovers down. In that stretch, they came up with four big offensive rebounds and we turned the ball over three times."

The Panthers struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 32 percent, including 22 percent on three-pointers. They also committed 12 turnovers in the frame, but did have seven assists on eight made baskets. The `Canes shot slightly better at 39 percent, but also hit on 46 percent of three's and held a 23-17 rebound advantage.

Milwaukee returns to action Friday, Nov. 17, in the first of three games in four days. The Panthers travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on Drake on Friday, before hosting Central Connecticut State Sunday and playing at Wisconsin Monday.