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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Feb. 18, 2006) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team sent its seniors out on a high note, rolling past Youngstown State, 67-44, for its seventh-straight win, Saturday night at the Klotsche Center on Senior Day.

Senior Nichole Drummond scored a game-high 16 points, while senior Molly O'Brien was among three more players in double-figures for the Panthers (17-8, 12-2 Horizon League) with 10. UWM's third senior, Amanda Cook, chipped in seven. Freshman Traci Edwards scored 11 points and sophomore Dana Schultz added 10.

"It was exciting to know that I made it here for four years," Drummond said of her final regular season home game. "It was sad, but we still had fun. I talked to Molly (O'Brien) before the game about how Youngstown State ruined our senior night last year. We did a good job to make sure that didn't happen again."

With the win, Milwaukee clinched no worse than second place for the seventh-straight season. The Panthers remain in a first-place tie with UW-Green Bay, which defeated Detroit, 71-58, with two games remaining for both teams. They've beaten the Phoenix twice this season to hold the tiebreaker.

"It's been a great roll we're on," head coach Sandy Botham said. "We were saying after the first Green Bay win, when we knew we had a chance at the championship, one down and six to go. Now it's five down, two to go.

"We travel to UIC this week and Green Bay travels to Butler. Both teams are battling for third place, so neither of us has an advantage over the other. We need to go out and win two games and the championship is ours."

Jessica Schloemp was the only player in double-figures for the Penguins (7-19, 3-12 Horizon League), who lost to UWM for the second time this season.

The Panthers had the advantage in most every stat category, shooting 47.3 percent from the field and finishing with 18 assists and season-highs of 12 steals and seven blocks. They also outrebounded Youngstown, 35-27. The Penguins shot just 35.6 percent for the game and committed 22 turnovers.

Freshman Katie Fournier blocked five shots to lead the defensive effort, while Edwards added four steals and O'Brien three. Fournier's blocks are tied for the second-most in school history, while Edwards and freshman Emily Markert each added blocks.

"You don't know what you are going to face, so defense is key," Botham said. "We wanted to keep them under 50, but with four minutes remaining we decided we wanted to hold them below 45."

Milwaukee pulled away in the second half, scoring the 11 of the first 12 points to extend a seven-point lead to 17 at 37-20 with 16:06 to play. Monique Godfrey made it a 15-point game at 39-24 with a layup, but that was as close as Youngstown State would get.

UWM pushed its lead to a game-high 24 points at 66-42 on a Markert three with 1:32 remaining. Botham then emptied the bench, as all 16 players on the roster saw time in the game.

After YSU scored the first basket of the game, the Panthers immediately tied the game and went on to build a nine-point lead at 16-7 midway through the half. While the lead would dip to as low as four, UWM headed into the half ahead, 26-19.

The Panthers close out the regular season with a pair of road games in Chicago. They take on UIC Thursday night and return to the Second City Saturday to play Loyola.