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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Jan. 20, 2007) - Sophomore Traci Edwards scored a school-record 42 points and tied another record with six blocked shots as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team defeated Cleveland State, 75-68, Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Edwards passed the former mark of 38, scored by Andrea Filipek Jan. 23, 1999, at UW-Green Bay. She also tied Maria Viall's record of six blocks and broke school records for field goals both made (17) and attempted (33). The Menasha, Wis., native added 14 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.

"I noticed in the beginning of the game when I got the ball, turned and saw there was nobody there. I missed a bunch of my shots, but they didn't double down a lot," Edwards said. "Halfway through the first half, I really started to hit my shots on a regular basis. My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball. I can't score that many points if they don't get the ball in to me."

The Panthers (9-10, 5-1 Horizon) added nine 3-pointers on the afternoon, despite the Vikings' (5-15, 2-5 Horizon) attempts to shutdown UWM's perimeter game and single team Edwards. Sophomore Emily Markert finished with nine points on three 3-pointers, while seniors Aubrey Hampton and Kiley Johnson added two apiece for six points on the afternoon.

"Their game plan was to one-on-one Traci and avoid kick-outs. So, we told our players to get the ball inside," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "When they were making their runs and coming back, we just weren't getting the ball inside. Aubrey Hampton hit some big three's for us and Emily in the corner, that was huge. Our players were getting good looks on the perimeter and hitting their shots."

Kailey Klein scored a team-high 22 for Cleveland State, while Milwaukee native Dominque Butler added 18 and Chenara Wilson 14.

Led by Edwards' 17-for-33 performance from the field, UWM shot 44.3 for the game, including 50 percent from three-point range. The Panthers also committed a season-low 11 turnovers, compared to 21 assists, blocked a season-high nine shots and had seven steals. The 5-foot-6 Hampton contributed seven assists and double her career block total with two.

"We didn't have any trouble getting the ball into Traci," Hampton said. "We like getting the ball to her because when she has it she makes her shots."

Cleveland State shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, but cooled off to finish at 44.1 percent. Despite extending its NCAA record streak of consecutive games with a three to 406, CSU attempted just nine treys on the day, making two. The Vikings did win the battle on the glass, 38-34, and finished with nine steals.

Milwaukee struggled with its shooting early on, as the Vikings scored the first six points of the game and held an eight-point advantage at 18-10 at the 13:17 mark of the first half. UWM pulled within one with seven-straight points, including a pair of Markert three's, but Cleveland responded with six-straight for a 24-17 just before the 8:00 media timout.

Edwards then scored all 11 points in an 11-3 run for UWM's first lead of the game at 28-27, before CSU finished the frame strong to take a 33-32 lead into halftime.

The Panthers scored the first nine points of the second half and took a 13-point lead at 53-40 on a jumper by senior Megan Rogers just over five minutes into the frame. Once again, Cleveland State fought back with 10 unanswered points and eventually tied the game at 60-60 on the second of back-to-back lay ups by Butler.

"Cleveland State is a feisty, blue-collared team that does not give up. I give them a lot of credit," Botham said. "It got ugly at Green Bay for them (Thursday) and they came down here, clawed and fought their way back and really gave us a tough game. Kailey Klein could not be stopped today and Domanique Butler played extremely well in a homecoming game for her."

With Milwaukee holding a slim 67-66 lead after another Butler basket with 3:19 to play, the Panthers did not allow another field goal the remainder of the game and ended regulation on an 8-2 run to seal the victory. Edwards scored her team's final five points to push past the school record, hitting the decisive bucket with 1:32 to play, pushing UWM's lead to six at 72-66.

The Panthers return to action this week with a pair of road contests. Milwaukee first plays Wright State Thursday in Dayton, Ohio, before heading to Indianapolis, Ind., for a contest with Butler Saturday.