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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Nov. 2, 2007) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team opened with a 35-5 run and led by 39 at halftime in running past Beloit, 102-25, in its exhibition opener Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

Junior Traci Edwards scored 24 points and had eight rebounds in just 16 minutes to lead the Panthers. Junior Jody Crumble finished with 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting and freshman Jenilee Klomstad added 11 points and nine rebounds.

UWM subbed in five players at a time for much of the game, with all 14 players that dressed playing. No one played more than 16 minutes and none less than 11.

"We wanted to get our players experienced," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said of her team's goals for this game. "We subbed our player in platoon-style just to get everybody the opportunity to get out on the floor and get some different combinations. In the second half we changed the combinations up a bit."

The Panthers used a new up-tempo style of play to pressure the Buccaneers all game. They outscored their opponents 41-4 in fast-break points and turned 24 steals and 33 Beloit turnovers into 40 points. Meanwhile, UWM tallied 33 assists compared to just seven turnovers. Every player for Milwaukee had at least one rebound and one assist, while 12 scored and 12 had steals.

"We want to push with our style. We have a lot of depth and a lot of different combinations that we can get out on the floor," Botham said. "The first look is always to look and get it going in transition and we wore them out. We want to wear teams out. We pressed and wore this team out in the first half. Our goal with any opponent we see is to really keep the pressure on, make our opponents play on their heels, offensively and defensively. We may not see it in the score at halftime, but we will see it in the end."

Sophomore Jodie McClain picked up a game-high seven assists to go with six points, six rebounds and no turnovers. Williams and junior Markita Barnes each added five assists. Barnes was one of three players with three steals.

Milwaukee also used its size to forge a decisive 58-28 advantage in rebounds led by the 6-foot-2 Edwards and 6-foot-4 Klomstad. Both centers added two blocks to their stat lines. The Panthers outscored the Buccaneers 66-10 in the paint and shot 51.1 percent for the game. Beloit, meanwhile, shot just 20.8 percent for the game.

Beloit, playing with just six players, was led by Angie Meehan with 11 points. Three starters missed the game for the Buccaneers because they were playing in the Midwest Conference Volleyball Tournament in nearby Waukesha.

Milwaukee scored the first 12 points of the game and was never threatened. It built its lead to 39 at halftime at 49-10 and cracked the 100-point mark on a three-pointer by freshman Jineen Williams with nine seconds remaining. The Panthers pushed their lead to 60 with six minutes remaining and steadily built their lead over the final minutes to the final 77-point margin.

UWM closes out its exhibition season Sunday when it hosts Wisconsin AAU at the Klotsche Center beginning at 4 p.m. The Panthers open their regular season Nov. 9 at Chicago State.