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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Nov. 28, 2007) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team erased a seven-point deficit over the final 47 seconds of regulation to force overtime, but could not overcome 32 turnovers in falling to the University of Miami, 73-70, Wednesday night at the Klotsche Center.

Junior Traci Edwards had game-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers (1-3). Junior Turquoise McCain scored a career-high 18 points, including five in the last minute of regulation, and senior Aubri Rote scored 18.

"We are obviously disappointed that we let this one slip through our fingers," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "We thought this was a team we could beat and we had plenty of opportunities. The story of our season, so far, has been turnovers. We had so many opportunities and just didn't take advantage of them."

Trailing by four at 72-68 with 32 seconds remaining, sophomore Jodie McClain converted a pair of free throws and McCain stole the inbound pass. After an errant pass gave the Hurricanes the ball back, McCain picked up her second steal of the overtime period by forcing a jump ball on the next inbounds pass.

Briyana Blair then stole the ball for Miami and Eboni Sadler was fouled with just over three seconds remaining. She missed both, but the `Canes got the rebound and another foul put Latoya Cunningham at the line. She missed the first and made the second to put the score at 73-70 with 0.6 seconds remaining. Rote's three-quarter court heave fell short as time expired.

The overtime period followed an exciting final minute of regulation that saw the Panthers overcome a 60-53 deficit with 47 seconds to play after four-straight UWM turnovers.

Milwaukee then started fouling and freshman Jineen Williams tipped Miami's third-straight inbounds pass to McCain, who turned that into a quick lay-up. McCain then fouled on the ensuing possession, grabbed the rebound on a missed free throw and converted a three-pointer to make it a two-point game with 26 seconds to go.

McCain once again grabbed a rebound on a missed free throw by Maurita Reid and Edwards converted a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining to tie the score at 60-60. Reid's jumper at the buzzer then hit the back of the rim.

"I am proud of our kids' efforts. I was proud of the fact they never gave up," Botham said. "We put ourselves in position (to win) twice. With 45 seconds we are down seven and come back to tie it and have another chance to tie it (in overtime). We just need experience. This has been a tough, long stretch of very few games and I think that has taken a toll. The more experience we get, we're going to get better."

The Panthers could not overcome their turnovers, despite shooting 47.1 percent from the field and holding a 39-27 rebounding advantage. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, turned the ball over 22 times and missed 10 of their 20 free throw attempts in the game. They also shot 45 percent from the field and hit on nine of their 21 three-point attempts.

"It's early in our season and we need to take these games as chances to go. So, when we are in those situations again, we'll make better decisions," Botham said. "To me, a lot of it was fundamentals. It wasn't necessarily what (Miami) was doing, but what we were doing. It's something we can fix and it's something we talked about."

Cunningham scored 17 points to lead Miami and was joined in double-digits by Albrey Grimsley with 13.

Both teams held six-point leads in the first half, but each time one team jumped ahead, the other came back. The opening period featured seven ties and seven lead changes. It was much of the same after halftime, with both teams taking seven-point leads.

Miami then scored the first five points of overtime to take the lead for good.

The Panthers return to action Saturday in the first of three-straight road games. UWM heads to New Britain, Conn., to take on Central Connecticut State. Tip off is scheduled for 11 a.m. central time.