Box Score |  Notes

CHICAGO, Ill. (Nov. 9, 2007) - Junior Traci Edwards scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team to an 88-76 victory over Chicago State Friday night.

The Panthers led by 21 with just over two minutes to play before emptying the bench to open the 2007-08 season with a win.

"It was a good team victory for us," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "They played a 3-2, so Traci was 1-on-1 in the post all night. She never really faced double-teams the whole night and killed them on the boards. Aubri Rote came out on fire and shot extremely well. We also got good production from Jineen Williams off the bench."

Edwards' 30 points led the way, with senior Aubri Rote adding 20 on 6-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Freshman Jineen Williams was also in double-figures with 13 points to go with two steals.

Milwaukee never trailed by more than two on the night and broke open the game in the first half. The Panthers used a 15-2 run midway through the period to turn a 25-25 tie into a 40-27 lead and headed into halftime with a 48-37 lead.

In the second half, the Cougars cut UWM's lead to nine in the early minutes before Milwaukee ran away with the game. The Panthers extended a 10-point lead at 54-44 to a game-high 23-point margin on a 16-3 run, making it 70-47. The lead was 21 as late at 2:09 when freshman Maurika Hickman hit a lay-up to make it 88-67.

Botham then emptied her bench as Chicago State cut the deficit to 12 points with a game-ending 9-0 run.

The Panthers continue to adapt to an up-tempo style of, turning the ball over 29 times while dishing out 23 assists. They did force 25 turnovers of their own, picking up 12 steals in the game.

"We are still working out the kinks, working with a lot of combinations of players," Botham said. "Our goal is to use fresh bodies to wear our opponents out. We got a lot of players into the game, but at times we got sloppy and turned the ball over. I'm not happy with the 29 turnovers. This team is still learning how to play fast."

Chicago State outshot Milwaukee 53.3% to 42.3%, but the Panthers balanced that out with a commanding 48-29 advantage in rebounding. Milwaukee pulled down 28 rebounds on the offensive end, including 11 of Edwards' game-high 14 boards.

"They shot over 50 percent on us, but our rebounding was the biggest difference tonight," Botham said. "Getting 28 offensive rebounds gave us so many more opportunities on offense and we were able to take advantage."

Freshman Lindsay Laur added eight rebounds, while three other Panthers tallied at least four. Junior Jody Crumble ran the offense, finishing with a game-high six assists

UWM returns to action in the second part of its Illinois road swing, playing at the University of Illinois Sunday. The Panthers and Illini tip off at 5 p.m. at Assembly Hall.