Box Score |  Notes

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Feb. 15, 2007) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team shot just 30 percent, but still erased a 15-point second-half deficit before falling to Cleveland State, 57-54, Thursday night in Cleveland.

UWM (11-13, 7-4 Horizon) trailed by 10 at halftime and 15 with just over 16 minutes remaining, but managed to fight back and tie the Vikings (7-18, 4-8 Horizon) twice inside the final three minutes. CSU proved too much, converting from the free throw line in the waning minutes to hold off the Panther charge.

After scoring a school-record 42 points against single coverage in the teams' first meeting in Milwaukee, sophomore Traci Edwards faced a double team for most of the game and finished with a team-high 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore Jody Crumble added nine points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals for the Panthers before fouling out in the games final minute.

"I give Cleveland a lot of credit. They guarded Traci (Edwards) well after she scored 42 points against them last time," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "They made it extremely difficult to get the ball inside. With our shots not falling from the outside, it was key for us to get back to our inside game and they made it extremely difficult for us.

"We need to come out on the road and not assume we are going to win because or where we are in the conference. We need to come out and play our game every day, need consistency and need to focus on our game plan each game."

Chenara Wilson scored a game-high 18 points to lead the home team, while Angel Roque added 10.

Edwards tied the game for the final time at 50-50 when she converted a pair of free throws with 1:34 to play. Dominique Butler hit a jumper and, after Crumble was called for an offensive foul, Nicole Thomas hit a free throw to provide a three-point deficit.

Milwaukee cut the lead to one on two more occasions, but fell down three with 12 seconds to play. UWM then had the ball with a chance to tie, but an errant pass ricocheted out of bounds giving the Vikings the ball with 0.5 seconds to go.

The Panthers hit just 30 percent from the field for the game, including 5-of-24 on three-pointers (20.8%), remaining close by getting to the free throw line 29 times, converting 19. They also committed 24 turnovers, but had a season-high 10 steals in forcing 27 miscues by Cleveland. The Vikings, meanwhile, hit 36.4 percent from the field and 60.9 percent from the free throw line on 23 attempts.

CSU also won the battle on the boards, 43-36, including 19 offensive boards to 15 by the Panthers.

"We need to win the hustle points," Botham said. "Cleveland was diving for loose balls and wanted it more than us. We have a target on our back every game. Every team we play wants to beat us and we need to play like we are the defending Horizon League champions."

Edwards got the second half scoring with a lay up to make it an eight-point game before Cleveland pushed its lead to 15 on a pair of jumpers by Wilson and an Angel Roque three-pointer.

The Panthers responded with a 16-3 run to pull within two at 39-37 on a Crumble lay up with 8:23 to go. Cleveland then responded with seven-straight points to build its lead back up to nine at 46-37 with 5:31 to play.

Botham called a timeout. Sophomore Emily Markert then hit a three-pointer to start an 11-2 run. Thomas hit a lay up for Cleveland before senior Megan Rogers converted a pair of free throws and Markert scored four-straight points, including another three. Crumble knotted the game at 48-48 with 2:40 on a lay up.

"When we did focus, followed the game plan, that is when we started to come back," Botham said. "We took a time out and went over the game plan. Jody Crumble became more aggressive, like we needed her to be. Emily hit some big shots. But, we need to play like that for 40 minutes, not just four."

Nothing seemed to click in the first half offensively for the Panthers, as they shot just 20 percent and turned the ball over 13 times in the opening half to stake the home team to a 29-19 lead at halftime.

Milwaukee jumped out to a 7-2 lead on a three-pointer by junior Meredith Onson and still led 15-11 just over six minutes into the game before the offense went south. Cleveland scored the game's next 10 points as part of an 18-4 run to end the half.

Edwards hit her first field goal of the game with 5:42 to play in the half, giving UWM its first points in over eight minutes, and Crumble turned an Aubrey Hampton steal into a fast break lay up on the other end at the 39 second mark to cap the scoring in the half.

CSU hit 40 percent of its attempts from the field in the opening half and countered 16 turnovers with a 27-18 rebounding advantage. It also had 11 assists on 12 made baskets in the frame.

The Panthers continue their road trip through Northeast Ohio at Youngstown State Saturday. UWM and YSU tip off at 1 p.m. central time at the Beeghley Center.