Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Jan. 12, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team overcame an early 13-point deficit and ended the game on a 17-5 run to defeat Cleveland State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (8-7, 3-1 Horizon) have now won three in a row and five times in their last six game. The Vikings (8-7, 2-2 Horizon) dropped their second-straight game after a 2-0 start in league play.

"They came out looking to rebound after a loss at Green Bay and had a lot of energy and fire," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "We just persevered and had a solid second half. I didn't think we played poorly in the first half, I just think we missed so many easy ones. We weren't fundamental around the basket. We were playing harried, with not a lot of poise."

Junior Traci Edwards scored a game-high 19 points for UWM to go with six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Freshman Maurika Hickman was the only other Milwaukee player in double-figures, scoring all 11 of her points in the second half. Three more Panthers tallied at least eight points apiece.

"I though (Maurika) was a great spark for us," Botham said. "Early, she was trying to force things, not getting us to our stuff. I communicated that to her and I thought she responded well and gave us a great spark off the bench. She gave us some great energy. I thought she was a real difference-maker."

Wisconsin natives Brittany Korth (Clinton) and Domanique Butler (Milwaukee) each tallied 13 points for Cleveland State.

Milwaukee trailed for the first 29:31, by as many as 13, before a Hickman three-pointer tied the score for the first time at 40-40. After a Butler jumper, Hickman hit another three to give UWM its first lead of the game at 43-42.

The Panthers trailed for the final time at 47-46 with 7:26 to play, but then score the next 13 points of the game to seal the victory. Their lead hit 13 after Hickman sunk four-straight free throws inside the final 30 seconds of the game.

UWM shot just 36.7 percent from the field, including 26.3 percent from three-point range, but turned the ball over just 14 times. In the second half, the Panthers outscored Cleveland 41-22 by hitting 44.8 percent from the field and turning the ball over just three times.

On the defensive end, Milwaukee forced 24 turnovers and finished with 11 steals. The team clamped when faced with a 13-point deficit in the first half and with a chance to pull away late in the game. The Panthers forced seven turnovers and allowed CSU to shoot just 1-for-6 over the final seven-plus minutes of regulation.

"One of the keys of the game for us was defense creating offense," Botham said. "Early in the season our transition game wasn't there for us. Defensively, we were doing what we needed to do to create it, so we've talked about trying to turn it up defensively and make plays on the defensive side of the ball. The game plan was to pressure the ball hard and they opened us up. I didn't think we were really dictating in the first half, we obviously changed that."

For the game, Cleveland State finished 41.2 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from three-point range and an efficient, if minor, 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

The Vikings came out of the gates on fire, hitting their first five shots and 8-of-10 to build an 18-5 lead less than eight minutes into the game. The score had been 7-5 before an 11-0 CSU run. Milwaukee responded with a 10-0 run of its own to pull within three at 18-15.

UWM held the visitors without a point for 7:21 in pulling back within three. The Vikings missed nine-straight shots in that time and turned the ball over five times.

Cleveland State would push its first-half advantage as high again as eight, heading into halftime ahead, 30-22.

The Panthers return to action on the road in Indiana next weekend. Milwaukee plays at Valparaiso for the first time in Horizon League play Thursday, before taking on Butler in Indianapolis Saturday.