Box Score |  Notes

DAYTON, Ohio (Jan. 3, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team forced 28 turnovers but could not overcome 34.6 percent shooting from the field in losing to Wright State, 57-56, Thursday evening at the Nutter Center.

The Panthers (5-7, 0-1 Horizon) had the ball with under five seconds remaining, but could not get a shot off. The Raiders (4-8, 1-0 Horizon), meanwhile, posted their second-straight one-point win.

"Forcing a team into 28 turnovers is pretty dang good. I felt like down the stretch we didn't execute the game plan like we talked about. I think when the pressure's on, our kids aren't able to execute on either end of the floor," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "When you're missing shots, things get tighter, you're worrying more and you begin playing the game not to lose, rather than playing to win. It's that whole mentality. We've been in a lot of close games and, unfortunately, we've lost more than we've won. Our confidence is shaken."

Junior Traci Edwards led three players in double-figures for Milwaukee with 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Jodie McClain scored a career-high 14 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line, and freshman Jineen Williams chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.

LaShawna Thomas had a game-high 18 points to lead Wright State, while Sheylani Peddy added 12. Three other WSU starters tallied nine points apiece to account for all of the team's points.

Peddy hit what proved to be the winning three-pointer with 1:15 to play in regulation, making it 57-52. Edwards then followed with a lay-up and junior Turquoise McCain had a steal and fast-break lay-up to make it a one-point game (57-56) with 37 seconds to play.

WSU took a timeout and was forced into a shot clock violation while running down the clock. After both teams took a timeout, the Panthers inbounded with 4.7 seconds to play, but saw an errant pass fly into their own bench with 0.2 seconds remaining.

"We just have to learn how to put 40 minutes together, that's the key," Botham said. "We are playing a good solid first half, or second half, and we've seen that in many of the games we've lost. We are playing 40 minutes of solid basketball."

UWM led for much of the game and held the Raiders at bay each time it closed the gap. Williams hit a step-back three to make it a 41-31 game in the Panthers' favor, but Wright State rattled off 11-straight points for a 42-41 lead.

Williams then kick-started a 7-0 run when she banked in a jumper at the 8:04 mark of the half. When the smoke settled, UWM was up 48-42. A 15-4 Raider run then gave the home team its decisive lead heading into the final minutes.

"In close games, we're just not executing. We're playing tight and their pressure really stymied us," Botham said. "We were having a tough time getting the ball entered on the wing, which really took us out of a lot of the sets we run. We were just struggling getting ball entries into the wing with their pressure."

The Panthers struggled from the field for the entire game, hitting 34.6 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from three-point range. They did get to the free throw line 22 times, making 16. The Raiders were 59.3 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 46.9 percent for the game. Wright State also used its speedy guard play to forge a 38-30 advantage on the boards.

"We had great looks," Botham said. "You look at our perimeter game and we didn't knock down shots. It's just like Drake all over again, where we have great looks from the perimeter that we didn't knock down."

Milwaukee closed the first half on a 9-4 run for a 27-20 lead at the break. Wright State held the early lead, but found itself fighting to within two at 18-16 with 3:15 to play in the period. Edwards then converted an old fashioned three-point play and the Panthers converted six-straight free throws over the final 1:38 to build a seven-point edge at halftime.

Both teams struggled at times in the first half as UWM shot just 32 percent, including 1-of-8 from three-point range. The Panthers did get to the line 13 times, converting 10. Wright State committed 16 turnovers in the opening frame and shot just 31.8 percent from the field.

UWM returns to action Saturday, continuing its league-opening road trip in Michigan. The Panthers take on Detroit at 1 p.m. central time at Calihan Hall.