Nov. 9, 2008

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Traci Edwards scored 21 points and Turquoise McCain added 16 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee held off a determined University of Dubuque squad to claim an 82-70 exhibition win Sunday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers were pushed hard by the NCAA Division III Spartans, who were within three points with just over five minutes to play after trailing by 16 points with 10 minutes remaining.

Jody Crumble added 12 points for Milwaukee, which shot a solid 47 percent from the floor but had to overcome 29 turnovers in claiming the win.

Krystal Parr had 14 points and Briana Nelson 12 for Dubuque, which shot just 34 percent from the field and was outrebounded, 58-35.

"Dubuque was a very up-tempo, pressing sort of team and I felt like we played into their hands," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "We did not control the tempo very well, which gave them an opportunity to get back into it. Obviously, we wish we could have played sharper basketball, with the 29 turnovers, but pleased that we were able to grind out a win. Today shows us what we will need to do better."

The Panthers looked like they might make it a runaway early, using a 15-0 run to build a 22-7 advantage in the first eight minutes of the game. The Spartans steadily pulled back into the contest, though, cutting the lead to 30-24 on a layin by Tena Stark with just under six minutes left. The Panthers did rebuild their lead to 10 at 40-30 on a layin by McCain with four minutes to play and eventually carried a 12-point lead into the locker room.

Milwaukee then extended its lead to 63-47 on an Amanda Viehauser layin with just over 10 minutes to play, only to see the Spartans launched their comeback by scoring the next 11 points.

Dubuque eventually pulled within 64-61 on a three-pointer by Parr with 6:10 remaining and was still trailing only 66-63 a minute later. But, the Spartans missed a pair of free-throw chances with 4:39 remaining that could have made the game even closer, and Milwaukee took advantage. Edwards scored the next eight points - six coming on back-to-back three-pointers - to allow the Panthers to regain control.

"In these exhibition games, we use a bigger rotation and it was great to get a lot of people that experience," Botham said. "Traci came up with the big three-pointers down the stretch, but we had good, balanced scoring - and that is what we are going to need."

The Panthers will now get ready for the start of the regular season, which begins Saturday at the Wolfpack Invitational. Milwaukee will open tournament play at noon EST/11 a.m. CST against the hosts from North Carolina State.