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Women's Basketball

Hickman's Buzzer-Beater Sends UWM Past Central Michigan

Box Score

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Dec. 20, 2008) - Sophomore Maurika Hickman hit a lay-up as time expired to send the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team past Central Michigan, 78-77, Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (4-5) ended a three-game losing streak with five players scoring in double-figures and a season-high 13 three-pointers. The Chippewas (6-4), meanwhile, dropped their second-straight contest to a Horizon League team.

Milwaukee led by 12 in the first half and 10 points in the second half, but CMU fought back to tie the game at 72-72 with 2:14 to play and take a 75-72 lead in the final two minutes. Senior Traci Edwards hit a pair of free throws and then a lay-up to make it 76-75 at the 40-second mark. Britni Houghton then hit a leaner in the paint for a 77-76 lead with nine seconds to go, prompting a Panther timeout.

CMU countered with another timeout, setting up the winning play. UWM worked the ball to the near side and Hickman, who drove with two second remaining and banked in her shot as the buzzer sounded.

"The idea was to spread it and get Traci on the block and take what they give us and that's what we did," Botham said of the final play. "Turq had a great look to find Maurika, which was huge. She didn't force it into Traci and Rika had a great look. That's what Traci is going to do, draw a lot of attention, which she did. They probably figured it was going to get into her hands. Our players didn't force it and we made a great play."

Edwards led a balanced scoring effort for Milwaukee with her second-straight double-double, tallying 18 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Lindsay Laur hit a career-best five 3-pointers to finish with 15, while senior Turquoise McCain chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds.

Junior Jodie McClain hit four 3's for 12 points and sophomore Jineen Williams contributed 11 points and seven assists.

Britni Haughton scored a game-high 25 points for Central Michigan, which had four players of its own in double-figures. Shonda Long scored a career-high 18, Kaihla Szunko had 11 and Brandie Baker finished with 10.

The Panthers came out of the gates firing, hitting 9-of-13 three-point attempts in the first half and finishing with 13 on 25 attempts for the game (52 percent). They went cold in the second half, but still Milwaukee still finished at 47.3 percent and gained a +11 rebounding margin (46-35) to overcome 23 turnovers.

"That was what they were giving us," Botham said. "They were really focusing in on Traci, triple-teaming her and forcing us to beat them with the three. It was great to see us shoot that well from the perimeter. We have a perimeter game."

Central Michigan, which entered the game as the eighth-highest scoring team in the country, shot 40.5 percent from the field but hit just 9-of-28 from three-point range (32.1 percent). Forty of its points came in the paint and the Chippewas finished with 14 steals.

UWM took advantage from outside big time in the first half after squandering a 30-18 lead with 7:54 remaining in the first half. After a 12-1 CMU run made it 31-30 at the 3:21 mark, the Panthers hit their final six field goals of the frame to score 17 more points before half and take a 48-43 lead into the break.

Laur hit three's on back-to-back possessions, then McClain hit one and Williams added Milwaukee's fourth-straight the next time down the floor. McCain then notched an old-fashioned three-point play to keep the ball rolling.

The Panthers take little time off before returning to the floor, hosting Evansville on Monday night. After UWM and UE tip off at 7 p.m., Milwaukee will have nine days off before playing at cross-town rival Marquette on New Year's Eve.

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