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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Feb. 16, 2008) - Junior Traci Edwards scored 24 points and the Panthers shot 51.1 percent for the game as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team defeated Valparaiso 76-70 Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

"It was a good win today. We went out there and took care of business and it is always good to win at home," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "We really put together two halves of basketball and sustained great runs in both halves."

Milwaukee's (13-11, 8-5 Horizon) hot shooting canceled out 22 turnovers as Botham collected her 126th career league coaching win, breaking the league mark of 125 she held with Green Bay's Kevin Borseth.

"I haven't really paid attention to it," Botham said of breaking the league record for league wins. "It shows how long I've been here. I've been her for 12 years, so I was bound to break it. I'm the longest-tenured coach in the league."

Edwards added 10 rebounds for her third-straight double-double and hit a career-high three 3-pointers to pace the Panther attack. Senior Aubri Rote was the only other player in double-figures for Milwaukee with 12, while junior Jody Crumble and freshman Lindsay Laur added nine points apiece to lead four more players with at least seven.

"(Balance) is really important for us," Botham said. "We talk about that in our game goals and we know we can't win with just two players scoring. On our championship teams, we have had three or four players in double-figures every game."

"It's nice to see everybody getting into it, eight or nine near double-figures," Edwards added. "They were catching and shooting and knocking down their shots. It was nice to see."

Five Crusaders (11-13, 6-7 Horizon) reached double-figures, led by 18 from Chippewa Falls, Wis., native Sarah Ott. Launa Hochstetler chipped in 12 and three players finished with 10.

As a team, the Panthers shot 51.1 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three point range. They attempted just 14 threes, their lowest total in five games, and hit six, led by Edwards' 3-for-4 effort from beyond the arc.

"They playing up on me," Edwards said of her three-point shooting in the game. "I usually don't shoot that much. I was just feeling it in the first half."

Milwaukee got to the free throw line 30 times, converting 24 for an 80 percent clip and turned eight offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Overall, Milwaukee outrebounded Valpo, 40-26.

Valparaiso was limited to 39.3 percent shooting, but still knocked down 10 three-pointers on 23 attempts (43.5 percent). Ott truly paced the offense, finishing a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including 4-for-4 on three-pointer, while playing in front of her home-state crowd.

Despite a slow start that saw Milwaukee fighting from behind for the first 13 minutes of the game, the Panthers took their first lead at 25-23 on a Laur lay-up with 6:15 to play in the first half and never looked back. UWM found its offensive stroke to forge a six-point lead on a pair of free throws by freshman Jineen Williams with 2:31 to go in the first half and take a 36-32 lead into halftime.

The Panthers came out in the second half firing and built a 16-point lead by the midway point of the second half. Valparaiso would get no closer than nine until the final minute when it tallied the final six points of regulation to provide for the final score.

With the win and losses by Cleveland State and Wright State earlier in the day, UWM climbed into a second-place tie in the league standings with CSU at 8-5. WSU is one half game back at 7-5.

Milwaukee returns to action on the road at Loyola Thursday and continues a road trip through Chicago Saturday at UIC. Thursday's game features a 7 p.m. tip-off.