Box Score |  Notes

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (Feb. 9, 2008) - Junior Traci Edwards scored 35 points and pulled down 19 rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team to a thrilling, 94-87 win over Youngstown State in two overtimes Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.

The Panthers (12-10, 7-4 Horizon) scored the first 10 points of the second overtime to run away with a hard fought win. The Penguins (10-12, 5-6 Horizon), meanwhile, lost its third-straight.

"We showed a lot of perseverance, determination and the will to win," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "It was important for our team to win this game and bounce back from a disappointing game at Cleveland Thursday. We're still growing. The work in practice Friday helped us and made us better. A lot of players were making plays for us--it was a team win."

With the game undecided through 45 minutes of basketball, the two teams headed to a second overtime tied at 81-81. Laur opened the period with a three-pointer and the Panthers built its largest lead of the game with the first 10 points of the frame led by as many as 11 at 94-83 with less than a minute remaining.

Edwards' night came on the heels of her first career back-to-back single-digit scoring streak of her career. She added a career-high five steals, three assists and one block in the game. Freshman Lindsay Laur added 16 points to pace three more Panthers in double-digits. Freshman Maurika Hickman chipped in 14 points and senior Aubri Rote tallied 13.

"It's a group thing," Botham said. "Our players have not done a good job of finding Traci. It's not all Traci's felt. We need to find her in the post. We watched it and worked on it and it showed today. We are not going to win with her in single-digits, she is too good of a player."

Three players eclipsed 20 points for Youngstown State, led by a 24-point, 10-rebound effort from Tiara Scott. Heather Karner and Ashley Pendleton scored 20 points apiece and Velissa Vaughn finished with 10.

Milwaukee almost lost the game at the free throw line, where it was just 24-of-41 on the day. The Panthers did pull down a season-high 51 rebounds, compared to 46 by YSU, and had 24 assists compared to 20 turnovers.

UWM shot 41.1 percent on the day, including 54.5 percent in overtime, and made 10 three-pointers on 28 attempts. It held the Penguins to 40.5 percent shooting and just 25 percent from three-point range.

Youngstown State fared better at the charity stripe, hitting on 23 of its 32 attempts.

Both regulation and the first overtime featured dramatic finishes, with each team forcing extra time. Pendleton's lay-up with 3.2 seconds remaining in the second half more or less negated a Rote three at the 13.2-second mark.

In overtime, Edwards hit a lay-up with 7.2 seconds remaining to knot the game at 81-81 and force Milwaukee's first double-overtime game since Nov. 25, 2005, at Southeast Missouri State. UWM won that game, 90-87, and is now 3-0 in its Division I history in multiple overtime games.

"The key tonight was spreading out the floor and executing our offense," Botham said. "Traci draws two or three people and that opened Aubri. We were executing our offense, our inside-outside game. On Traci's layup, we got the ball to her. That's the bread and butter, getting the ball to `the Milk Truck.'"

Milwaukee returns home to the Klotsche Center next week, hosting Butler Thursday and Valparaiso Saturday.