Box Score |  Notes

GREEN BAY, Wis. (March 1, 2008) - Junior Traci Edwards scored 27 points and had nine rebounds, but it was not enough as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team dropped a 66-65 decision to Green Bay Saturday afternoon at the Kress Events Center.

The Panthers (14-13, 9-7 Horizon) fought back from a 13-point first-half deficit to take a nine-point lead in the second half. The Phoenix (22-4, 15-1 Horizon) scored the final six points of the game on back-to-back threes from Rachel Porath with a minute remaining to squeeze out the win.

"Green Bay is the top team in the league and they made the plays down the stretch and we didn't," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "The last two minutes, I said to our players, I thought we played a 36-minute game. They had a good stretch in the first half where I think we let things get away from us, then we refocused. The last two minutes of the game they made plays and we didn't."

Freshmen Lindsay Laur and Maurika Hickman also reached double-figures in scoring, with Laur scoring 14 and Hickman 11.

Porath paced Green Bay with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, while Kayla Groh added 11 and Lavesa Glover 10.

Porath pulled the Phoenix within two at 65-63 with 1:11 to play in the game. Then, after a five-second call against UWM on the ensuing inbounds pass, she hit another five seconds later to cap the scoring.

Both teams turned the ball over in the final 38 seconds, with Milwaukee having time for a game-winning play. Freshman Jineen Williams pulled up at the free throw line, but saw her jumper carom off the front of the basket and out of bounds with two seconds remaining.

"I'm proud of our players' efforts," Botham said. "We came here and really put ourselves in a position to win it. They had a shot at the end to win it. It was a great step for our program, but it came down to them hitting the big shots and us missing the shots and turning it over."

Milwaukee jumped on Green Bay to start the second half, quickly overcoming a three-point GB lead at the break to take a 37-36 lead less than three minutes in the frame. In all, UWM used an 18-6 run to start the second half for a game-high nine-point lead on several occasions.

Green Bay then whittled that lead down over the final 7:36, finally overtaking the lead with Porath's pair of threes.

UWM's offense was running on all cylinders early in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the field and turning over the ball just twice over the first 12 minutes of the frame. From that point on, the Panthers were just 1-of-7 from the field and turned the ball over six times.

For the game, Milwaukee shot 42.1 percent, making seven 3's on 21 attempts, and converting 10-of-12 from the free throw line. The team also had 14 assists compared to 14 turnovers and grabbed a slight 35-34 rebounding advantage.

GB was held to 40.7 percent for the game after opening the second half making just two of its first 11. The Phoenix was also 8-of-22 from three point range and its free throw shooting also steadied after a 3-for-6 showing in the first half. The home team finished 14-for-18 in the game.

"There was a stretch where they were very cold (shooting)," Botham said. "Once they get going, they have momentum on their side and they shoot with a lot more confidence. And obviously they got hot at the end when they needed to."

The Panthers came out of the gate aggressively, scoring the first five points of the game, before Green Bay appeared to take control of the game. The Phoenix rattled off a 21-5 run to jump out to an 11-point lead at 21-10 with 12:34 to go in the opening half.

After GB built its lead as high as 13, Milwaukee fought back into the game. Facing a 30-18 deficit, the Panthers went on a 13-0 run to take a one-point lead 1:21 before halftime. Laur scored six-straight points during the run and Edwards five, while the UWM defense held the Phoenix without a field goal for 6:24.

Green Bay did score the final four points of the half to take a three-point lead into the break.

Milwaukee returns home to close out the regular season with a pair of games at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers host Detroit Thursday before welcoming Wright State Saturday.