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SEATTLE, Wash. (Nov. 28, 2009) - Junior Jenilee Klomstad tied a career high with 18 points and junior Lindsay Laur added a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team to a 72-54 win over South Alabama Saturday evening at the Connolly Center.

The Panthers (4-1) are off to their best start as a Division I program in picking up the win in their first game at the SeattleU Thanksgiving Tournament. The Jaguars (2-3) dropped both of its games after a 46-40 loss to William & Mary Friday.

"It was a great victory over one of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "I thought we started both halves with a great aggressiveness, got scoring from a lot of different people and (moved the ball well). It's a nice victory to have."

Klomstad and Laur were joined in double-figures by senior Jodie McClain and her 11 points. Junior Ashley Imperiale and sophomore Amanda Viehauser added nine points apiece. Freshman Sammy Theut scored a career-high seven points to go with six rebounds.

Christian Shelter led USA with 18 points, including 11 in the first half, while Siedah Banks tallied 10 points and Shakira Nettles tallied nine.

UWM held a one-point advantage at halftime, but opened the second half on a 26-7 run to push its lead up to 20 points at 59-39. From that point on, the Panthers rolled with their lead reaching 23 at 69-46 with 1:37 to play.

The Panthers dominated the paint the entire game, posting advantages of 36-6 on points in the paint and a sizable edge in rebounds, 47-31. The Panthers finished the game shooting 51.8 percent, their second-straight game over 50 percent, and also committed a season-low 14 turnovers. UWM attempted just 11 three's in the game, making three, and went 11-for-16 from the free throw line.

South Alabama was limited to just 30.9 percent for the game as it attempted 33 three-pointers. The Jaguars made 11 to keep things close at times, but could not get into the rhythm. Just four of their made three's came after halftime. They also got to the free throw line just twice in the game, making one.

While Milwaukee finished the game strong, it also started the contest on fire. The Panthers made their first six shots to jump out to a 12-2 lead early. Another 7-0 run pushed their lead to a half-high 11 at 24-13 with just over eight minutes remaining. Five different players scored in the game-opening run.

Every player that dressed for the game played, while nine of the 12 players cracked the scoring column.

Milwaukee closes out the weekend with host Seattle University Sunday. That game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. central time tip off.