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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Dec. 15, 2009) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team missed its first 14 field goal attempts of the second half and was never able to recover in falling to Illinois State, 51-38, Tuesday evening at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (5-5) scored just 11 points in a second half in which they shot just 11.5 percent, while the Redbirds (4-3) were not too much better at 25 percent.

"I'm obviously disappointed to lose here at home," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "I thought this was a very good Illinois State team that we could have taken advantage of. It was just one of those games where we couldn't find the basket. We had some great looks, I thought we handled their pressure well and we got some great looks in transition that we just weren't able to knock down."

Junior Lindsay Laur led Milwaukee with 12 points and eight rebounds, while junior Ashley Imperiale added 10 points. Sophomore Danielle Jorgenson contributed six points of the bench and senior Jodie McClain had four points to go with nine rebounds and two steals.

Illinois State had two players in double-figures, as Ashleen Bracey tallied 18 points and Nicolle Lewis posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Maggie Krick, who came into the game averaging 20.5 points per game, was held to just eight points.

The Redbirds led 31-29 at halftime and capitalized on cold shooting by UWM to open the second half on a 12-2 run. Milwaukee started the half 0-for-14 and trailed 41-29 when senior Jodie McClain hit a layup with 9:06 to play in the game.

At the time of McClain's basket, ISU was going through a cold patch of its own, missing 16-straight field goal attempts, spanning 11:27 between made baskets. The Panthers were able to capitalize on the stretch to some degree, rattling off a 9-2 run to make it 43-38 on a pair of Laur free throws with 3:13 remaining. Unfortunately, Milwaukee would not score again.

The two teams combined to shoot 10-for-54 (18.5 percent) in the second half, while UWM's 11 points tied a school record for fewest in a half. The last time the team scored just 11 points in a half was Feb. 22, 1992, in the first half at UMKC.

Milwaukee finished the game shooting 26.8 percent from the field, including just 3-of-15 from three-point range. The Panthers did turn the ball over just 14 times, tying a season low, but conceded a 46-37 rebounding advantage.

Illinois State shot 31.7 percent on the night, despite using its size advantage for a 24-8 edge on points in the paint, 13 offensive rebounds and eight blocked shots. The Redbirds also made just 2-of-16 three-point tries.

The Panther offense came out aggressive in the first half and led for the majority of the half. Laur hit her first three shots and Imperiale scored six-straight points in the game as UWM jumped ahead 16-9 at the 11:18 mark. But, Lewis hit a lay-up to kick-start a 14-2 ISU run to take a 23-18 lead.

Milwaukee did not relent, retaking the lead at 25-23 with seven-straight points, before the Redbirds ended the half on a 6-2 run for the halftime lead at 31-29.

UWM has two weeks off before closing out 2009 and its non-league schedule Dec. 29 at home against crosstown rival Marquette. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.