Box Score

GREEN BAY, Wis. (March 7, 2009) - Green Bay's Erin Templin had 20 points and 11 rebounds and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team turned the ball over 25 times as it fell to the Phoenix, 66-56, in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center.

With the loss, the Panthers (12-17, 7-11 Horizon) clinched the No. 7 seed in next week's Speedway Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship and will host No. 10 Youngstown State Monday at the Klotsche Center.

"What's done is done, the past is behind us," Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham said. "We've made good strides, made improvements as a program. Now, everybody's record is 0-0. We are a good team, who has the potential to be a great team. I've seen us play some really quality basketball, but we have been inconsistent and have not played to our full potential. I think we can do it in the tournament."

The Phoenix (26-3, 18-0 Horizon) finished its regular season perfect at 18-0 and will be the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.

Junior Jodie McClain had a team-high 12 points for Milwaukee, knocking down all three of her three-point attempts. Senior Traci Edwards had 11 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Lindsay Laur added nine points and 11 rebounds.

"I thought our effort was good. We played hard, but just missed some shots," Botham said. "Defensively, we did some good things against them. Story of our game, too many turnovers, too many missed opportunities and just too many missed shots. We didn't make plays."

Templin's 20 points came courtesy of four of Green Bay's 11 three-pointers in the game. Rachel Porath hit two as the only other GB player in double-figures.

Turnovers were a problem the whole game for the Panthers, stifling their comeback attempts. The final blow came after UWM trailed just 48-39 with 14:49 to play. Milwaukee would not score again until 7:32 to play.

The Phoenix ambled to a game-high 19-point lead at 58-39. In that span, the Panthers missed seven-straight shots and turned the ball over seven times until McClain hit a lay-up to make it 58-41.

"It reminded me of the Valparaiso game," Botham said. "We came out a little flat, they were aggressive, turned it over. Mentally, we lost our poise a little bit. But, there was a stretch where we weren't scoring, but neither were they. We had looks, but weren't able to finish it."

Milwaukee did fight back into single digits with a 12-2 run to make it just a 60-51 game on senior Katie Fournier's sky hook in the paint with 3:52 to play. The Panthers could not get any closer than eight down the stretch.

Despite the 25 turnovers, the UWM offense shot an effective 43.5 percent from the field, 50 percent on just eight 3-point attempts and 70.6 percent from the free throw line. Milwaukee also forged a 38-29 advantage on the boards.

"We beat ourselves," Botham said. "They were very aggressive and we didn't handle their pressure well. Their pressure forced us to make quick decisions and poor decisions. That has been our Achilles' heel all season. You hope to see improvements, but against a team like this, they will make you pay for almost every mistake you make."

Green Bay shot 6-of-10 from three-point range in the first half and finished 11-of-25 for the game. The Phoenix attacked inside early, but found more trouble going inside as the game went on and finished shooting 38.2 percent from the field.

GB also turned the ball over just 12 times on the day, while taking advantage of the Panthers' miscues to the tune of 27 points off turnovers.