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Post-Game Wrap-Up

EAST LANSING, Mich. (Dec. 8, 2010) - Lindsay Laur had 20 point and nine rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team as it fell to No. 15/20 Michigan State, 55-48, Wednesday evening at the Breslin Center.

The Panthers (3-5) made a few furious comebacks, trailing by as many as 14, to pull within 42-40 on a Laur layup with 3:09 to play. The Spartans (8-1), who are ranked 15th in the AP National Poll, responded with a 9-0 run to get some breathing room before holding on down the stretch.

"We competed. Michigan State is a great basketball team and I'm proud of our players' efforts, showing their resiliency, making a nice comeback and putting themselves in position to win," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "I'm disappointed that we lost. We beat ourselves in some ways and just weren't able to capitalize on some of the nice defensive stops we had. We're young and we're going to get better."

Each time Milwaukee fought within a possession, MSU was able to pull away. In the first half, Angela Rodriguez made it 20-17 with three-straight points, but the Spartans closed the frame on a 7-0 run to make it 27-17 at halftime. Coming out of the break, UWM scored the first six points, but a 12-2 run give the home team its largest lead at 49-35.

The Panthers then went on a 15-3 run to get the score to 42-40. After nine-straight MSU points, Rodriguez hit a three-pointer and Milwaukee started fouling. Rodriguez later hit a long three-pointer in front of the Panther bench, then Laur stole the impending inbounds pass and laid it in with 22 seconds to go, making it 53-48, but UWM could not get any closer.

In addition to Laur's fourth 20-point outing in five games, Rodriguez scored with 13 points. Sami Tucker had four points, seven rebounds and four steals in her hometown return, playing in front of friends and family.

Michigan State was led by a pair of players with 11 points--Porsche Poole and Brittney Thomas. Lykendra Johnson added seven points and 16 rebounds. Kalisha Keane, who entered the game leading the team in scoring at 19.9 points per game, was held to nine points.

Milwaukee's defensive effort looked like it may be enough for an upset, but it could not overcome MSU's runs. The Panthers did limit the home team to 38.5 percent shooting and just 4-of-19 from three-point range. The Spartans scored 17 points under their season average entering the game and were ranked in the top 20 in the country in three's made per game (8.1) and three-point percentage (.394).

UWM shot 36 percent for the game, making 5-of-15 three-point attempts, but had 22 turnovers and just six assists. The Milwaukee forced State into 19 turnovers, coming away with 12 steals. MSU did control the boards much of the night, holding a 40-31 rebounding advantage, including 16-8 on the offensive glass.

The Panthers turned the ball over six times and missed four shots before getting on the board, allowing the Spartans to jump out to a 9-0 lead. Laur then scored the team's first seven points in a row to make it 9-7. It was then a back-and-forth period until MSU pulled away at the end of the half.

Milwaukee returns to action, on the road against another Big Ten team. The Panthers play at Wisconsin Sunday, tipping off with the Badgers at 1 p.m. at the Kohl Center.