Box Score |  Notes

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team nearly overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to three points late in the second half before fading down the stretch in a 74-63 loss at Green Bay Saturday evening at the Kress Center.

The Panthers (9-14, 4-8 Horizon), unfortunately, have now lost four-straight league games for the second time this season. Meanwhile, the Phoenix (20-3, 9-3 Horizon) held on to remain within a game and a half of first place in the league standings.

"(Green Bay) is just such an intense, aggressive basketball team. We talked about in the first 10 minutes, sustaining the storm and we didn't, I thought that was the difference," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "Once we were able to settle in a little bit, we played much better. Our kids had great fight, determination and character to fight back to a three-point game. It was great."

Junior Lindsay Laur led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds despite battling foul trouble. Senior Jodie McClain was aggressive with the ball the entire game, drawing 10 fouls and finishing with 12 points and four assists. Junior Anne Breland hit three 3-pointers during a crucial 15-2 run and finished with nine points.

Celeste Hoewisch led Green Bay with a career-best 23 points to go with eight rebounds. Two more Phoenix players scored in double-figures with Julie Wojta tallying 13 and Adrian Ritchie 11.

Milwaukee trailed by as many as 20 in the first half at 35-15 and was behind 40-23 at halftime. The Panthers came out aggressive in the second half, making 11 of their first 12 shots of the frame to whittle the game to three at 54-51 with 8:56 to play.

Breland was the catalyst as UWM went on a 15-2 run. She hit a three to make it 52-37 and start the run. She later hit back-to-back threes and McClain hit a layup to make it a three-point game. Unfortunately, Green Bay went on a quick 8-1 to push its lead back up to 10 at 62-52. The home team then held on down the stretch and pulled away.

UWM shot 60 percent in the second half to finish at 44.6 percent for the game. The Panthers hit on just 5-for-17, though, from three-point range and 8-of-14 at the free throw line. They outrebounded the Phoenix, 36-31, but lost the turnover battle, 17-6.

Green Bay shot an even 50 percent in each half and was 5-for-12 on three-pointers after making its first four attempts. The Phoenix also struggled at the charity stripe, forcing 27 attempts, but making just 17.

The score was 10-8 in favor of GB on a Laur layup at the 13:52 mark in the first half. The Phoenix then rattled off 10-straight points to push its lead to double-digits for the first time at 20-10. Laur hit a floater to end the run, but after a McClain free throw, the home team went on a 15-4 lead to go ahead 35-15 and seemingly put the game away with 4:31 to go in the first half.

UWM would get no closer than 17 the rest of the first half and went into the break trailing 40-23.

Milwaukee returns home for two games, beginning Thursday when Loyola visits. The Panthers and Ramblers tip off at 5:30 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Arena in the first half of a UWM women's/men's doubleheader.