Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (March 4, 2010) - Cleveland State posted a 30-9 run over the end of the first half and the start of the second to run past the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team, 74-56, Thursday evening at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (10-18, 5-12 Horizon) trailed by as many as 26, but fought back to within 14 late before dropping their fourth-straight game. Meanwhile, the Vikings (16-12, 11-6 Horizon) won their four-straight contest and clinched the fourth seed in next week's Horizon League Championship.

"It was a tough loss, obviously, but we played a very tough Cleveland State team," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "They broke it open in the second half and never looked back. We beat ourselves. We had five turnovers in the first six possessions and were just giving them the ball. That's where we have to learn to stop the bleeding. When it rains it pours."

Milwaukee led 13-12 on a pair of Lindsay Laur free throws with 12:11 to play. Less than 30 seconds later, CSU seized the lead and never looked back. The Vikings closed the first half on a 16-8 run to take a nine-point lead into intermission. Then, to start the second half, UWM was held without a field goal for over five minutes, as they opened the period on a 14-1 run.

Junior Lindsay Laur tallied a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to lead the Panthers. Junior Ashley Imperiale was the team's next-highest scorer with nine points.

Cleveland State had three scorers in double-digits, led by Shawnita Garland and Kailey Klein with 13 points apiece. Honesty King added 10 points of her own, all in the second half. Klein became the third player in Horizon League history to 2,000 career points during the first half.

The second-half run was truly the back-breaker, as the Panthers committed seven turnovers and missed three field goal attempts before Laur hit a three at the 14:21 mark of the second half. They did battle back late, using a 17-5 run to whittle a game-high 26-point deficit to 14 at 66-52 with 2:42 to play.

Laur scored seven points during the run and junior Anne Breland hit a pair of three-pointers to tighten up the game down the stretch.

The Panthers struggled to find a rhythm on offense all night, committing 22 turnovers and shooting just 34 percent. They attempted a season-high 29 three-pointers, converting eight. UWM did have success at the free throw line, shooting 80 percent (12-of-15) for the game, led by Laur's 8-for-8 performance.

Cleveland State shot 62.6 percent in the second half to finish at 50 percent for the game. The Vikings hit on 9-of-22 from three-point range and were 11-of-13 at the free throw line. They held a slight 32-30 rebounding edge, but committed 18 turnovers of their own.

Milwaukee returns to action Saturday, hosting Youngstown State in the regular season finale for both teams. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.