Box Score |  Notes

VALPARAISO, Ind. (March 8, 2010) - Junior Ashley Imperiale scored 18 points to lead four Panthers scoring in double-digits as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team defeat Valparaiso, 71-57, Monday evening in the first round of the 2010 Speedway Horizon League Championship.

Milwaukee (12-18) shot 50 percent from the field and limited Valpo (9-21) to just 33.3 percent shooting to advance to the semifinals Wednesday night at Green Bay. UWM and the top-seeded Phoenix tip off at 7 p.m. at the Kress Center.

"It was a great win. It's good to come out on the winning end against Valparaiso, especially after the last game we played here," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "We came in with great focus, energy and confidence and executed the game plan well. We had a lot of people stepping up. It was just a good victory for us after a good start."

Imperiale was named the Horizon League U.S. Army Player of the Game as she was 7-of-13 from the field and added five rebounds. Sophomore Danielle Jorgenson scored 11 points, while junior Lindsay Laur and freshman Sami Tucker scored 10 points apiece.

Whitney Farris was the Crusaders' only player in double-figures with 15. Lauren Kenney was the next-highest scorer with nine points.

Trailing 40-29 coming out of halftime, Valparaiso fought within six at 46-40 with 13:44 to play before Milwaukee pulled away for good. Imperiale kick-started an 11-0 run with five-straight points to make it 57-40 less than three minutes later. The Crusaders would get within 11 later in the game, but UWM rattled off an 11-3 run late to put the game out of reach at 69-50 with 1:33 remaining.

The Panthers hit on 27-for-54 from the field for the game, converting 8-of-14 from three-point range. On the other end of the court, their zone defense forced Valpo to take 34 of its 57 field goal attempts from three-point range, where it made nine.

UWM won the turnover battle, 18-17, and held a 35-30 edge on the boards.

Milwaukee came out aggressive on both the offensive and defensive end in the first half, building a lead as high as 12 in the opening half. The Panthers shot 53.6 percent in the frame, compared to just 34.6 percent by Valpo. UWM also knocked down 6-of-9 three-pointers, compared to 4-of-15 shooting on three's by VU.

The teams alternated scoring possessions for much of the opening minutes. Ferris hit a jumper with 9:03 remaining to make it 22-20 Milwaukee. The Panthers then rattled off 10-straight points, and held the home team without a field goal for 5:38, as they built their lead to 12 at 32-20. The lead was 40-29 at the intermission.