Dec. 11, 2011

Box Score

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team played nationally-ranked Oklahoma evenly for most of the afternoon, but could not overcome a slow start from the field in falling, 72-50, in front of a crowd of 5,725 at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Panthers (2-6) went toe-to-toe with the No. 24/23 Sooners (4-3) for the final 27-plus minutes of the game, but never recovered after making just one of their first 18 shots from the field in falling behind, 24-5, about 12 minutes into the contest.

"I thought our kids battled," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "They were undersized in some positions and they (OU) took advantage of that. But, I felt good about how hard we played. We just didn't make shots. Shooting 22 percent [in the first half] isn't going to win you the game. Oklahoma is a good team - they have had some ups and downs and I am sure they were ready to get back home."

Sophomore Courtney Lindfors led Milwaukee with 15 points. Freshman Ashley Green chipped in with eight points and five rebounds while junior Sami Tucker had six points and tied freshman Kiki Wilson for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Whitney Hand led Oklahoma with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds and also added six assists. Aaryn Ellenberg netted 14 points and Sharone Campbell tallied 13 off the bench on 6-of-6 shooting from the field. The victory snapped OU's first three-game losing streak in close to four seasons.

Senior Alex Klawitter knocked in a three-pointer about two minutes into the action to cut the early deficit to three at 6-3. From there, it was all OU, as the Panthers would go without a made field goal for the next 11 minutes and 45 seconds, netting just a pair of free throws by Lindfors in the span. Green's three-pointer at the 6:58 mark ended an 18-2 OU run but the damage was done after the Sooners shot 58.3 percent in the first half.

"We were hoping they would miss some shots - they were on fire in the first half," Botham said. "Every shot they took seemed to go in. They set the tone early and I thought that was really the key - the way they came out and knocked down shots."

UWM had plenty of open looks on the day, but could not get the shots to fall and many of the misses were of the in-and-out variety. The team shot 29.2 percent overall (14-for-48) and was outrebounded by the taller Sooners by a 42-to-27 count.

"We just struggled putting it into the basket," Botham said. "We took some bad shots, some off-balanced shots and that is what bigger, more physical teams will do to you. We talked about taking better shots and I thought we did a better job of that. And I thought we were fatigued. Coming off the Baylor game two days ago and then coming in here - I thought our players were really fatigued."

Lindfors netted 10 of her 15 points after intermission and was a key part of the offense in the second half until she fouled out with just under five minutes to play. She attacked the basket aggressively, ending with a 9-for-10 showing from the line.

Klawitter scored a season-high six points and grabbed a pair of rebounds. Freshman Macie Dorow also added a season-best four points.

The Panthers finally get back to Milwaukee next, taking on Chicago State at the Klotsche Center Thursday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. December 15.