Feb. 11, 2012

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Shareta Brown scored 21 of her game-high 23 points in the second half to lead the University of Detroit to a 62-48 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team Saturday at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (6-17, 2-10 Horizon League) led by as many as 12 points in the first half and were still ahead, 35-31, with 14:57 left in the game before the Titans (14-11, 10-3 Horizon League) when on a decisive 15-2 run to pull away.

Sophomore Angela Rodriguez led Milwaukee with 13 points. Freshman Ashley Green had 12 and junior Sami Tucker added 11 despite being limited by foul trouble. Freshman Janna Swopshire did collect a game-high nine rebounds.

Yar Shayok was the only other UDM player in double-figures with 10.

"Even with her (Brown) scoring 23, I felt like we didn't take care of the basketball at times and our shooting percentage was down," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "If we can take care of our offensive end and do a better job there, her 23 points don't seem so big."

Brown, arguably the leading candidate for league newcomer of the year, had just two points at halftime after picking up two fouls and playing just six minutes in the first. She took over in the second, making 8-of-11 attempts from the floor while also adding eight rebounds in the contest.

"We knew that she was going to come out, be really hungry and just take it at us," Botham said. "We didn't have an answer defensively. They did a nice job of executing and taking what we gave them. But we still had opportunities."

With UWM up 28-24 at the break, the Titans jumped ahead, but a Rodriguez jumper gave UWM the lead back at 32-31.

However, the Titans continued to roll with their second-half game plan, going often to Brown on the blocks during a 15-5 run that gave them a 46-37 lead at the 8:47 mark and control of the game.

The Panthers battled and essentially played evenly the rest of the way, but were unable to get any closer.

"I feel like a broken record," Botham said. "It's the consistency. We have to have consistency on both ends. Tonight it was our offense - we just weren't able to get anything going. I think it was turnovers and missing shots that we usually hit. We need to stay persistent and working hard - there are still six games left."

The first half contained a pair of offensive spurts, one that put Milwaukee in charge and another that got Detroit back in the contest and carried over into the second half.

The Titans were up 6-3 early, but an impressive 11-0 run by the Panthers gave them the momentum, with Rodriguez's fastbreak three closing out the spurt and making it 14-6 at the 13:18 mark. The defense was great as well, holding Detroit without a field goal for over six minutes, forcing six misses from the floor and creating four other turnovers.

Milwaukee slowly built from there, taking leads of 25-13 before eventually taking its biggest lead of the half at 28-16 on a three by senior Alex Klawitter with just under four minutes to play in the half.

Unfortunately it was all Detroit from there, scoring the final eight points of the half to trim the deficit to just four, at 28-24, heading into the locker room. Even with that stretch, UWM still held UDM to 33 percent shooting in the first half - including 0-for-6 on three's - and forced nine turnovers.

Next up, the Panthers start a two-game road swing that opens at Youngstown State Feb. 16 with a 6 p.m. CST tip.