Nov. 26, 2013

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In a game much closer than the final score indicated, the University of New Mexico handed the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team a 72-58 loss Tuesday evening in front of a crowd 5,379 at "The Pit".

The Panthers (1-3) led at halftime, but a key 12-0 scoring run by the Lobos (2-3) early in the second half turned the tide and helped New Mexico snap a three-game slide.

"We came out and we competed," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I thought that for about 30 minutes of this game we competed extremely hard and were in it. The first nine minutes of the second half, we came out a little flat. We just have to come together and build from this. If we can compete like that in our league and the rest of our season, I really feel we have a chance to be in a lot of games."

Senior Angela Rodriguez led the way with a game-high 21 points and tied her career-high with seven rebounds. Junior Ashley Green added 17 points and eight rebounds and freshman Bre'Zall Warren was also in double-figures for the Panthers with 10.

Khadijah Shumpert paced the Lobos with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Sara Halasz also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Milwaukee made the first basket of the second half and led 35-32 before going cold. The Lobos reeled off a 12-0 scoring run over the next 5:06 with the Panthers missing all eight of their field goal attempts in the stretch to fall behind, 44-35.

"It's the second or third time that we have come out of the locker room a little flat after halftime," Rechlicz said. "We have to find a way for them to get energy. I really think we competed other than that."

Despite a strong defensive effort that held the Lobos to 37.7 percent shooting on the night, UWM could not trim the deficit below 10 points after that. A cold-shooting second half did not help, hitting at a 28 percent clip (7-for-25) after intermission which included an 0-for-12 showing from long-range. A 9-0 Lobos run pushed the score to 70-51 before the Panthers finished strong.

"We relied on our game plan," Rechlicz said. "We did a good job. They only shot 21 percent from the three-point line, which helped us close up the paint. Where they got us was on the offensive rebounds. I think they scored about 20 points on just putbacks alone. We really take a lot of effort in practice on boxing out and we didn't do a good job of that tonight."

The first half featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, with the final one coming on a three by Rodriguez with just eight seconds left in the period to give Milwaukee a 33-32 advantage heading into the locker room.

Rodriguez led a strong Panther effort in the first, scoring 14 of her points in the frame on 6-of-9 shooting. She also gave UWM a 30-28 lead just earlier when she drove the lane, had her shot blocked but grabbed the rebound and swished a jumper from the baseline.

Green added nine points and three rebounds with the team shooting 45.8 percent (11-of-24) in the first half. The one-point edge at the horn could have been bigger, but the team made just 8-of-13 from the free throw line and missed several front ends of bonus situations. The defense clamped down, forcing eight misses on the Lobos final 10 shots of the first.

Up next, the Panthers stay in New Mexico, heading to Las Cruces for the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic at New Mexico State University. The first game is against Lamar Friday, set for a 2 p.m. CST tip time.