Nov. 29, 2013

Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Senior Angela Rodriguez scored 18 points and junior Ashley Green added a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds but Lamar University pulled away in the second half to hand the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team a 75-63 defeat Friday afternoon at the Pan American Center.

The Panthers (1-4) trailed by just a basket early in the second half against the Cardinals (4-3), but a quick 8-0 scoring run pushed the deficit to double-figures and UWM could not recover down the stretch.

Milwaukee was already playing shorthanded battling injuries but ended up dealing with foul trouble as well today in its first game at the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic.

"Having only nine players available gets us where we are tired towards the end of games," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Also, just the higher elevation puts us in a position where we can't always rely on our three-point shooting to win a game out here. We have to be able to put the ball on the floor and create some points inside and that just wasn't there for us today."

The Panthers led by as many as seven points in the first half, but hit intermission with foul problems - three starters had two fouls and one was whistled for three by the end of the first half.

"It definitely changes the game when you have some of your starters sitting on the bench in foul trouble," Rechlicz said. "It puts us in a position right away where we have to play softer with our bench - the bench can't be as aggressive because if they get in foul trouble then we have nobody left. Lamar did a great job today taking advantage of that and putting us on our heels."

Green tied her career-high with those 14 rebounds, while Rodriguez added a team-high six assists. Senior Kimee Chandler came off the bench to tie her career-high with 10 points and sophomore Avyanna Young grabbed 11 rebounds. Chandler also set a career-high with five rebounds.

Dominique Edwards led the Cardinals with a game-high double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds while JaMeisha Edwards added 17.

Down by four at halftime, Chandler hit a pair of free throws to make it 39-37 at the 19:14 mark. That was when Lamar grabbed momentum, scoring eight straight to push the lead to 10 at 47-37. Milwaukee would get as close as five points three minutes later, but again the deficit was pushed to double-digits to decide the outcome.

"I felt like we played the first 12 minutes okay, but I felt like our intensity wasn't there at the start of the game and I had to get on them," Rechlicz said. "We had a lot of opportunities that we missed today."

The Cardinals took a 39-35 lead into the locker room after a first half that featured five ties and 10 lead changes. Both teams held leads of at least seven points in the back-and-forth affair that saw both teams start slowly.

Freshman Bre'Zall Warren hit a pair of early three's, with her second make giving UWM the early 8-4 advantage. After Lamar had jumped in front, 9-8, a three by Green made it 11-9 at the 12:37 mark. It was Lamar's turn again, retaking the lead at 13-11 in front of nine straight points by the Panthers.

A three by Rodriguez, another triple from junior Macie Dorow, a free throw by Green and a putback on an offensive rebound by Young completed the run and made it 20-13 on the scoreboard. Young's basket that came at the 9:51 mark of the half was the first two-point field goal by UWM on the day.

The Cardinals also had a decisive scoring run in the first, scoring 12 of 15 points at one time to take a 25-23 lead at the 7:34 mark.

Milwaukee made 10 three-pointers on the day, but just two after halftime and finished the day at 32.3 percent (10-for-31) from long-range. It committed just 12 turnovers, but Lamar was able to turn that into a 10-1 advantage in points off turnovers. The Panthers also won the rebounding battle, 44-43.

It will be a quick turnaround for Milwaukee, playing less than 24 hours from the finish of today's contest. It's back to the Pan American Center tomorrow, taking on host New Mexico State with a 2:15 p.m. CST tip time. The Aggies defeated Northern Illinois, 77-73, in the first game of the tournament.

"We have to come together as a team, watch some film and get better from this by learning from our mistakes in a very short period of time," Rechlicz said. "Hopefully we will come ready to compete tomorrow.