Feb. 7, 2013

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - Katie Hannemann scored 29 points to lead UIC to an 84-67 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team Thursday evening at the UIC Pavilion.

The Panthers (5-14, 1-6 Horizon League) shot close to 50 percent on the night but the Flames (7-14, 3-5 Horizon League) used a key scoring run in each half to grab momentum at first and to then put the game away late.

Junior Angela Rodriguez led Milwaukee with 22 points, hitting eight of her 11 shots from the field. Junior Emily Decorah netted 15 points on five three-pointers and senior Sami Tucker was also in double-figures, scoring 11 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.

"UIC had two players that really stepped up for them tonight - they really kind of put it in their hands to find a way to get this win," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "The number one thing I told our team going into the game was that we had to play tougher than UIC in order to win. And that is something I don't think we did tonight - they were very physical and we were not."

After UIC stretched out a five-point halftime advantage to as many as 13 at 53-40, Milwaukee found a way to claw back into it. A Decorah three from the corner at the 10:35 mark trimmed it to six at 55-49, but from there a 13-4 Flames run returned the lead back to 15 at 68-53 and the lead would not fall below 11 the rest of the way.

"One thing I keep trying to have our players understand is that when a team is on a run, just how important that next stop is," Rechlicz said. "Anytime we get a score, we tell them to play the next stop like it's going to win or lose you the game. We talk a lot about it in practice and it really didn't happen the way we wanted it to. It is something we have to learn from because it just keeps happening to us in our games - teams go on runs and we have hard times stopping them."

Hannemann, who set a career-high with her point total, scored the first eight of the second half for UIC and combined with Rachel Story (25 points) for 54 of their team's 84 on the scoreboard. UIC also enjoyed a 17-for-21 showing from the free throw line and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 20-to-7.

"That is their aggressiveness and our lack of toughness tonight," Rechlicz said. "We have to work on being quicker to the ball and helping each other out. We have a big test on Saturday because we are playing a team that is even more physical than UIC. We have one day of prep to get our minds right so we can head up to Green Bay and have a good showing."

Outside of a six-minute stretch, the Panthers were in control of the first half. Unfortunately, after UWM took a 15-10 lead on a jumper by sophomore Ashley Green at the 13:22 mark, UIC would go on a decisive 16-1 run of its own to turn the contest around. Milwaukee missed six field goal attempts in that span, falling behind by 10 at 26-16 at the 7:29 mark.

The Panthers made just one of their first seven attempts from long-range, but Rodriguez drilled back-to-back triples to cut the deficit to 26-22. But, that was answered by seven consecutive by the Flames, who eventually led, 36-31, at the halftime horn.

Up next, Milwaukee remains on the road to take on the first-place Green Bay Phoenix Saturday. Game time at the Kress Center is 7 p.m.