March 2, 2013

Box Score

DETROIT, Mich. - The University of Detroit Mercy used an early 18-3 scoring run and never looked back, handing the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team a 66-40 defeat Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall.

The Panthers (8-18, 4-10 Horizon League) trailed early but trimmed the deficit down to three, only to see the Titans (15-11, 8-6 Horizon League) respond with 10 points in a row as part of that decisive run. They would lead by 20 at halftime and never see Milwaukee get closer than 16 the rest of the day.

Junior Emily Decorah led the team with 12 points and was the only player in double-figures.

Yar Shayok and Shareta Brown each led Detroit with a double-double. Shayok finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Brown tallied 15 points and 10 boards.

"Any time you step on the court and shoot 22 percent from the field and your three-point percentage is better than your two-point percentage, it's going to be a long day," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We just weren't shooting with confidence and once we started missing, it got contagious. I still think that we played extremely hard, we just didn't put the ball in the basket."

Not too much went the Panthers way in the decisive first half after getting within three at 12-9. They were outscored 23-6 over the final 13:21, making just a pair of Decorah three's on their final 18 attempts of the half. They finished the first shooting just 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from the floor and were out-rebounded, 27-9.

"We have to move on," Rechlicz said. "You can't rewind it and play again. You can only watch it and learn from it. You have to move on and prepare for UIC."

Detroit got off to a 10-2 start and grabbed the first 10 rebounds of the game. That 7-2 UWM spurt got it back to 12-9, but 10 points in a row as part of that 18-3 run gave the Titans control of the contest.

The Panthers head back to Wisconsin for the final two games of the regular season, both at home. Up first is UIC on Thursday at 7 p.m.