Jan. 11, 2014

Box Score | Postgame Report | "Star of the Game" postgame interview | Coach Rechlicz postgame interview

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team used a dominant second half performance to claim one of its biggest regular-season victories in recent memory by knocking off the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 75-64, on the road Saturday at the Kress Center.

"Green Bay is an amazing team and I would never take anything away from them, but that is what makes this an even more quality win because of how good of a program they are," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "But I think we made our mark today and proved to a lot of people that we can play with teams like that."

The Panthers (5-9, 1-0 Horizon League) overcame a 12-point deficit in the first half against the Phoenix (8-6, 1-1 Horizon League), knocking off the 15-time defending Horizon League champions for the first time since February of 2006.

"Going into this week of practice, we talked that the group that believed in us was the group that was at that practice," Rechlicz said. "We all believed that we could get the win. I saw it in their eyes from the minute they stepped on the court this week. Just the intensity, the level of focus, doing everything that we wanted them to do and then carrying that over to today. They played with so much passion. It is how we want to represent Milwaukee."

Senior Angela Rodriguez led the way with a team-high 23 points and eight assists, junior Ashley Green had 15 points and sophomore Avyanna Young added her fourth double-double in a row with 12 points and 13 rebounds to help UWM snap what was a 17-game slide in the series.

"I felt like Angela put us on her back this game," Rechlicz said. "She had three turnovers at halftime and ended the game with only three. She hit big shots when we needed her to and found the open person when we needed her to. She just stepped up as a leader and a senior and it was huge for us to have her playing that way in this game."

Freshman Sydney Snower was also in double-figures with 11, including a 3-for-3 effort from three-point range. That was one of the themes for the day, with the Panthers making 13-of-26 three-point attempts in the contest.

Kaili Lukan led the Phoenix with 25 points. Breannah Ranger added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

"I could not be more proud of the team," Rechlicz said. "They put together not just one half, but two. Even though we were down, we really came out together in the second half. We scored 20 more points than them in the second half which is kind of unheard of at Green Bay."

The second half was the key. Down 37-28 at intermission, UWM took care of that deficit in less than three minutes to start the second half. Three-pointers by Rodriguez, Snower and freshman Bre'Zall Warren tied it and a pair of free throws by Young at the 17:19 mark capped the 11-0 run and gave UWM the 39-37 advantage, their first of the day.

"Those were key buckets and it was one right after the other and different people hitting those three's," Rechlicz said. "It was all heart. I said `who wants the ball more?', because at the end of the day if we wanted it more we could get the win."

The run ballooned to 20-3 on a layup by Green off a great pass by Rodriguez that made it 48-40 on the scoreboard and forced Green Bay to use a timeout with 12:25 to play. It eventually grew to 25-5 and UWM held a double-digit lead down most of the stretch.

With UWM up 14 with 7:53 to play, Green Bay made a run but Milwaukee fended the Phoenix off. Green Bay had trimmed the lead back under 10 with under three minutes to play before senior Emily Decorah iced the victory with a big three-pointer. She took just two shots on the day after the Phoenix defense kept her at bay, but her triple with 2:26 left was clutch.

"That was the back-breaker, honestly," Rechlicz said. "I felt from that moment on, our team knew that we were going to be fine."

The defense was outstanding once again. In fact, it held the Phoenix to just 27 second-half points, limiting them to 31 percent (9-for-29) field goal shooting in the half. At the end of the day, UWM held its opponent to 12.5 percent from three-point range overall, a 4-for-32 showing.

Milwaukee dug out of an early 8-0 hole to start the contest and was within one at 14-13 on an early three by Green. Green Bay took the momentum the rest of the half and the Panthers found themselves down nine after getting outscored 24-4 in the paint and out-rebounded 20-14.

Up next, the Panthers are off to Ohio for a weekend road trip, getting action underway Thursday at Cleveland State. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CST.