Feb. 15, 2014

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team hit 12 three-pointers and battled the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay all game, but a final scoring run came up short in falling, 81-69, Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 1,342 at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (7-16, 3-7 Horizon League) had knocked off the first-place Phoenix (15-7, 8-2 Horizon League) in the first matchup of the campaign in January, but could not complete the season sweep.

Senior Angela Rodriguez scored a game-high 22 points to lead the way. Junior Ashley Green had a near double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds and sophomore Avyanna Young was just as close with nine points and 10 rebounds. Senior Emily Decorah led the surge from long-range, netting 15, all on three-pointers.

"We fought," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We played with a lot of heart today and if we can continue to do that against the other teams that we play against, it will be really nice because I think it would translate into some more wins on the court. We fought every possession, we found the open players, especially in the second half."

Kaili Lukan led Green Bay with 17 points and eight boards. Megan Lukan added 15 points and the team shot 48.3 percent in the second half to help pull out the road win.

"Against a team like Green Bay, you can't take possessions off, you can't take spurts of two minutes where you decide you are not going to play or communicate or play tough," Rechlicz said. "We had that lapse at the beginning of the second half. And then we would go on a run, but it was just not enough. If you want to beat a team like that you have to play consistently for 40 minutes."

Milwaukee had answered every Green Bay scoring run on the day, including a final impressive push that nearly tied the game. Trailing by 22 points with 4:25 to play, UWM ripped off 16 consecutive points to make it a six-point margin with 28 seconds remaining. It could get no closer, running out of steam with the Phoenix making six of their final eight free throws for the final points of the day.

Up 12 at intermission, Green Bay used an 11-2 run that spanned both halves to push lead to 18 at 48-30. But, Milwaukee was not phased, using a 10-2 run of its own to force a Phoenix timeout and get back to within 10 at 50-40 on a layup by Rodriguez with 12:06 to play.

In a day of scoring runs, yet another one ensued. The timeout worked to break the momentum, with GB responding with a 12-4 stretch to lead 62-44 before finally extending it to 75-53 in front of UWM's final ferocious comeback attempt.

The first half featured three ties and seven lead changes, but it was the final lead change of the half that changed the contest. With Milwaukee up, 21-18, Green Bay took off on a 17-2 overall run that included 12 points in a row at one time to eventually lead, 35-23, with 2:57 to play.

The Phoenix scored 22 of the final 29 points of the period and took a 40-28 lead into the locker room. The Panthers started out red-hot from long distance, making five of their first six three-pointers in buildings leads of 8-3 and 11-6 early.

From there it was back and forth for a while, with UWM eventually holding that 21-18 advantage on a Rodriguez jumper at the 8:21 mark.

Milwaukee shot 50 percent in the second half to finish at 41.1 percent (23-of-56) for the day. Both teams had 37 rebounds and the Phoenix used a 17-10 edge in turnovers to build a 22-8 advantage in points off those miscues.

On a side note, Rodriguez's free throw streak ended at a very impressive 46 in a row - concluding a stretch where she had not missed since Dec. 22. It marks the second-longest streak in school history (49 by Lindsay Laur). Decorah also went over 500 career points on the day, the 31st player in program history to reach that mark.

Up next, the Panthers take a quick trip to Illinois, heading to Chicago to tangle with UIC Monday. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.