Feb. 17, 2014

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team had to face a tough travel day before dropping a 79-54 decision to UIC Monday evening at the UIC Pavilion.

The Panthers (7-17, 3-8 Horizon League) spent over five hours on the bus to play the Flames (18-7, 7-5 Horizon League) on what should have been a two-hour drive to Chicago. The winter weather not only delayed the team's arrival in town, but also pushed back the start of the game by an hour as well.

Sophomore Avyanna Young led the way with 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Emily Decorah made four three-pointers for 12 points as the only two players in double-figures. UWM shot just 24 percent in the first half and finished at 34.4 percent (21-of-61) on the day.

"I felt like we really executed at the start of the game and then we had a couple of costly turnovers that really put us on our heels; we lost some of our confidence out on the court," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We have to understand, that we cannot make a series of mistakes - and at one point we actually turned the ball over on seven consecutive possessions - each possession after a turnover becomes that much more valuable. And that is how UIC scores, they feed off of other team's turnovers to get transition baskets and push the tempo."

Sophomore Jessica Prince made the most of her playing time, scoring a career-high eight points and tying her career-best with six rebounds in just eight minutes of playing time.

Katie Hannemann led the Flames with 26 points. Ruvanna Campbell posted 16 points and 16 rebounds, her eighth double-double in a row.

Following the 8 p.m. tipoff, Milwaukee did not look phased at the start. Despite falling down, 7-2, it used a quick 10-0 run in a span of less than two minutes to take a 12-7 lead on a three-pointer by Decorah at the 15:28 mark.

From there, UWM could not buy a basket. The team went 15:09 without a point of any kind, missing 16 shots in a row despite getting good looks time and time again. Meanwhile, UIC put up a staggering 30-0 run, leading 37-12 before UWM finally scored with 19 seconds remaining before intermission.

"When it gets to a point like that, I just want to see our team compete and fight," Rechlicz said. "To see what they have in them - can we make runs, can we cut it in half - and in the second half I felt like there was a group of players that really came out and fought extremely hard and put everything they had on the line to try and make a comeback. I felt like we really fought in the second half - like we really got some of our confidence back and we scored the basketball much better."

Any comeback attempt was hampered by senior Angela Rodriguez and junior Ashley Green on the bench each with four fouls with about 15 minutes left in the contest. The Panthers played much better in the second half, but could get no closer than 20 points after intermission.

Green grabbed her 500th rebound in the game, the 23rd player to reach the mark in program history. She also inched closer to 1,000 career points, now sitting at 984.

Up next, the Panthers are back at home for the weekend, starting things off when they welcome Youngstown State for a 7 p.m. tipoff Friday.