Feb. 21, 2014

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Junior Ashley Green scored career point No. 1,000 but the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team could not complete a late comeback against Youngstown State University in falling, 81-69, Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (7-18, 3-9 Horizon League) trimmed a 17-point second-half deficit down to just seven points late in the game, but ran out of time as the Penguins (12-12, 8-3 Horizon League) earned the hard-fought conference road victory.

Green finished with 17 points, with her three-pointer with 5:20 remaining pushing her career total from 998 to 1,001 to become the 19th player to score over 1,000 career points at UWM. She also grabbed her 500th career rebound earlier this week against UIC and is now just the fifth player in program history to tally the 1,000-point/500-rebound totals.

"That was really nice to get and I am glad we were able to get that for her at home and put her in a position where she could get the crowd behind her when she hit that," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Her teammates were really excited for her when she hit it and now hopefully she can play a little freer and be ready for the next game."

Sophomore Avyanna Young tallied her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points while also tying her career-high with 16 rebounds. Senior Angela Rodriguez was also in double-figures with 14 points on the night.

"I thought Avy did a great job tonight," Rechlicz said. "Not just offensively and getting all of those rebounds for us, but defensively I thought she played a really tough game. She had a lot of heart tonight and was very unselfish."

The Penguins were led by a potent inside-outside combination on the night, with Liz Hornberger leading the way with 26 points including a 5-for-8 showing from three-point distance. Heidi Schlegel was a force in the paint, adding 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

YSU came out red-hot, talking an early 18-5 lead at the 14:09 mark. The Panthers fought right back, using a 16-5 run to trim the deficit to just two at 23-21 on a layup by sophomore Sydney Howard with just over 10 minutes to go. UWM had the deficit down to a one-possession game on a few occasions, but could not break through, with the Penguins eventually holding a 41-33 lead at intermission.

The teams spent the start of the second half trading baskets, but an extended strong run by the YSU offense eventually built the lead to 72-55 with 5:35 to play.

Green's 1,000th point started a quick turnaround. Back-to-back three's by senior Kimee Chandler helped the run and another triple by Rodriguez capped a 14-4 stretch and had UWM within seven at 76-69 with just over a minute to play. But, YSU played enough keep-away on offense to burn the clock and went 5-of-6 from the line to ice the victory.

The Panthers outshot the Penguins, 44.6 percent (29-for-65) to 44.4 percent (28-for-63) for the game and made nine more three-pointers. YSU held advantages of 42-30 in the paint, 17-8 off turnovers and 42-37 in rebounding.

It's a quick turnaround for UWM, finishing the weekend homestand when it welcomes Cleveland State to the Klotsche Center Sunday. Tip time is set for 2 p.m.