Box Score

Sierra Ford-Washington

101

Marquette MU 5-6

Milwaukee UWM 4-5

Marquette MU

5-6

101

Final

Dec. 22, 2015

Milwaukee UWM

4-5

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Marquette MU	25	23	25	28	101
Milwaukee UWM	8	28	20	25	81

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | December 22, 2015

Hot-Shooting Golden Eagles Take Down Panthers

Marquette connects on nearly 60 percent from the floor

MILWAUKEE – Sierra Ford-Washington poured in 24 points to lead four players in double figures but it wasn't enough as the Milwaukee women's basketball team fell to Marquette, 101-81, Tuesday night from the Klotsche Center.

The Golden Eagles (5-6) raced out to a 25-8 edge after the first quarter and were able to fend off numerous Milwaukee (4-5) comeback efforts down the stretch.

For the game, Marquette shot 59.7 percent from the floor, including going 9-of-18 from behind the arc.

"When we've played higher-level teams, we've defended pretty well. I wasn't expecting us to come out and give up 100 points tonight," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Our principles are far better than that and we weren't relying on those tonight. Our help side was late. "We did scouting and we weren't taking away what their strengths are. It's all building for us. It's an opportunity for us to learn and to grow as a team."

Ford-Washington was a stat stuffer for Milwaukee, especially in the second half. The junior from Richfield, Minn. was just shy of her season-high with 24 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and one steal in 31 minutes of action.

Three other Panthers reached double digits in scoring Tuesday as Steph Kostowicz notched her third double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Alexis Lindstrom added 12 points, while Jenny Lindner scored 10 and Kelsey Cunningham added nine.

Natisha Hiedeman led the way for the Golden Eagles with 30 points on the night.

Milwaukee won the rebounding edge on the night, 43-30, and had 18 assists on their 30-made field goals.

Marquette came out of the gates at break-neck pace, ramping up their full-court pressure and hitting 11 of their first 19 shots for a 25-8 edge after the first 10 minutes.

"We came out very passive in the first half. If you take away the first quarter, we played them pretty even. It was just that first quarter where we were tentative with the ball."

From there, Milwaukee was able to regroup and fight back.

UWM outscored Marquette, 28-23 in the second quarter, thanks in large part to a well-balanced attack and great ball movement. Six different players scored in the second period as the Panthers clawed their way back into the contest.

The Panthers kept it close in the third, drawing to within 12 after a layup by Kostowicz just over a minute in the second half.

MU went on a scoring run only to see Milwaukee once again push back. Ford-Washington drained a three to start the fourth to give the Panthers a spark. After trading baskets, it was back-to-back three-pointers by Lindner and Ford-Washington to bring the crowd of 1,322 to its feet and encourage the young Milwaukee squad.

"She (Sierra) has this mentality when we're down that she wants to put the team on her back," Rechlicz said. "She works really hard and is really aggressive and toward the end of the game I told her we need her to be like this for 40 minutes. She is really good. She can be one of the best players in our league when she has that mentality. We need to get her going like that from the beginning."

Unfortunately, the Panthers would get no closer as Marquette was able to nip the comeback effort for their third win in the last four games.

The Panthers return to the court after the Christmas holiday with a matchup against IPFW, Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. from the Klotsche Center.

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