VALPARAISO, Ind. - Senior Ashley Green scored a game-high 24 points but the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team could not overcome a tough night from the field in falling, 69-56, Thursday evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
 
"I thought we started off very slow," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I thought our defense looked really good at the start of the game but we just couldn't get our offense going. Any time you are on the road, you need to be able to hit shots in order to be successful and we didn't do that early on."
 
The Panthers (8-14, 4-6 Horizon League) erased a halftime deficit and were within one point with 16 minutes to play, only to see the Crusaders (6-17, 2-8 Horizon League) use a 13-3 run to take control of the game and regain momentum.
 
"We have to have a short memory," Rechlicz said. "One game does not define your season and we have to learn from this. It's a quick turnaround to get ready for our rival up the road."
 
Green made a little history in the first half, as her fastbreak jumper with about nine minutes left in the period gave her 1,500 points in her illustrious career, just the sixth Milwaukee player to reach that plateau in program history.
 
"Ashely was double-teamed again and triple-teamed at times and still pushed through and gave us a great effort," Rechlicz said. "But we have to have other people step up around her."
 
Green missed another double-double by just one rebound, grabbing a team-high nine on the night. Junior Jaleesa Armstrong was the only other player in double-figures with 12 points. Freshman Jenny Lindner chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.
 
A pair of freshmen keyed the way for Valpo, with Jasmyn Walker going off for a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Dani Franklin added 15 off the bench.
 
A 9-2 spurt to open the second half made it a one-point game at 29-28 on a Green three, forcing a timeout. That stopped the momentum and shifted it right back to the home team, with the Crusaders using that 13-3 run to take control and a later span of 13-2 to give them their biggest lead of the night at 55-37 with about nine minutes remaining.
 
"We hit a couple of shots in the second half to put us in position and they just took off," Rechlicz said. "They started pushing in transition and it got us into foul trouble. We started reaching and fouling quite a bit and put them on the line pretty early."
 
The Panthers never did give up, getting back under 10 at 62-53, but could get no closer the rest of the way. Milwaukee was hurt by 30.2 percent (19-of-63) shooting from the floor, including a 5-of-26 effort from three-point range, missing their first 12 of the contest.
 
Neither team shot well from the floor in the first half, but a closely-contested affair went the way of Valpo the final four minutes.
 
Tied 17-17 at the 3:53 mark following five ties and a pair of lead changes, the Crusaders closed the opening period on a 10-2 run that gave them a 27-19 advantage headed into the locker room.
 
UWM won the rebounding battle, 46-42, marking the first time this season it lost the game when it won the battle of the boards. Valpo also controlled the paint, holding a 34-18 advantage.
 
Up next, the Panthers return to action at home when they welcome league-leading Green Bay Saturday. Tip off is set for 2 p.m.