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recap isu
59
Illinois State ILS 3-4
61
Winner Milwaukee UWM 6-2
Illinois State ILS
3-4
59
Final
61
Milwaukee UWM
6-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Illinois State ILS 8 20 7 15 9 59
Milwaukee UWM 12 11 13 14 11 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Strong Defense Helps Panthers To Sixth Straight Win

Farley finishes with a game-high 19 points

MILWAUKEE – Three different players scored in double figures as the Milwaukee women's basketball team ran their win streak to six straight after a hard-fought 61-59 overtime win over Illinois State Thursday evening from the Klotsche Center.
 
Milwaukee (6-2) proved it can win in a variety of ways, grinding out the home victory against the ninth-ranked defense in the country entering the game.
 
"This was actually a huge win," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I think people really overlook how good Illinois State (3-4) is, and we didn't. I was preaching to our team all week that this team (Illinois State) is for real.
 
"I'm just proud. Not every game is going to be pretty. Their defense is the best defense that we've seen thus far, so it was really good for us to get to play against that – especially on our home court. The biggest change was in the second half when our girls just became confident again."
 
Just a few days removed from her career-high 24 points in the win at Northwestern, Bailey Farley once again led UWM in scoring with a game-high 19 points to go with five rebounds and two steals.
 
Steph Kostowicz turned in her second straight double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds to go with four blocks and four assists.
 
Jamie Reit also had a big night offensively, finishing with a season-high 11 points, highlight by a pair of huge three-pointers and some big free throws late down the stretch.
 
Trailing 33-23 midway through the third quarter, the Panthers finally started to find their offensive rhythm. Farley got things going with a big three, before a three-point-play the hard way for Kostowicz. Farley got to the line herself to cut the gap to 34-32 before drilling another of her five triples to give Milwaukee the 35-34 lead with 1:45 left in the third.
 
It was back-and-forth from there, with neither team able to separate more than one possession.
 
ISU led 50-48 late in regulation, but Kostowicz took a great inbound from Kelsey Cunningham, used some impressive footwork and got her shot to go to tie things up and send the game to overtime.
 
Hannah Green opened up the extra frame with a three, but Reit answered with a triple of her own as the Klotsche crowd got to its feet.
 
From there, the Panthers would use stout defense and strong performances from the free-throw line to ride this one to victory – connecting on six of their 20 makes from the charity stripe in the extra frame to help put the game away.
 
The 34.7 shooting performance by Milwaukee is actually the highest shooting percentage against the Redbirds this season – who came into the game ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at 31.4 percent.
 
The Panthers actually ended up beating ISU at its own game, flipping the script and holding them to just 33.9 percent from the field – the fourth time this season UWM has held its opponent under 35 percent shooting.
 
Milwaukee also fought to win the rebounding battle against ISU, 37-34, and allowed zero points in the paint after halftime.
 
It's back to the road for UWM this weekend, heading to Fort Wayne for a Sunday matinee against the Mastodons at 1pm Central from Gates Sports Center.
 
 
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