CLEVELAND – Milwaukee women's basketball knocked down 11 three-point shots including a combined seven from Jada Donaldson and Anna Lutz, but the effort was just short as the Panthers fell to host Cleveland State in overtime by a 73-68 margin.
 
Donaldson finished the game with a team-best four makes from three and had 19 points and six rebounds. Lutz ended the contest with a team-best 20 points on eight makes from the field while also leading the team with eight rebounds.
 
Milwaukee finished the game shooting 39.4 percent overall as the Panthers connected on 51.7 percent in the first half. However, the team got cold in the second half and overtime making 11-of-37 attempts (29.7 percent).
 
MKE connected on 11-of-33 from three including seven makes in the first half. Hallie Majoros had two of those makes, before adding another in the fourth quarter to finish the game with a career-best nine points.
 
"We were reliant upon hitting threes against Cleveland State in order to have the success that we did early on," noted Panther head coach Kyle Rechlicz. "It was tough to maintain for us when we got into the fourth quarter and overtime."
 
In addition to Majoros' nine points, Milwaukee also got 11 points off the bench from Jorey Buwalda. Kamy Peppler led the Panthers with seven assists.
 
The Panthers took advantage of 17 Cleveland State turnovers as well, capitalizing with 23 points off the Vikings' giveaways. Peppler and Lutz each had two of Milwaukee's season-best nine steals on the day.
 
"We had a number of people step up today," Rechlicz added. "I thought that we played one of the top teams in the league really tough, and we were right there with them throughout."
 
Rebounding was a key advantage by Cleveland State at 49-36 including 14 offensive rebounds resulting in 19 second-chance points. The Vikings also scored 32 points in the paint to the 24 by the Panthers.
 
"The offensive boards and the fouls were the tough parts of this game for us," Rechlicz concluded. Cleveland State got to the free throw line 28 times and made 21, while Milwaukee was 5-of-12 from the stripe.
 
Leading the way for Cleveland State was Mickayla Perdue with 21 points, including 11 points from the free throw line. Jordana Reisma (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Sara Guerreiro (11 points, 13 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles for the Vikings.
 
It was a first half of hot shooting from both teams as Milwaukee ended the first 20 minutes connecting on 51.7 percent and Cleveland State making 46.7 percent from the floor.
 
Donaldson had 14 of her point total before halftime and Lutz scored 13 first-half points. Donaldson opened the game by scoring the first nine for the Black & Gold, and helped the Panthers build up a 40-33 halftime lead, finishing the half with five makes on six shots including 3-of-4 from three.
 
Milwaukee took its largest lead of the game at 11 early in the third quarter but that was trimmed down to one late in the period. The Panthers scored the next nine points including field goals by Lutz and a three ball from Jada Williams to give MKE a 59-49 lead heading into the fourth.
 
The Panthers were only able to score four points in the fourth quarter on 2-of-15 from the field, while Cleveland State also had its lowest-scoring quarter of the game but did just enough to tie the game at 63 to send it to overtime.
 
In the extra session, CSU scored the first bucket before MKE leveled the score at 65 as Buwalda sank a pair from the free throw line. The Vikings scored the next six to take a two-score lead with just under a minute to go before Majoros banked in a three ball from the right elbow to make it 71-68.
 
Cleveland State sank a pair from the free throw line to take a five-point lead at 73-68, which proved to be the final score. Milwaukee had a pair of looks late from three but neither fell as the Vikings held on for the win.
 
Milwaukee returns home to ring in the new year as the Panthers will welcome the Wright State Raiders to the Klotsche Center for a 6 p.m. start on Jan. 2.