CLEVELAND – Cleveland State controlled the tempo through the first 25 minutes of play and led by as many as 24 en route to a 64-51 win over the Milwaukee women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
 
Milwaukee (14-14, 8-9 Horizon) was led by Kamy Peppler, who finished the game with a team-best 11 points including three makes from beyond the arc. Three other Panthers scored eight points, including Angie Cera who made a pair of three-pointers with her second coming at the final horn of the game to give her 100 career three-point makes.
 
Cleveland State led 16-9 after the first quarter, and 38-21at the halftime break, shooting 56.7 percent and taking advantage of nine Panther turnovers with 10 points off MKE giveaways.
 
"In the first half we looked rushed," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz post game. "Give a lot of credit to Cleveland State, they're extremely long in their zone and athletic … and we weren't waiting for our offensive plays to develop and set up our screens."
 
After allowing the first seven points of the third quarter and trailing by a 45-21 score, Milwaukee was able to close out the game on a 30-19 run, including a 19-13 advantage in the fourth quarter.
 
"We slowed down in the second half," Rechlicz added. "That really provided us with a lot of opportunities to make their zone work harder. I was incredibly proud of how we played that second half."
 
The Panthers outshot the Vikings in the second half with 11 makes on 25 attempts (44 percent), while Cleveland State only made 6-of-27 from the field (22.2 percent). Cera had all eight of her points in the second half as well as all four of her team-high four assists.
 
Milwaukee's best scoring run was a 9-0 stretch that saw Jada Donaldson, Cera, and Peppler score three consecutive three-point shots to slice another 24-point Cleveland State lead back down to 15. Cera's three-pointer with time expiring made it a 13-point loss for the Panthers.
 
Anna Lutz had six of her eight points in the second half, while Peppler kickstarted the Milwaukee offense with a three-pointer make to spark the 30-19 run.
 
Kendall Nead led Milwaukee with eight rebounds and finished the game with eight points as well. Grace Crowley scored seven points, while Donaldson had five, and Jada Williams added four.

Colbi Maples led Cleveland State with 15 points and was one of four Vikings in double figures in scoring. Sara Guerreiro led Cleveland State with 12 rebounds and finished with a double-double as she had a dozen points in the win.
 
Milwaukee heads back home for the final time this regular season for a pair of league contests beginning with Detroit Mercy on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. from the Klotsche Center.