MILWAUKEE – Trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Milwaukee women's basketball team erased the deficit to complete a 24-point turnaround and upend Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon, 66-58.
 
Jorey Buwalda scored 14 of her points in the second half, while Grace Lomen added 13 as the Panthers shot 60.7 percent over the final 20 minutes. Madison Fitzgibbon knocked down a pair of key three-pointers and accounted for three of the team's 11 second-half assists on 17 makes.
 
Lomen drilled a pivotal shot to swing momentum back in Milwaukee's favor with 2:43 left in the third quarter, making it 45-43 and giving the Panthers their first lead since a 6-5 advantage in the opening quarter.
 
After Cleveland State regained a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Lomen once again came up with a clutch make from beyond the arc with 2:02 remaining to put Milwaukee ahead, 60-58. Buwalda capped off the scoring by knocking down the final six points to complete an 11-point run and seal the come-from-behind victory.
 
The rally capped a comeback from 16 points down, tied for the fifth-largest in program history, while Milwaukee also overcame a 12-point halftime deficit, the fifth largest in Panther history.
 
"I felt like our intensity was great, but our focus was not at the start of the game," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. "We had some people playing very timid against their zone defense, and we needed to be more aggressive in the first quarter."
 
"For Grace [Lomen], as a senior to hit some of the shots that she did … you always need your seniors to step up in big moments, and I thought she had a 'senior game'," added Rechlicz.
 
Cleveland State jumped out to a quick start, leading 20-8 after the opening quarter. The Vikings took their largest lead of the game at 28-12 with 6:43 left in the second quarter before heading into halftime with a 34-22 advantage.
 
"In the second half, I got on some players, and what I'm proud of is how some of our players responded to very hard coaching," added Rechlicz. "In particular, I thought Madison [Fitzgibbon] had two completely different halves. She wasn't the point guard we needed her to be in the first half, but in the second half she was tough on defense, hit shots, got rebounds, and I felt like she put the team on her back."
 
Lomen, Jada Williams, Fitzgibbon, and Payton Rechlicz all fueled the comeback early in the third quarter, trimming a six-possession game into a one-score contest. Buwalda made it a one-point game with 3:29 left in the quarter before a defensive rebound and bucket by Lomen swung momentum fully in Milwaukee's favor.
 
The Panthers led 47-45 heading into the fourth quarter before Cleveland State found success in the paint to regain a seven-point lead with 5:31 remaining. Lomen's three-pointer gave Milwaukee the lead for good as the Panthers emerged with the eight-point victory.
 
Buwalda finished the game with 20 points with seven rebounds and four assists, while Lomen posted 16 points and five rebounds. Fitzgibbon finished the game with six points and four assists, while Madigan scored eight while leading the Panthers with nine rebounds.
 
Barnes chipped in six points, three rebounds, and two assists, while Williams scored five points and recorded two steals.
 
"We played three freshmen over 20 minutes and beat a solid team, which says a lot about again how much we're growing," noted Rechlicz. "It's time to mature as a team. Freshmen can't look at themselves as freshmen anymore because they have played a lot of minutes. They need to keep stepping up and continue playing like upperclassmen."
 
Izabella Zingaro was a major presence in the paint for Cleveland State, finishing with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds. Jada Leonard scored 14 points, while Macey Fegan was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points.
 
Milwaukee heads back on the road to begin a three-game road trip, starting with a visit to Calihan Hall to take on Detroit Mercy at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Thursday.