E-mail
Print
Edwards leads the way in exhibition
Panthers beat Beloit in complete team effort
By Mike Kennedy
For their first test of the season, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s basketball team didn’t have much of a challenge in an exhibition game against Beloit College, winning in a landslide 102-15.
Junior Traci Edwards stepped up huge for the Panthers scoring 14 of the first 16 Panther points in the second half, leading to a final stat sheet of 24 points and 8 rebounds.
“She’s our go to, I thought she missed a lot of little easy ones but she was able to get herself in some rhythm towards the end. The offense starts around Traci, I want her to touch it every time down the floor, that just opens our outside play,” said Panther head coach Sandy Botham. “All her baskets in the second half were in transition.”
The Panthers started out strong, scoring the first 12 points of the game and leading by 25 before the Buccaneers could get a second basket. Beloit had a task ahead of them coming into the game as they had only one starter from last year’s squad available as the other three returning starters were playing in a Midwest Conference Volleyball Tournament game.
Botham used a variety of lineups in the game, using every player on the bench in the Panther victory.
“The biggest thing is just getting experience, playing together in a game situation. We always set game goals; we wanted to hold them under 25 percent from behind-the-arc. We wanted to out rebound them and we did that,” said Botham. “We’ve got a lot of depth.”
UWM played tough defense the entire game, holding the Buccaneers to only 10 points in the first half while getting 17 steals and 24 rebounds as a team. The Panthers shot 46.5 percent from the field in the first half and upped that in the second with 55.6 percent.
The Buccaneers second all-time three-point shooter Angie Meehan carried the rest of the team with 11 points, hitting three treys. Another notable was Diana Sopkowicz who had eight points and six rebounds in the loss.
Panther guard Jody Crumble showed why she is a starter, getting 13 points, eight in the second half and contributing on defense with three steals. Sophomore Jodie McClain helped Edwards in the second half, getting seven assists in the game.
“Out of all the players that came back, [McClain] came back with the greatest amount of improvement. She has been one of the most pleasant surprises, she has done a great job in the preseason finding free people and creating shots for her teammates. I’m not surprised by her play at all,” said Botham.
Freshmen Jenilee Klomstad and Maurika Hickman combined for 13 of the last 16 points in the game while Jineen Williams hit a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to tip the Panther score into triple digits at 102.
The Panthers went 2-0 last season in exhibition games, beating Concordia and the Wisconsin AAU team, who they will play Sunday in their final exhibition game of the season. UWM will get their first regular season game under way at Chicago State on Friday, Nov. 9 and will host their first game on Nov. 19 against Dayton.
> Comments