The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s basketball team converted 21-of-25 free throws to edge out the University of Detroit-Mercy 59-50 in a sloppy game at the Klotsche Center on Thursday night.

The win for the Panthers (15-13, 10-7 in the Horizon) guarantees a first round bye, and a home game in the quarterfinals on March 12th.

"Both teams had trouble taking care of the basketball, but we did enough defensively,” head coach Sandy Botham said. “We executed well on the offensive end and got ourselves to the free throw line."

Maintaining possession was an issue for both sides as each team committed 22 turnovers. However, the Panthers found their rhythm first and led for all but 66 seconds of the game.

Traci Edwards recorded her school-record 16th double-double this season with 10 rebounds, her 17th double-digit rebounding game of the season, and also led all scorers with 21 points. Aubri Rote had 10 points, Jodie Crumble and Jenilee Klomstad added eight for the Panthers.

It was slow going with neither side putting points on the board until 16:37 in the first half when the Panthers struck with a put-back by Edwards.

The Titans however did get the ball rolling and were able to briefly take the lead with 12:23 in the first half. That was the only lead the Titans would get as the Panthers took off running on a 12-2 run and never looked back.

The Panthers never relinquished the lead, but the Titans would not go away. 25 offensive rebounds for the Titans kept many possessions alive to keep the game close.

The Titans were able to tie the game at 34 with 11:21 in the second half on a three-pointer by Gabi Hungerford. Another 8-0 run by the Panthers put them ahead for good. Detroit never got closer than five after that.

Despite being out rebounded 43-32, the Panthers defense was able to hold Detroit to 31.7 percent from the field for the night. Also allowing the Panthers to get to the line 25 times was too much for Detroit to overcome.

“Give them credit,” said Botham. “They played hard and fought, but I think Traci carried us, as she has been doing all season long.”

The Panthers face off Saturday at 2 p.m. against Wright State at the Klotsche Center for the regular season finale.

> Comments