On Senior Day at the Klotsche Center on Saturday, it was a freshman who stole the show.

Jenilee Klomstad scored a career-high 15 points as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s basketball team defeated Wright St., 67-54.

Klomstad was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, helping the Panthers set a school-record for field goal percentage, finishing the game at 64.3 percent.

“It’s nice having Jenilee,” junior Traci Edwards said. “She doesn’t miss.”

Edwards added a team-high 17 points of her own, while freshman guard Shey Peddy led the Raiders with 18 points and a career-best seven steals.

Klomstad and Edwards were on the court at the same time for much of the game, creating mismatches that proved too difficult for Wright St. to handle.

“I like having two bigs in there,” Klomstad said. “It’s easier to create inside looks.”

The Panthers (16-13, 11-7 in the Horizon League) shot 68.4 percent in a first half that saw eight lead changes, propelling them to a 34-30 advantage at the half. They then used a 16-0 run early in the second period to take a 54-35 lead and led by as many as 20 points in the game.

“We were just so aggressive,” Panthers head coach Sandy Botham said. “Whether it was in transition or shots around the basket, I felt like we really wore them out.”

The Raiders (14-15, 11-7) used a 7-0 spurt to pull within 13, making it a 60-47 contest with 4:20 left to play, but it proved to be too little too late as the Panthers held on for their third consecutive home victory.

A pair of 7-0 runs swayed the momentum in the first half. Trailing 7-6 at the 14:08 mark, the Raiders strung together three unanswered buckets to make it a 13-7 game. The six point advantage was their largest of the contest.

Later in the period, UWM trailed 28-27 with 5:25 to play before putting together seven straight points, giving them a lead that they did not relinquish. The Panthers held Wright State to just 40 percent shooting, including 34.6 percent in the second half.

The game was sloppy at times, as evidenced by the 41 total turnovers, including 18 errors committed by WSU and 23 by UWM. The large amount of turnovers led both teams to record season-highs in steals, with the 19 for the Raiders and 14 for the Panthers.

Seniors Aubri Rote and Meredith Onson added five and three points, respectively, in the last regular season contest of their careers.

“They are so committed and work so hard,” Botham said of the seniors. “[They are] very consistent every day. We know what we’re going to get from them. That’s always a coach’s dream.”

The Panthers split the season series with the Raiders after losing the previous meeting by a score of 57-56 on Jan. 3. They are now 22-11 all-time against Wright State.

UWM will host a quarterfinal match-up in the conference tournament against Valparaiso (14-15, 9-9), a team that they have beaten twice already this season. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Klotsche Center.

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