E-mail
Print
Hot shooting downs Panthers
Edwards tallies 19 in loss
By John Parker
On a day when nothing seemed to be going right for UW-Milwaukee's women's basketball team, North Carolina St. was firing on all cylinders on their way to a 77-42 victory in Milwaukee's opening round game of the Wolfpack Invitational.
Head Coach Sandy Botham did not travel with the team this weekend because of a death in the family.
North Carolina St. shot nearly 60 percent, and jumped out to a 38-15 lead at halftime after Milwaukee's leading scorer Traci Edwards picked up two early fouls and was forced to sit out the end of the first half. With Edwards on the bench, North Carolina St. went on a 27-6 run and put the game out of reach. The Panthers would never bring the deficit to less than 22 points. Milwaukee's shooting was a stark contrast to North Carolina St.'s, as the Panthers shot just 34 percent from the field, and 27.3 percent from behind the three-point line.
Milwaukee's struggles extended beyond shooting. The team was outrebounded 32-23, and lost the turnover battle 20-13. North Carolina St. also scored 22 points off of turnovers, compared to 11 for Milwaukee.
To make matters worse, UWM starting guard Jody Crumble suffered a knee injury four minutes into the game and was taken off the court on a stretcher.
On a positive note, Milwaukee was able to win the battle in the paint, outscoring North Carolina St. 20-18 in the post. They were lead by Traci Edwards, whose 19 point outing brings her within less than 100 points of becoming UWM's all-time scoring leader. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the team's next highest scorer was Turquoise McCain with six points. The lack of a second scorer, combined with a lights out performance from the Wolfpack sent the Panthers to a loss in their first game of the year.
UWM plays Air Force in Colorado Springs next Saturday, then returns to Milwaukee on Nov. 26 for the home opener against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
> Comments