Milwaukee 88, Western Michigan 79
Sophomore Ashley Green set career-highs with 20 points and 14 rebounds and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s basketball team made 13 three-pointers in an 88-79 victory over Western Michigan University Wednesday evening at the Klotsche Center.
The Panthers (2-1) led the Broncos (1-1) by as many as 12 in the first half, but saw that lead trimmed down to two with just over three minutes remaining. But, a 7-0 run gave Milwaukee back the momentum and it went on to score 13 of the final 19 points to secure the win in the home opener for head coach Kyle Rechlicz.
In addition to Green’s double-double, senior Sami Tucker had 18 points and eight rebounds, junior Emily Decorah netted 15 on five three-pointers, senior Sammy Theut had 11 and junior Angela Rodriguez finished with 10.
The Panthers ended the night 13-for-18 from three-point range, with the 72.2 percent the second-highest in school history for a game (78.6 against Central Michigan in 2000). The 13 3’s was also just off the program record of 15 in a game.
Valparaiso 76, Purdue Calumet 59
The Valparaiso women's basketball team used a massive rebounding advantage to pick up its second straight victory to start the 2012-2013 campaign, defeating Purdue Calumet Wednesday night at the ARC, 76-59.
Valpo owned a +26 edge on the glass, pulling down 58 rebounds to the Peregrines' 32 boards. Included among the Crusaders' 58 rebounds were 23 on the offensive end, which they converted into 27 second-chance points. Junior Tabitha Gerardot (Fort Wayne, Ind./Canterbury) led the way on the boards for Valpo, grabbing 12 rebounds, while four other Crusaders picked up at least five rebounds.
“We really struggled shooting the ball today, but we did a great job continuing to pound the glass,” said Crusader head coach Tracey Dorow. “I'm proud that we didn't just stop playing. Purdue Calumet is a good team – they played well and were very well prepared, and made it tough for us out there today.”
It looked like the Crusaders would roll to the victory early on, starting the game on an 18-4 run in the first five minutes. Gerardot connected on four early baskets, while sophomore Shaquira Scott(Wilmette, Ill./Loyola Academy) and senior Ieva Jansone (Riga, Latvia/Agenskalna Gymnasium [Miles]) each scored four points as well during the game-opening spurt which put Valpo ahead double figures just 4:10 into the game.
Trailing 20-6, the Peregrines would score eight straight points to move back within six points at 20-14 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the opening half. The lead would hover near 10 points for most of the rest of the half, with the Crusaders pushing it to 13 on a layup by junior Liz Horton(Cannelburg, Ind./Barr-Reeve) to go ahead 33-20 with 5:11 left in the half. A 13-5 run by Purdue Calumet over the next four minutes cut the edge to five points late in the half, with Scott adding a free throw in the final minute to make it a 39-33 game going into the break.
But Valpo left no doubt to the game's result with its start to the second half. On the second possession of the half, redshirt junior Charae Richardson(Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson [Vincennes]) connected on a pair of free throws, followed by a three-point play from Scott to make it an 11-point Crusader lead.
The balanced run continued with a fast-break bucket by Gerardot, and almost two minutes later, senior Gina Lange(Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) converted a second-chance basket. A triple by freshman Jessi Wiedemann (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) and a fast-break layup from senior Laura Richards (Connersville, Ind./Connersville) capped the 14-1 run, featuring baskets from six different Crusaders and giving Valpo a 53-34 lead with 13:52 remaining. The Crusader lead never fell back into single digits the rest of the way as they won their second consecutive game.
Gerardot ended the night with a double-double, posting a game-high 18 points to go with her 12 boards. Scott and Horton added 14 points apiece, the latter setting a new career high in the process. Jansone chipped in eight points and seven rebounds off the bench. The Crusaders shot just 39.7% (29-of-73) from the floor and just 16% (4-of-25) from behind the arc, but scored the aforementioned 27 second-chance points and were 14-of-17 from the free throw line.
Purdue Calumet (1-4) was led by 16 points by Alex Starr and 15 points from Brooklyn Short. The Crusaders limited the Peregrines to 26.7% (16-of-60) shooting from the floor.
Valparaiso (2-0) won each of its first two games of the season by double figures for the first time since 1974-1975.
Wright State 75, IUPUI 71
Wright State led by 10 with just under seven minutes to go, but had to hold on down the stretch before defeating IUPUI 75-71 in the women's basketball home opener Wednesday night at WSU's Nutter Center.
Neither team had more than a four-point lead in the first half until a Kayla Lamotte three from the top of the key put WSU up 28-23 with 6:09 remaining. Another Raider triple, this time by Breanna Stucke, kept the margin at five, but the Jaguars tied it at 33 on a Dawn Luster layup and a Jordan Barton three.
The Raiders, however, took a 37-33 lead into the halftime break on four foul shots in the final 34 seconds, two each from KC Elkins and Lamotte.
Wright State shot 44 percent from the field in the first half, including four of eight from three-point range, and was 11 of 16 at the foul line compared to IUPUI shooting 39 percent, four of 15 from behind the arc, and three of four at the stripe.
Mylan Woods gave WSU a 48-41 advantage with a three in the left corner at the 16:30 mark of the second half and the lead gradually grew to 65-55 following a Stucke putback with 6:44 left. The Jaguars, though, rallied back and only trailed 73-71 on a DeAirra Goss layup at the 5.8-second mark.
Kim Demmings, however, sealed the victory for the Raiders as she hit two foul shots with 4.2 seconds to go for the final margin.
Both teams shot 39 percent for the game and IUPUI led 34-22 in points in the paint, 26-21 in points off of turnovers and 19-13 in second chance, but the game ultimately came down to the foul line as Wright State hit 25 of 38 comapred to 13 of 20 for the Jaguars.
Five WSU players scored in double figures, led by Demmings with 16 points, all but two coming in the second half, while Stucke scored a career-high 15 points and nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds. Lamotte tied a career-high as she added 15 points of bench, 13 in the first half, Woods had a career-best 11 points off the bench and Elkins chipped in 10. Tayler Stanton gathered in nine boards.
Goss paced all scorers with 22 points for IUPUI (1-1), but no other Jaguar managed more than nine.
Tags: Milwaukee - Women's Basketball · Valparaiso - Women's Basketball · Wright State - Women's Basketball
