Panthers Close Out Regular Season At Home With Wright State
Milwaukee fighting for third seed in next week's Horizon League Tournament
Game #29
Wright State @ Milwaukee
Saturday, March 8 • 2 p.m.
Milwaukee, Wis. (Klotsche Center/5,000)
Radio: WOKY - 920 AM (Scott Warras)
TV: None
uwmpanthers.com: Live Stats, Video, Audio
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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (March 7, 2007) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team closes out the regular season Saturday when it hosts Wright State at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers and Raiders tip off at 2 p.m.
Panther Bites
The Panthers are coming off a 59-50 win over Detroit Thursday ... with the win, Milwaukee clinched a home quarterfinal game, as no worse than the four seed, in next week's Horizon League Tournament ... with a win, UWM will finish in a tie for second with Wright State, its eighth second-or-better finish in the last nine seasons ... Traci Edwards has averaged 27.3 points per game over her last seven contests and has topped 20 points in a school record-tying five-straight games ... Wright State clinched the No. 2 seed in the league tournament Thursday, despite falling at Green Bay, 78-73, in overtime.
Next Up
Milwaukee goes for a third Horizon League Tournament title when it begins its run Wednesday, March 12, in the quarterfinals. The Panthers will host Cleveland State, Butler or Valparaiso at the Klotsche Center at 7 p.m.
Reading Up On The Raiders
Wright State rebounded after a 5-11 start to go 9-3 in its last 12 games and sew up the second seed in next week's league tournament. The Raiders had won four straight before falling at Green Bay Thurday, 78-73. WSU had pushed the league regular season champs to overtime before losing. Sheylani Peddy paces the squad at 15.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 steals per game. She leads the league in steals and is 15th nationally. Whitney Lewis, meanwhile, leads the nation in three-point percentage (50.5 percent) and is second on the team with 11.8 points per game and first with 5.5 rebounds per contest. LaShawna Thomas is also checking in at 11.7 points per game, including 12.4 in league play.
Series History
The Panthers lead their all-time series with Wright State, 20-11, with the two teams alternating wins over the last five meetings. That stretch has come on the heels of a 15-game winning streak by Milwaukee in the series.
First Meeting This Season: WSU 57, UWM 56
UWM forced 28 turnovers but could not overcome 34.6 percent shooting from the field in losing to Wright State, 57-56, Jan. 3 at the Nutter Center. Traci Edwards led three players in double-figures with 16 points and seven rebounds. It was the league opener for both teams.
Last Time Out: Milwaukee 59, Detroit 50
Milwaukee converted 21-of-25 free throw attempts, led by a 12-for-14 effort from Traci Edwards, to down Detroit, 59-50, Thursday evening at the Klotsche Center. With the win, the Panthers clinched a home quarterfinal game as no worse than the fourth seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament. Edwards tallied her school-record 16th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She also blocked two shots and had two steals to pace UWM. Aubri Rote was the only other Panther in double-figures with 10.
Notes From The Detroit Game
The Panthers held Detroit to 50 points, tying a season-low ... UDM's +11 rebounding margin was UWM's second-highest rebounding deficit this season ... Milwaukee attempted a season-low 40 field goals ... the Panthers reached double-digits in steals for the fifth time this season and tied a season-high with their five blocks ... they also converted at least 80 percent of their free throws for the fourth time in their last five games.
Look At The League Tourney
The Panthers have clinched a home quarterfinal game in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament and will play as either the third or fourth seed. UWM is among four teams that have yet to clinch a seed, alongside Cleveland State, Butler and Valparaiso. In games involving those teams, UWM clinches the three seed in 7-of-8 scenarios. The only way the Panthers drop to fourth is with a loss to Wright State and wins by CSU and Butler. If that were to happen, the Vikings would jump up to three based on its regular season split with Wright State, the second seed. With a win, Milwaukee will tie for second, the eighth time in nine seasons it has finished second-or-better.
Injury News
Junior Turquoise McCain will likely miss the rest of the season with a broken toe. She first missed the Panthers' March 1 game at Green Bay after starting the first 26 games of the season. She had been averaging 6.8 points per game, good for third-best on the team, and was second in rebounding and steals.
Now THAT Is Rebounding
Since being held to double-digit points in back to back games vs. Green Bay and at Cleveland State, Traci Edwards has averaged 27.3 points per game. In the seven games since, she has topped 20 points six times and 35 points twice.
Streak Of 20's
While Edwards has scored 20-or-more points in six of her last seven games, and 19 in the other, she has eclipsed 20 in her last five games. It is the fourth streak of four-or-more 20-point games of her career and tied for the longest streak in UWM's Division I history. She previously tallied five-straight 20-point games twice in her career and shares the mark with Maria Viall. Edwards also now has 41 career 20-point outings, tied with Viall for most all-time.
Double Or Nothing
Jan. 10 against Youngstown State, Traci Edwards broke the school record for career double-doubles. Then, Thursday, she broke the school record for double-doubles in a season with her 16th. Edwards has wasted little time in racking up the double-doubles in her career, tallying 44 in 89 career games thanks to what had been a school-record 15 as a freshman. She had equaled that record Feb. 23. As for double-digit rebounding games, she also holds that career mark with 46 and has broken her own school standard with 17 this season.
Tracking The League Leaders
Traci Edwards is making a push for her second-straight league scoring title and third-straight rebounding crown. While she holds a commanding lead of 2.6 rebounds per game, she has been vying with Cleveland State's Kailey Klein for the scoring lead and currently holds the top spot at 20.4 points per game. Klein cut into the lead some this week with a 28-point effort Thursday, pushing her per-game average to 19.5. Edwards, on the other hand, put up 21 points and held at 20.4 for a 0.9 ppg lead. Overall, Edwards currently maintains a 571-to-546 advantage in total points.
What That Means...
There has been just one player to lead the Horizon League in scoring in back-to-back seasons and that was Loyola's Sheryl Porter back in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons. Meanwhile, there have been two more players to lead the league twice in their careers. Edwards also could be just the third player to lead the circuit in rebounding three-straight times. No player has ever done it four times. Lastly, Edwards' 2006-07 season was just the third in league history that a player finished atop both the scoring and rebounding charts, while she could become the first to do so in back-to-back seasons.
Close, But No Cigar
UWM's one-point loss at Green Bay March 1 was its second-straight one-point defeat and its eighth loss this season by three points or less. The eight losses have come by a combined 15 points. Milwaukee is 2-8 in games decided by five points or less.
Lordy, Lordy, Look Who Scored Forty (Five)
Traci Edwards went off for 45 points at Loyola Feb. 21, breaking her own school record of 42 points she set last season. Her point total is tied for the second-highest point total in NCAA Division I this season and is the third-highest in league history. She did it in an efficient manner, as well, making 12-of-14 shots for the second-best field goal percentage in school history. Edwards also went 20-for-22 from the free throw line, setting a school record for free throws made in a game. Corrin Von Wald had held that mark with 18 made Jan. 19, 2000.
Player Of The Week
Traci Edwards was named the Horizon League Player of the Week for the second time this season Feb. 25. She averaged 32.5 points and 11 rebounds per game last week, including her school-record 45-point performance at Loyola. The award was the seventh of her career, tying Maria Viall's school record and two behind Nicole Soulis' (Green Bay) league record of nine.
Well, If They're `Free'...
Traci Edwards has been a force in the paint for the Panthers, so much so that opponents are fouling her at a feverish pace. Thanks to her 20-for-22 outburst at Loyola Feb. 21 and a 9-for-9 effort at Green Bay last Saturday, she is averaging 6.9 free throws made and 8.8 attempts per game. According to Yahoo! Sports, both are second in the nation behind Western Kentucky's Crystal Kelly (8.0-for-9.6). With 192 free throws made, she handily broke her own school record of 175 free throws made in a season and the league record of 179. Edwards had long ago eclipsed the school record for attempts that she set in each of her first two seasons (212) with 246 through Thursday's game. The trend has been there throughout her career as she has passed Maria Viall's school records for both free throws made (390) and attempted (550) this season. Edwards has now gone 503-for-682 from the free throw line in her career, putting her fourth in league history in free throws made, 35 back of the league mark set by Green Bay's Chari Nordgaard (1996-99).
Then There Was That One Time
The Feb. 21 game at Loyola was not the only memorable free throw display by Edwards this season. Jan. 19 at Butler, she was a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, tying a school record for free throw percentage. She also had the second-most free throws made in a game without a miss, tying Corrin Von Wald's effort from the 1999-00 season. Later that season, Von Wald posted the best free throw shooting game, going 18-for-18. Eighteen made free throws is the minimum for inclusion in the NCAA Record Book.
Keeping It Going
Traci Edwards was limited to just 18 minutes against Green Bay Feb. 2, scoring five points and pulling down just one rebound. The game ended her streak of 41-straight games scoring in double-figures and set a career-low for rebounds in a game (which had been two in her collegiate debut). She had started the season with a 22-game streak that had already established a school record and scored 30 points in the season opener. The 30-point outing was a school record for points in a season opener and the fourth 30-point outing of her career, another record (she now has six). It was also Edwards' fifth-straight 20-point game dating back to last season, tying a school record she had already shared. While the single-digit scoring game was one of six in 89 career games for Edwards, she followed that up with just eight points at Cleveland State Feb. 7. It was the first time that she failed to reach 10 points in back-to-back games. Overall, she has scored in double figures 83 times in her career, including 20-or-more points 41 times and 30-plus points eight times.
Pacing The Panthers
It's no surprise that Traci Edwards is the focal point of the UWM offense. But, this season, she has stepped up that team-leading production. In 89 career games, Edwards has led the team in scoring 71 times and rebounding 76 times. She has led the team in scoring in 24-of-28 games this season and had a streak of 27-straight games she played in where she led the team in scoring come to an end. She also had a smaller streak of 11-straight games leading in rebounding snapped. The scoring streak was a school record and three times longer than any such streak in the team's Division I history. After that streak ended, Edwards then led the team in scoring in 10-straight games, the second-longest streak in school history. Feb. 2 vs. Green Bay was just the sixth time in her career that she did not lead the team in scoring or rebounding.
Botham's Figures
UWM's Feb. 16 win over Valparaiso was career league victory No. 126 for head coach Sandy Botham. She broke the league record for wins in league play, which she had held with Kevin Borseth, who coached at Green Bay through last season. She has now led UWM to a 128-57 record in league play in her career. Botham is also looking to get closer to her 200th win as coach of the Panthers. Milwaukee needs to reach 20 wins this season for her to get to the milestone. Botham has a 195-148 career record on the UWM sidelines.
Team Treys
With an inside-outside game like the one the Panthers feature, there are bound to be three-pointers aplenty. Milwaukee is no exception to that, as it has averaged 6.79 three-pointers per game, good for 25th in the nation. UWM is also knocking down 37.2 percent of its chances, which is 20th in the nation. The Panthers are on pace for 204 threes through one league tournament game, which would better the school-record 202 the team hit last season, and are hovering just below the school record of 37.8 percent set during the 1996-97 season. Seven times the Panthers have hit on 10-or-more three-pointers this season. They have also built up a modest streak of 173-straight games with a three-pointer. While that is far less than halfway to any NCAA records, it tied the school record or the most consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer. Milwaukee will look to break that figure in the regular season finale Saturday against Wright State.
What It Takes To Win
Every team needs things to go right in order to win, but the keys for the Panthers this season have been rebounding and three-point shooting. The first 14 of Milwaukee's wins came in games it has outrebounded its opponent, while Thursday was its first win when being outrebounded. Overall, the rebounding comparison is staggering, as UWM is outrebounding opponents by 10.0 per game in its 15 wins but concede a 0.3 rebounding edge in 13 losses. From three-point range, Milwaukee is shooting 41.8 percent in wins compared to just 31.8 in losses.
Sometimes It's How You Start...
The Panthers have excelled when they have given themselves the early advantage, as evidenced by a 13-5 record when they win the tip off. UWM is also 10-1 when it scores first.
Sometimes... Not So Much
Milwaukee has five wins this season when its opponent gets on the board first (5-12). But, the first possession for the team doesn't seem too crucial. The Panthers are 7-5 when their first possession yields points, while boasting a respectable 8-8 record when not scoring on that possession.
Rookie Starters
For the first time in almost three years, three freshmen were in the starting lineup for Milwaukee at Cleveland State Feb. 7. Maurika Hickman, Lindsay Laur and Jineen Williams started together for the first time this season and were the first trio of freshmen in the same starting five since Feb. 12, 2005, also at CSU. In that game, Elisha Hudson, Meghan Klein and Emily Huss got the start. Hickman, Laur and Williams have started five games together, marking the first time in UWM's Division I history that three freshmen have cracked the starting lineup together for multiple games.
League Success
The Panthers are looking to continue a strong tradition of success in the Horizon League in 2007-08. Milwaukee has finished second-or-better in the league standings in seven of the last eight seasons and is 103-37 in league games since 1999-2000. UWM has won league titles in 2001 and 2006.
Twenty Times Two
When Maurika Hickman and Lindsay Laur each scored 20 points off the bench Feb. 2, it was historic for a number of reasons. First, it was the first game in UWM's Division I history that two freshmen scored 20 points in the same game. It was also the first where both scorers came off the bench. The last time any two players topped 20 points in the same game for Milwaukee was its 2007-08 season-opener when Traci Edwards tallied 30 points and Aubri Rote added 20. That was the first 30/20 game for the Panthers since Jan. 15, 1998, when Trina Rathke scored 30 and Daryl Schaffeld 20. Lastly, the last time Milwaukee had one 20-point scorer off the bench was Megan Rogers (21) Feb. 17, 2005. The last freshman, before Hickman and Laur, to drop 20 for UWM was Edwards in the 2006 Horizon League title game (24 points).
Big Half When They Needed It Most
In attempting the largest comeback in school history vs. Butler Feb. 14, Milwaukee put together one of its best halves of basketball this season. The Panthers cut a 22-point halftime deficit to one late by shooting 61.3 percent from the field in the second half and making 7-of-11 three-point attempts. UWM used efficient shooting to put 51 points on the board, its second 50-point half of the season. Milwaukee also scored 51 points in a half at Central Connecticut State Dec. 1, when the Panthers shot 60.7 percent from the field and made 8-of-12 second-half three-point attempts in after halftime.
The Comeback Kids Have Come Back
Milwaukee's near comeback against Butler was a great example of the Panthers' unwillingness to quit. UWM came back from 13 down at Green Bay March 1 and overcame a 12-point halftime deficit at UIC to take late leads before dropping one-point decisions. Milwaukee has also overcome double-digit deficits against Cleveland State twice this season to mixed results. The Panthers overcame a 13-point first-half deficit, and an eight-point hole at halftime, to defeat the Vikings Jan. 12. Then, Feb. 7 on the road, UWM trailed by 14 in the first half and fought back to take a two-point lead late before falling.
500 And Counting
Milwaukee's win at Valparaiso Jan. 17 was the 500th in its program history. The Panthers followed that up with a win at Butler Jan. 19, their 250th win at the Division I level. The program is now 505-431 all-time, including 254-249 since moving to Division I in 1990.
Moving On Up
As just a junior, Traci Edwards is poised to hold a number of school records when her career comes to an end. The parade of records has already started with her previously-mentioned double-double and free throw marks. But, before you can get to No. 1, you have to get to No. 2. Edwards has done that on the school's Division I scoring list. With 22 points Jan. 26 against Loyola, she passed Jessica Wilhite for second behind Maria Viall (1,867) and now has 1,686 points. Previously this season, she surpassed Erica Young (751) for second in Division I rebounding with 874. Edwards trails only Viall in scoring, rebounding (971), double-digit scoring games with 82 (Viall has 98) and she just tied Viall for 20-point games with the 41st of her career Thursday.
Home Sweet Home
The Klotsche Center remains a difficult place for visiting teams to succeed. In 11-plus years under Sandy Botham, the Panthers are 104-48 at home. The Panthers went 8-5 at home last season after a school-record 13-3 home campaign in 2005-06. In league play, those numbers are even better as Milwaukee boasts a 73-18 home league mark. The Panthers have won 58 of their last 69 home league games over the last eight seasons and posted three perfect home league years--going 8-0 in 2003-04 and 7-0 in both 1999-00 and 2000-01.
Building For The Future
Milwaukee signed a player to a National Letter of Intent during the early signing period when Amanda Viehauser of Minneapolis, Minn., committed to the Panthers. A varsity player since her eighth-grade year, Viehauser is coming off all-state honorable mention honors in her first year at Armstrong High School. She averaged 12.4 points per game and was named to the all-conference team. Prior to that, she played three years at Minneapolis Washburn High School.
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