UW-Milwaukee Claims 70-62 Win Over Butler

Jan. 25, 2003

Final Stats

INDIANAPOLIS - Maria Viall recorded 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead UW-Milwaukee to a 70-62 victory over the Butler women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The loss was Butler's sixth straight, dropping the Bulldogs to 3-14 overall and 1-6 in Horizon League action. UW-Milwaukee improves to 8-10 and 4-4 in the league with the win.

Lisa Pryor led the Bulldogs in scoring for the second consecutive game, finishing with 13 points. Nancy Bowden finished with 12 points to go along with her six assists and four steals, Angel Mason scored 12 points and Jessica Monaco chipped in 11. Sophomore Cortney Urquhart narrowly missed a double-double, recording eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Butler pulled out to an early 10-3 run before the Panthers went on a 9-2 run, sparked by five straight points from Maria Viall, to pull ahead 14-13 at 11:40 in the first half. After Viall's jumper at 8:57 tied the game at 18, Butler would score the next six points, while holding the Panthers scoreless for over four minutes.

After a pair of Bowden free throws at 3:30 gave the Bulldogs a 28-21 edge, the Panthers sank four straight free throws to again chip away at the deficit. Dionne Goodwin's layup but Butler up five, but Jessica Wilhite's three-pointer with 14 seconds remaining pulled the visitors to within 30-28. But, Pryor's long-range shot from the top of the key at the buzzer sent Butler into halftime with a 33-28 advantage.

UW-Milwaukee came out firing in the second half, though, outscoring Butler 15-2 in the first five minutes, to take a 43-35 lead. Five straight points by Mason brought Butler back to within three, 43-40, but Viall's three-point play followed by Julayne Feilbach's free throw again put the margin at four in UWM's favor.

The Panthers' lead was whittled away to two, 50-48, when Mason connected on another layup with nine minutes on the clock. But, that was as close as the Bulldogs would get as the Panthers knocked down key free throws in the remaining minutes to close out the win. UW-Milwaukee shot 79 percent (26-33) from the free throw line on the game, which included a 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) second half performance.

"There is something to be said for us to come back and play as hard as we did today after losing to Green Bay by 38 points on Thursday," said head coach Beth Couture. "It would have been easy for us to give up, but we fought hard today. I felt like we executed our game plan both offensively and defensively and they gave it everything they had."

UW-Milwaukee, one of the league's top rebounding teams, held a slim 41-38 edge on the boards. The Panthers shot 44 percent on the game, while Butler was limited to a 32 percent performance after shooting just 19 percent (5-27) from long range.

"We are just thin on the bench right now because of injuries," added Couture. "It makes it difficult on us - especially our guards - because everyone is required to play so many minutes."

Butler has recently been without the services of regulars Tiffany Smith and Stephanie Boeke, who are sidelined with injuries. Smith is expected to miss 2-3 more weeks, while Boeke is listed as day-to-day.

In addition to Viall's 28 points, Drummond scored 12 and Kimberly Becker added 11.

Butler will host Cleveland State on Wednesday (Jan. 29) in a Horizon League battle. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.