March 13, 2009
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Third-seeded Cleveland Sate had its season come to an end with a 63-57 setback to seventh-seeded Milwaukee in the 2009 Speedway Horizon League Championship semifinals on Friday night in the Kress Events Center.
The Vikings conclude the season with a 19-13 mark, while Milwaukee advances to Sunday's championship at 15-17.
"I thought we gave a good effort tonight, but we just couldn't hit any shots," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We only turned the ball over eight times and had 17 offensive rebounds. So it wasn't about a lack of effort.
"I am so proud of the way this team battled all season. It's a shame the season had to end like this."
Things started out well for the Vikings who scored the first 14 points of the game before an Ashley Imperiale jumper gave UWM its first points (14-2) at the 13:26 mark.
The Panthers slowly began to chip away at CSU's lead and would take their first lead of the contest (26-23) on an Imperiale three-pointer with 3:27 left in the half. The Panthers pushed the lead to as many as seven points before settling on a 36-31 lead at the half.
CSU was forced to play the final few minutes of the first half with Kailey Klein, Dominique Butler and Jessica Roque all on the bench with two fouls.
Milwaukee's lead swelled to as many as 10 points (53-43) with 6:51 to play on an Edwards layup, but the Vikings would rally, using a 14-6 run over the next six minutes to cut the deficit to two (59-57) with 43 seconds left on a Roque layup.
But the Panthers went right inside to Edwards on the next possession and she responded with a basket to push the lead to four and following CSU miss, Lindsay Laur hit two free throws to ice the game.
Garland led the Vikings with 18 points eight rebounds and three steals, while Butler had nine points and six boards in her 119th and final game of her career.
Edwards and Imperiale scored 24 points apiece, while Laur had 15 as the trio were the only Panthers to score. Markita Barnes dished out 10 assists.
The Panthers had a 37-30 advantage on the glass, while CSU committed a season-low eight turnovers. UWM had 22 turnovers and the Vikings finished with 14 steals.
CSU shot .323 (21-65) from the floor, while UWM hit 22-of-43 (.512), including 6-of-14 (.429) from three-point.
