Oakland and Milwaukee Enter Holiday Break on Good Note

Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 22)
Milwaukee 73, Illinois State 58
Oakland 72, Western Michigan 62

Milwaukee 73, Illinois State 58
Sophomore Avyanna Young posted a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds and senior Emily Decorah also scored 18 points to power the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team to a convincing 73-58 victory over Illinois State University Sunday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (3-8) built a comfortable lead by halftime against the Redbirds (1-8) and extended the advantage to as many as 17 late in the game before claiming the victory.

"I really felt like we locked into a defensive plan," UWM head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "No matter what happens on offense, we've got to lock in to stopping some people and we did an amazing job of holding some of their better players to some low scoring today."

Milwaukee set season-bests on defense by holding its opponent to 58 points and 30.6 percent (22-of-72) shooting from the field. The Panthers were even stingier from three-point range, limiting Illinois State to just a pair of made three's on 21 tries, a shooting percentage of just 9.5 percent.

Senior Angela Rodriguez added 17 points and a game-high seven assists. Junior Ashley Green was also in double-figures with 10 points. The double-double was the fourth of the season for Young, who tied her career-high with the 16 boards.

"She is the reason why we won this game, in all honesty," Rechlicz said. "The fact that she got 13 defensive boards was incredible. She wanted to get every rebound she possibly could and we need that consistently out of her."

Decorah's 18 points was a season-high and included an impressive 5-for-9 showing on three-pointers.

"She struggled in the Marquette game, but we as a staff and our team have so much confidence in her that it doesn't matter, even if she started 1-for-8 we would still have been giving the ball to her towards the end of the game," Rechlicz said. "But it was really nice to see her on and nice to see when our team gets excited for her when she is hitting as well."

In fact, UWM connected on more than half of its three's on the day, making nine of 17, including five of seven after halftime. The team also out-rebounded its opponent for the first time in six games, winning the battle of the boards by a count of 45-to-42 to snap a four-game slide.

Chloe Nelson led three Redbirds in double-figures with 13 points.

Both teams shot well early and, after trading baskets for the opening minutes, Illinois State took its largest lead of the day at 18-12 at the 9:19 mark. Two Rodriguez free throws and a Decorah triple trimmed the deficit quickly. UWM would take control from there, scoring 10 of the final 13 points of the half to take a 29-23 lead into the locker room.

ISU would stick around and had the deficit back to just two at 33-31 before a quick 7-0 run by UWM would regain the momentum. The Panthers took their first 10-point lead on a Green jumper at the 11:46 mark and then led by double-figures the rest of the way after Young's three-point play on a layup and free throw with nine minutes to play.

The Redbirds did try and foul to get back into the game, with Milwaukee going to the line 31 times in the second half. The team converted 19 of those, but also used that solid defensive effort to take care of the rest and claim the victory.

Oakland 72, Western Michigan 62
Olivia Nash scored a career-best 20 points and Bethany Watterworth added 17 as the Oakland women's basketball team (4-7) earned its second-consecutive victory, defeating Western Michigan (3-7), 72-62, Sunday afternoon at University Arena. This marks the first road win of the season for the Golden Grizzlies.

"Really proud of our team," said head coach Jeff Tungate. "Our bench was huge today. They stepped up at a time we really needed them. We guarded and did a nice job executing our sets. I really enjoy being around this group. It's fun watching them improve daily."

Nash's 20 points came on a career-best 5 3-pointers and is the first Oakland player this season to go over the 20-point mark. Watterworth scored a season-best 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and Kim Bee added 10 points for her third double-figure point performance of the season. Elena Popkey grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, her second career double-digit rebound effort and added nine points.

Oakland held a 34-28 margin going into halftime despite trailing by as many as six points with 9 minutes remaining. OU finished the half on a 17-5 run led by Watterworth and Popkey with six points each. Nash score 12 of her 20 points in the half hitting four 3-pointers.

The second half was tightly contested as the Broncos fought back to take a 48-44 advantage with under 12 minutes left in regulation. Oakland would then go on a 15-0 run as Michele Hayes scored seven points off the bench and Nash capped off the run with her fifth triple of the game. Oakland sealed the victory by going 9-of-13 from the free throw line in the final five minutes.

Western Michigan was led by Miracle Woods with 13 points, while Jazmine Windham and Alex Morton added 10 points each.