Wis.-Milwaukee 71, Ill.-Chicago 63

3/6/2006 8:32 PM

MILWAUKEE (AP) - This time, there was no come-from-behind effort needed for the Wisconsin-Milwaukee women to keep their season alive.

The Panthers nearly squandered a 12-point lead in the second half, but held on Monday for a 71-63 victory over Illinois-Chicago for the championship of the Horizon League tournament.

Milwaukee freshman Traci Edwards scored 24 points and had eight rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals as she won tournament MVP honors.

With the win, the Panthers (22-8) secured an NCAA tournament berth and one day after they had to rally from an 11-point deficit in the final 7 1/2 minutes to beat Butler in a league semifinal.

``Our first goal was a regular season championship and our second goal was a tournament championship going into the NCAAs,'' Milwaukee coach Sandy Botham said. ``We did it. There's nothing better than knowing that all that hard work paid off.''

Edwards was limited to six points in the semifinal but had 11 points and four assists in the first half Monday.

``I really didn't play up to my potential (Sunday), and coming out strong was something I really wanted to do,'' Edwards said. ``I felt that I did that.''

There was little Chicago could do to stop Edwards.

``She showed why she's a first-team (all-league) player,'' Chicago coach Lisa Ryckbosch said. ``She's a load and you have a lot of respect for her.''

A rebound basket by Molly O'Brien off a missed shot by LaShonda Grant and two free throws by Aubrey Hampton gave Milwaukee a 68-61 lead with 21.9 seconds left. The Panthers made 9 of 12 fouls shots in the last 51.4 seconds.

NCAA tournament pairings are to be announced next Monday. The tournament starts March 18.

``Right now, I really can't believe this,'' O'Brien said.

Jacquay Holmes scored 17 points to lead Chicago (16-14).

The Flames mounted a rally after Nichole Drummond and O'Brien had to go to the Panthers' bench after colliding. Chrissy Dizon scored six straight points and Nicole Rinaldi made a lay-up off a miss by Grant to pull the Flames to within 44-42 with 10:25 left.

``We usually always have (Drummond or O'Brien) on the floor, so to have them both off the floor I thought we did get a little rattled,'' Botham said. ``They did a great job taking advantage of it.''

That was as close as Chicago could get to taking a lead, but the Flames' coach praised her team for its effort.

``I'm proud of how the kids bounced back in the second half,'' Ryckbosch said. ``They turned it up a notch. When you struggled as we did to score, when you're not knocking down shots, that only makes things harder.''

After a basket by Edwards, Meredith Onson made a 3-pointer from the left corner to extend the Panthers' lead to 49-43 with 8:21 left.

Krystal Hugelier later made a 3-pointer from the left wing to get Chicago within 60-57 with 2:23 left, but Edwards scored off a pass by Drummond for a 62-57 lead with 1:15 left.

Emily Markert hit two 3-pointers for the Panthers and Drummond added another one during a 20-1 run that put the Panthers up 33-18 with 40 seconds left in the first half.

The Flames, playing in their first Horizon final, went more than eight minutes without a basket before Holmes made a lay-up with three seconds left in the half to cut Milwaukee's lead to 33-22.

Chicago closed it to 37-32 less than four minutes into the second half, but a seven-point spurt capped with a 3-pointer from the right wing by Hampton put Milwaukee up 44-32 with 15:01 left.

Milwaukee extended a school record for wins in a season with 22, topping the previous high when the team was 20-8 in 2002.

Chicago had prevented Wisconsin-Green Bay from making its 11th straight trip to the league final with a 74-62 victory Sunday.

Milwaukee's only other league final appearance came in 2001, when it beat Green Bay 77-62 to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.