Michigan State 65, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 46

3/18/2006 2:28 PM

By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Liz Shimek took over in the second half and Michigan State took off.

Shimek scored 17 of her 27 points in the final 20 minutes as the Spartans shook off a sluggish first half and pulled away from Wisconsin-Milwaukee for a 65-46 victory in their NCAA tournament opener Saturday.

Fourth-seeded Michigan State (23-9), which lost in the national championship game a year ago to Baylor, will face either Kentucky or Chattanooga in the second round of the Bridgeport Regional on Monday.

No. 13 seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee (22-9), making just it second NCAA appearance, trailed by only one at the half and was down only three with just under 12 minutes to go.

Then Shimek, a strong and mobile 6-foot-1 senior, showed why she is the leading scorer in Michigan State history.

She sank a jumper, hit two free throws, made a left-handed basket, got loose for a twisting shot on the inside and then scored on a followup after yanking away an offensive rebound.

The 14-2 run in which she scored 10 gave MSU a 49-34 lead with just under eight minutes to go, and UW-Milwaukee's chances of pulling the upset were over.

Lindsay Bowen, second all-time on MSU's scoring list, added 12 points, all in the second half. The Spartans are making their fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance.

Aggressive on the inside, Shimek also had eight rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, where Michigan State had a 17-7 advantage.

Shimek shot 10-of-16 for the game from the field, including 6-for-7 in the second half.

Traci Edwards, UW-Milwaukee's 6-3 freshman center, scored 13 but had only two in the second half as Michigan State clamped down its defense. Nichole Drummond added 11 and Molly O'Brien 10 for the Panthers, who were hurt by 22 turnovers.

Shimek scored 10 in the opening half after a slow start. The Spartans hadn't played in nearly two weeks since losing to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament and it showed.

Shimek hit a left hook, a driving shot and then a nice layup off the break before hitting a free throw to complete a three-point play. Courtney Davidson's 3-pointer from the corner was also part of the spurt that helped the Spartans open up an 18-10 lead.

But Edwards, MVP of the Horizon League tournament, scored five points and Megan Rogers hit a 3-pointer and then a running bank shot as the Panthers scored 12 straight for a four-point lead.

Shimek's jumper with 1:13 capped a final five-point spurt as MSU went up 23-22 at the end of a half in which the Spartans missed 22 of 32 field goal attempts.