Women's Basketball December 30, 2016

Panthers, Norse Set For New Years Eve Matinee

Milwaukee looks to bounce back after loss Thursday

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee women's basketball team will close out the 2016 calendar year with a 2 pm contest Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Center against Northern Kentucky. Both NKU and UWM will be looking for their first conference wins of the season in the New Years Eve matchup, after both fell in league openers on Thursday. Matt Menzl will call the action for Milwaukee, with Saturday's game being streamed online at ESPN3 and broadcast on The Big 920 AM.

LOOKING AT THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky enters its first season under head coach Camryn Whitaker. The Norse have been a part of quite a few low-scoring affairs this season, netting 50 points or less in seven of their 13 games, thus far. Defensively, NKU is one of the tops in the league at holding its opponents to just 64.4 points per game. One of the best three-point shooting teams one year ago, the Norse have been doing most of their scoring inside the arc this season, while connecting on 4.8 threes/game.

SERIES HISTORY
Last year's contests were the first in program history between conference newcomer Northern Kentucky and Milwaukee. UWM won both of last year's meetings and is looking make it 3-0 all time in the series.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee hits the road for the first time in nearly a month next week when it heads to the Windy City for a weekend series with UIC and Valparaiso, starting with a Thursday night contest against the Flames at 7 pm.

LAST GAME
MILWAUKEE – Wright State shot 50 percent from the field – including 57 percent in the fourth quarter – in a 69-51 win over the Milwaukee women's basketball team Thursday night from the Klotsche Center.

Playing its first game in 11 days, Milwaukee (8-4, 0-1 Horizon) closed the gap to four in the third quarter but went cold from the floor down the stretch in the league opener.

"I thought we were really prepared coming into the game and that we had a really good week of practice leading up. But we didn't seem to put it all together tonight," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "A lot of credit to Wright State – they out-toughed us. We knew the game was going to be physical and we didn't match their physicality.

"We talked a lot about 'What is Milwaukee basketball,' and we did not play that tonight."

Jamie Reit had a team-high 11 points for Milwaukee in just 15 minutes of action.

"Jamie was a huge lift off the bench for us," Rechlicz said. "We needed scoring coming off the bench and that's why we put her in that role. She came in a really gave us a much-needed lift offensively."

BOUNCING BACK
Despite dropping their league opener Thursday to Wright State, things are far from doom and gloom inside the Klotsche Center. Just last year, Milwaukee dropped its first two league contests before finishing with a 12-6 league mark and taking second place in the Horizon League. In fact, some of the program's best seasons have started off with losses in the league opener, with that occurring last year, in the 2007-08 season (L, 57-56 to Wright State) and the 04-05 season (L, 63-46 to Green Bay).

DROPPING THE BALL
Saturday's New Years Eve contest is not the first time the Panthers have closed out the calendar year on the hardwood. UWM is 3-3 all time when playing on the last day of the year, surprisingly though none of those wins have come in conference play. The last NYE win for Milwaukee came at the end of 2008 with a 63-62 victory at Marquette. Saturday's game will be the first New Years Eve game for UWM since 2011 - a 76-41 loss to UIC.

PRESEASON RANKS
The Horizon League released its preseason rankings as voted on by coaches, media members and SIDs with the Panthers picked to be right back at the top this season. Milwaukee was tabbed third overall with 246 points, behind only Green Bay (299) and Detroit (256). Steph Kostowicz also was recognized when the votes were announced, earning first-team all-league honors after earning the same distinction at the end of last year's outstanding run.

CRACKING THE POLLS
A few weeks ago, Milwaukee achieved yet another new feat when they cracked the top-25 in the College Insider Mid-Major poll at No. 20. That marked the first ever ranking of any kind in Milwaukee women's basketball Division-I history. This week, Milwaukee sits at No. 24 in the rankings.

THE W's AND THE L's
Milwaukee has dropped three of its last four, and some statistical categories stand out as the difference between Milwaukee's eight wins compared to its four losses:

                                    W's       L's
FG%                             .442      .383
Def FG%                       ,394      .458
Rebound Margin            +11.3    +1.3
PPG                              75.4      73.0
PPG Against                   56.8      83.2

COMING OUT SWINGING
Last year, Milwaukee made a habit of jumping out quickly on its opponents and building a very sizeable lead before they knew what hit them. That has been a trend once again in the early going this season. UWM is outscoring its first 12 opponents by 51 in the first quarter alone and boasts a 429-358 edge in first halves thus far.

THE COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz have been on a mission since day one in the Black & Gold and it seems only a matter of time until both individuals crack the 1,000-point milestone during this their junior seasons. Milwaukee entered the season with 19 players in program history reaching the historic scoring mark, with Lindner and Kostowicz well on pace to eclipse the barrier shortly. Heading into Saturday's game, Lindner sits with 927 points (73 away), while Kostowicz is at 802 points (198 away). Of Milwaukee's 19 players with 1,000+ points in their careers, there have been only two other tandems to achieve the feat as part of the same class:

-Umenia White (1,597 points) and Cammie Nonhoff (1,087 points) from 1985-89

-Jaci Clark (1,830 points) and Marsha Housley (1,491 points) from 1979-83.

...AND THE COUNTDOWN TO 500
The same duo that has been lighting up the scoreboard for Milwaukee the past two-plus seasons has also been getting things done on the glass. Not only are Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Linder closing in on 1,000 career points, but both seem likely to crack the 500-rebound list this season, as well. Kostowicz is closest, with 499 (one away) entering Saturday's game, while Lindner isn't far away at 430 (70 away). To date, UWM has 23 players with 500 rebounds all time in program history. Of those 23, only 12 also reached the 1,000-point mark in their careers.

DE-FENSE
The Panthers turned up the defensive pressure Nov. 20 at Loyola and held the Ramblers to just 15 first-half points and 46 total for the game. That tied the fewest allowed by Kyle Rechlicz-coached Milwaukee team, equal to a 62-46 win at Cleveland State Jan. 9, 2016.

Then, just six days later, Milwaukee one-upped themselves yet again. Going up against tournament host Vermont as part of the TD Bank Classic, the Panthers again cranked things up defensively and limited the Catamounts to just five first-quarter points and just 44 for the game. That trumps both 46-point games as the new standard under Rechlicz.

In fact, no UWM team has conceded fewer points since the 2011-12 squad posted a 50-31 win over Valparaiso on Feb. 25 at the Klotsche Center.

Additionally, Milwaukee has now held four opponents to 50-or-less points this season (LIU-Brooklyn - 50 points; Chicago State - 49 points). That is one better than last year's squad and hasn't been done since the 2008-09 season also held four opponents to 50 points or less.

A LOT OF CHARITY WORK
Kyle Rechlicz's teams have increasingly improved on their free throw shooting, with last year being the third-best in program history, connecting on .737 percent of their freebies. This year's Panther squad is well above that mark, sinking 184-236 of their shots from the charity stripe heading into the game against Wright State. That is good for a .780 percentage - just behind the school record mark of .790 set back in the 2010-11 season.

Not only that, the Panthers' free throw shooting ranks 12th in the entire nation after 12 games. Iowa State leads the NCAA at .820 (214-261).

Individually, Jenny Lindner stands eighth in the entire nation with a rate of 92.9 percent from the line, missing just four (52-56) from the line all season.

DOUBLING DOWN
Steph Kostowicz has picked up right where she left off last year, recording seven double-doubles in her first 12 games of the season. The preseason first-team all-league honoree has been a monster all year, nearly averaging a double-double thus far with 16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds. Kostowicz's seven double-doubles not only leads the Horizon League, but also ranks tied for 13th in the entire nation. Washington's Chantel Osahor leads the with 11 in 14 games.

AWARD-WINNING PLAY
While Milwaukee hasn't even started the conference portion of its season, people have already taken plenty of notice of the Panthers' play on the court thus far.

Most recently, it was Steph Kostowicz's turn. The junior was named Horizon League Player of the week after a strong showing down the stretch in Milwaukee's come-from-behind win over North Dakota State Dec. 3.

That came just one week after six different players earned various awards after posting three wins in a five-day span. Bailey Farley, Alexis Lindstrom, Sierra Ford-Washington and Steph Kostowicz were all named to the TD Bank Classic All-Tournament Team, with Kostowicz also earning MVP honors.

On top of that, junior Jenny Lindner was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after three outstanding games. First, Lindner poured in a game-high 28 points to lead the way in the convincing 17-point win over Wisconsin. She also finished as the top scorer of the TD Bank Classic, with a combined 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as Milwaukee swept through the tournament.

As if that weren't enough, Lizzie Odegard also was recognized, being named the league's freshman of the week after capping her strong week with a 14-point, seven-rebound performance in the tournament championship game. That already is the second time Odegard has earned the league's weekly freshman honor, also doing so following her first collegiate game. With that, Odegard became the first Panther to earn a league award after her collegiate debut in program history.

400 AND COUNTING!
The Panthers have turned it up from three-point range recently, but have always been a threat from long distance. In fact, the team has a long history of making three's. Milwaukee has made at least one three-pointer in every game dating back to an 0-for-4 showing from long-distance against Marquette back on November 26, 2002. That makes 433 games in a row heading into the game against the Norse. It's still a ways to go for the NCAA record, however, which is held by Canisius at 510 in a row (1994-2011). The Horizon League record was halted five years ago when Loyola came up empty at 446. Cleveland State held the record previously - which was also the NCAA mark at the time - at 408 (1992-2007). For comparison, the NBA's longest streak is the Dallas Mavericks at 1,108 in a row.

TURKEY TOURNEY
With its sweep at the TD Bank Classic hosted by Vermont over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Panthers claimed their first in-season tournament title since the 2006 team went 2-0 at the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic in Dallas, Texas. Milwaukee no only won both games this season in Vermont, but did so dominating fashion - taking the title by an average winning margin of 31. UWM improved its record to 17-10 all time in tournaments over the Thanksgiving holiday and broke the tie to jump up to 27-25 in all in-season tournaments.

YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH WAKEMAN
Christina Wakeman has been chosen as a nominee of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team. The award - in its fifth year of existence - honors college basketball players for their community service work - something Wakeman has been no stranger to in her time with the Panthers.

Wakeman is one of 97 student-athletes nominated. A total of 10 will be named to the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team in February, and selected student-athletes will be honored at the 2017 WBCA Convention and at the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four in Dallas, Texas.

WINNING BIG
The Panthers have made a habit this season with some rather lopsided wins. First, Milwaukee claimed a 27-point win over Loyola (73-46) on Nov. 20 - the biggest win in Kyle Rechlicz's four-plus years as head coach of the Panthers at that time. UWM then took down in-state rival Wisconsin by an impressive 17 points before a 38-point smothering (88-50) of LIU-Brooklyn to start the TD Bank Classic Nov. 25. Milwaukee then closed out that tournament with a 24-point win (68-44) over host Vermont Nov. 26. Most recently, Milwaukee took down Chicago State just Dec. 14 by 22 with a 71-49 win at home.

Not only is the 38-point win the new bench mark for margin of victory under Rechlicz, it's also the fourth-largest win for UWM since they moved to Division I heading into the 1990-91 season. It also marks the biggest win since the school-record 54-point victory (100-46) over Youngstown State back on Feb. 2, 2002.

STREAK SNAPPERS
The Panthers have already put a pair of long losing streaks to bed this season. With its win at Loyola on Nov. 20, UWM ended a six-game win streak by the Ramblers in the series, with the last win coming back in 2011. Then, just two days later, Milwaukee emphatically took down Wisconsin for its first win in that series since Dec. 15, 1992 - a span of 17-straight wins by the Badgers over nearly 25 years.

A B1G WIN
Another notable feat in its win over in-state rival Wisconsin was that it marked just the seventh time the Panthers have taken down a Big Ten foe. That marked the first win over the Big Ten since an 81-73 victory over Northwestern on Jan. 18, 2006. Milwaukee nearly made it 2-for-2 against the Big Ten with its game against Northwestern this season, falling 65-63 in a nail biter of a game that came down to the final shot.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK
After missing the entire 2015-16 season following a preseason injury, Jordyn Swan returned for her redshirt senior year and made her return to the court with three minutes of action at NIU Nov. 16. Four days later, Swan had a big impact - netting 13 points in just 13 minutes of action. That is significant, as it marks the first time Swan reached double figures in scoring since her junior season when she netted 11 against Youngstown State on Jan. 31, 2015.

THAT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL
Milwaukee did something it has never done before in the Nov. 16 game at Northern Illinois - have three players with a double-double in the same contest. Steph Kostowicz (30 pts, 11 reb), Sierra Ford-Washington (18 pts, 11 reb) and Jenny Lindner (16 pts, 12 reb) all recorded double-doubles in Milwaukee's 114-104 loss, marking the first time three players have done that all in the same game.

MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF
Head coach Kyle Rechlicz was named the seventh coach in program history in May of 2012. After three years of hard work, the Panthers broke through in her fourth season at the helm with an incredible campaign last year. Milwaukee racked up 19 wins, finished season in the Horizon League and earned a trip to the WNIT. All that work did not go unnoticed, as Rechlicz was named Horizon League Coach of the Year at the end of last season, making her just the second coach in program history to earn that honor.

IN THE BOOKS
Last season was truly a memorable one for Milwaukee, recording its best regular season in a decade with quite a few remarkable accomplishments achieved by last year's squad.

• The 19 wins are the most in a season since the 2005-06 team that finished 22-9 on their way to the NCAA Tournament.

• The 12 conference wins are the most also since the 05-06 season.

• Milwaukee also posted 10 wins away from home, just one shy of the record 11 non-home wins set by the 2001-02 team.

• The Panthers finished their home season with a 9-5 mark - the first home winning season since 2010-11 (7-6). In fact, last season's home winning percentage of .643 is the highest since the 05-06 team went 13-3 for an .813 mark.

• Last year's second-place finish marked the first time Milwaukee has finished in the top half of the league standings since the 2010-11 team placed fourth and it is the first top-two finish for UWM since taking second in the 07-08 season.

WATCH 'EM ANYWHERE
Fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. The team will play four games on local broadcast television, once again returning to Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. Another 21 games will be carried live online on ESPN3 as well as one other road game via an opponent platform. For the Panthers' TWC SportsChannel contests, Bob Brainerd and former UWM great Maria Viall will once again be calling the action.

HEAD TO THE BIG 920
Nearly every Milwaukee regular-season game will once again be available on the radio and online via "The Big 920" on your AM dial. Matt Menzl will don the headset for the first time this season. Fans might remember Menzl after years of calling Milwaukee soccer and volleyball games, as well spending the past five seasons as the voice of Green Bay men's basketball. Fans can also catch Menzl's call with the majority of the team's ESPN3 webcasts. A select few games will not be aired over the radio waves due to broadcast conflicts, but can still be found online at MKEPanthers.com.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Bailey Farley: G; 5' 10"; Junior

#30 Sierra Ford-Washington: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#32 Steph Kostowicz: F; 6' 2"; Junior

#20 Jenny Lindner: G; 6' 0"; Junior

#5 Alexis Lindstrom: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#41 Jordyn Swan: G/F; 6' 0"; Senior

#43 Christina Wakeman: C; 6' 3"; Senior

#10 Jamie Reit: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

#45 Lizzie Odegard: F; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#4 Bailey Farley
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

#30 Sierra Ford-Washington
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#32 Steph Kostowicz
: 6' 2"; Junior
: F

#20 Jenny Lindner
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

#5 Alexis Lindstrom
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#41 Jordyn Swan
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G/F

#43 Christina Wakeman
: 6' 3"; Senior
: C

#10 Jamie Reit
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

#45 Lizzie Odegard
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F