The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team continues Horizon League play with its in-state rivalry matchup against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Saturday. The Phoenix, 6-0 at home this year and winners of the past 16 regular-season conference titles, will be out for revenge after the Panthers handed them a rare homecourt loss a season ago. Tip off time is set for 1 p.m. from the Kress Center, set to be aired live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. In addition, the "
Kyle Rechlicz Show" can be seen at 12:30 p.m. in the Milwaukee area.
LOOKING AT GREEN BAYGreen Bay enters the game with an overall record of 12-3 and is in its standard first-place spot in the Horizon League standings at 2-0 after topping top contenders Youngstown State (66-43 Jan. 10) and Wright State (68-59 Jan. 7). The team was ranked in the Top 25 earlier this season and gets contributions from numerous spots on the roster, with Mehryn Kraker leading in points (12.0 ppg) and rebounds (5.6), Megan Lukan in assists (4.6) and Kaili Lukan in steals (1.8). Tesha Buck also averaged double-figures at 10.1 ppg.
SERIES HISTORYMilwaukee and Green Bay are playing for the 77th time Saturday. The Phoenix holds the series advantage with 58 wins, which included 17-straight victories prior to UWM's 75-64 victory at the Kress Center Jan. 11.
LAST GAMETay'ler Mingo scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the second half as Wright State University broke open a close contest at halftime with a strong finish in claiming an 80-58 victory Wednesday at UWM Panther Arena. The Panthers (5-10, 1-2 Horizon League) held the high-powered Raiders (13-4, 2-1 Horizon League) to just 31 first-half points, but a big scoring run opened up the contest and UWM was unable to mount a comeback.
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Junior
Jaleesa Armstrong paced Milwaukee with 17 points, tying her season high with five rebounds. Senior
Ashley Green posted her fourth double-double of the season and 13th of her career with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Jenny Lindner, the reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Week, added 16 points and four rebounds, making all six of her free throw attempts.
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THEY HAVE THE BLUEPRINTA season ago, the Panthers snapped a 17-game slide in the all-time series with the 75-64 victory over Green Bay Jan. 11, which also happened to be Milwaukee's first-ever win over the Phoenix at the Kress Center as well. To put the near-eight year streak into perspective, the last time UWM beat Green Bay, the current Panther seniors were not yet freshmen in high school. Since Green Bay began it's 16-year stranglehold on the Horizon League title, the Phoenix has gone 127-5 at home in regular-season conference games since the start of the 1998-99 season, a mind-boggling .962 winning percentage. Two of those five losses have been to UWM (also in 2005-06).
HITTING THE BIG TIMEThe game against Wright State Jan. 14 at UWM Milwaukee Panther Arena was the 11th all-time for the women's basketball team at the downtown facility. It marked the first time since the 2002-03 season that the team played their twice in one campaign. The team is now 6-5 all-time in those contests, also defeating Eastern Illinois 72-63 back on Dec. 10. The last game prior to this season? A 60-51 win over Loyola on February 18, 2010.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHINGJunior
Sydney Howard has continued to shine in her expanded role this season and has now added the title of "rebounder" to her resume. A game after setting a career high with six rebounds at Detroit Jan. 7, she reset the mark the next game at Oakland with seven boards, good enough to lead the team in a game for the first time in her career as well. She added nine points, coming close to her first career double-double in the process.
DISHING AND DRIVINGThe points/assists double-double that junior
Jaleesa Armstrong recorded Jan. 7 at Detroit is rare in the history of the Milwaukee basketball program. Since becoming an NCAA Division I program in 1990-91, the Panthers have played just over 1,100 games all time. Her 23/10 effort marked just the 12th time a player has recorded a double-double consisting of points and assists in that span (roughly 1.1 percent of the time). She also tied a 15-year old school record in the process, in the category of the most three-pointers made in a game without a miss. She made a perfect 5-of-5, equaling the mark set by Daryl Schaffeld back in February of 1999.
IT'S AWESOME BABY!!!!The Panthers took a quick liking to Dick Vitale Court in Detroit Jan. 7, setting season highs in points scored with 84 (previous high was 80 at Marquette) and field goal percentage at 52.5 percent (was 43.3 at NDSU). In fact, the field goal clip marked the first time that Milwaukee made over half of its shots in a game since sinking 54.7 percent of its attempts against Valparaiso Feb. 1 of last season.
EVERYONE STARTS 0-0The Panthers opened their 21st Horizon League season with a win Jan. 7. The team is now 10-11 in conference openers all-time, including 5-6 on the road. A year ago, UWM pulled off an impressive 75-64 road upset of defending champion Green Bay to get league play rolling.
SYD THE KYDSydney Howard is in the middle of a breakthrough junior campaign and her performance in the month of December was noteworthy. In six games (four starts), Howard averaged 7.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and reset her career-high for points in a game twice, including 14 against IPFW Dec. 28. She shot 51.9 percent from the field (14-27), 55.6 percent on 3's (5-9), playing 25.7 minutes and had 11 assists compared to four turnovers. Coming into the season, she was averaging 1.8 points, 1.1 rebounds and 10.5 minutes per contest.
THE LAST TIME?A couple of numbers jump off the box score from the win over the Cougars Dec. 21. The Panthers collected 40 total rebounds, including an impressive 20 on the offensive end. The last 20-plus offensive rebound effort came in the season finale in 2012-13 when they grabbed 22. The team also committed just nine fouls. The last time UWM was under 10 personal fouls was also a count of 9 versus Valparaiso in February of 2012. Finally, the last time Milwaukee allowed less than 50 points to an opponent was 28 games ago when Omaha netted 48 in January of 2014.
JENNY, FROM THE BLOCKFreshman
Jenny Lindner netted a career high for the second game in a row against Eastern Illinois Dec. 10, finishing with a team-best 19 points. Her high-water scoring mark has now gone from 12 to 15 to 19 overall and she has finished nine games in double-figures - the most for a UWM freshman since
Ashley Green accomplished the feat 17 times back in 2011-12.
'TIS THE SEASON OF GIVINGFor the second year in a row, a Panther sits near the top of the Horizon League leaders in assists. Newcomer
Jaleesa Armstrong is currently second at 4.8 assists per game, with the current first-place tally at 5.0. A year ago,
Angela Rodriguez led the league, finishing with a school record 168 on the year.
IT'S AN OLD HABITThe 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 headed into 2014-15. 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 374 games in a row heading into the game against the Phoenix. It's 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 three 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.
SIMPLY MAV-A-LOUSJunior
Jordyn Swan and freshman
Jenny Lindner both stepped up in the game against Omaha Dec. 7, each setting career-highs in points scored against the Mavericks. Swan netted 16 points for her third career double-figure effort, topping the mark of 12 she established against North Dakota last month. Lindner had 15 for the fourth double-digit effort of her career, bettering the 12 she scored back in the season opener.
START LOOKING AT ME SWANFinally 100 percent healthy, junior
Jordyn Swan has been emerging as a go-to player this season. She has started 14 of 15 games and is averaging career-highs with 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. In fact, coming into this season, she had accumulated 58 career points and 20 career rebounds - this season alone she now has 118 points and 59 boards.
ROYAL WORK IN KCNot to be overlooked against UMKC Dec. 2, but the Panthers did one of their best-ever jobs of taking care of the ball. The team ended up with just eight turnovers against the Kangaroos, just one off the school record-low of seven in a game (It's the sixth game in program history with eight).
NOT A GREENHORNAshley Green is making this scoring thing look easy as a senior. Over the course of her first three years in a Panther uniform, Green crossed the 20-plus plateau on eight occasions, including a pair of 30-plus point outings.
This season alone, she has finished with 20-or-more points seven times, including two outings over 30. She has paced the team in scoring eight of 15 times and has led or tied for the team lead in rebounding in 12 of 15 outings as well.
ON FIREAshley Green's scoring output in the early portion of the season has been impressive and, as of Monday, was still ranked in the Top 25 at the NCAA Division I level at 20.1 ppg. In fact, the 89 she netted in the first three games of the campaign marked the third-highest three-game output in school history. Only Traci Edwards had more: 94 (42/30/22) in 2006-07 and 92 (45/20/27) in 2007-08.
I'LL TAKE GREEN FOR 20, ALEXAshley Green scored at least 20-or-more points four times in a row to open the 2014-15 campaign - with the streak coming to an end against Mizzou - just one off of Traci Edwards' school-record streak of five (which she did four times).
THROWING THEM INTO THE MIXSteph Kostowicz became the third freshman (joining
Kelsey Cunningham and
Jenny Lindner) to earn her first start this season, cracking the lineup against Marquette Nov. 26. She responded with 12 points and four rebounds, making 8-of-12 attempts from the free throw line.
IT AIN'T EASY BEING GREENAshley Green became just the second player in program history to score 30-or-more points in back-to-back games (66 total points Nov. 16 and Nov. 18), joining Traci Edwards (72 in consecutive games in January of 2007) on the short list. Edwards' two-game tally included outings of 42 and 30 points.
A DEFENSIVE BAKERS DOZENThe 13 points Milwaukee held Bowling Green to in the first half of the Nov. 22 contest was nearly unprecedented. The tiny tally was just one point off the school record of 12 accomplished in the first half against Wagner way back in December of 1997.
HIGH-SCORING HALFThe 50-point first half against North Dakota Nov. 18 marked the first time UWM hit the half-century plateau as a team since netting 53 in the second half of an 82-69 victory over Chicago State Nov. 16, 2010.
LONG-RANGE LEGENDSThe Panthers continue to sink an impressive amount of three-pointers under
Kyle Rechlicz and the performance against North Dakota Nov. 18 added to the list. Milwaukee finished with 16 three's, just one triple away from the school and Horizon League record of 17 it set back against Bradley December 5, 2012. In addition to being the second-highest total in program history, the 16 is also the most ever made in a game that did not go into overtime. The Panthers were an incredible 13-of-15 (87%) in the first half.
BEST EVERAshley Green's 36 points against NDSU Nov. 16 were the most-ever for a Milwaukee player in a season opener, topping the 30 that Traci Edwards netted in the initial game of the 2007-08 campaign. It was also a marked improvement in season openers for Green personally. She finished with three points as a junior against Wisconsin, five against Chicago State as sophomore and did not score in her freshman debut off the bench.
SETTING THE BAR HIGHAshley Green has been a starter since early in her freshman campaign and has already accumulated a lengthy resume when it comes to personal statistical highlights. She one-upped all of that in just one performance in the season opener, setting new career-highs in both points scored and rebounds. Her 36 points topped her former best of 33 that she scored against Bradley December 4, 2012. Meanwhile, the 15 rebounds eclipsed her former career-best of 14, accomplished twice prior. In addition, she also tied her collegiate-best with the 13 made field goals.
FILLING IT UPThat 36-point effort from
Ashley Green tied for the fourth-highest single-game scoring effort in program history.
1. 45 points, Traci Edwards, 2/21/08
2. 42, Edwards, 1/20/07
3. 38, Andrea Filipek, 1/23/99
4. 36, now accomplished four times
JUST ANOTHER GAMEAfter averaging 17.1 points per game as a senior in high school, freshman
Jenny Lindner picked it right up on the collegiate level with 12 points and seven rebounds in her UWM debut against NDSU Nov. 16. The 12-point effort marks the most for a Milwaukee freshman in a season opener since
Angela Rodriguez finished with 16 points in the 2010 opener against Oklahoma.
PRESEASON PUBLICITYSenior
Ashley Green was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team in the league's annual preseason poll of head coaches, media members and sports information directors.
NEW-LOOK PANTHERSMilwaukee will have an interesting look to the roster this season after graduating three senior starters from a year ago. The roster features five players who were on the team in 2013-14 and seven newcomers. Among the new faces are a pair of transfers (one will be sitting out per NCAA regulations), a senior playing her first season of collegiate hoops and four true freshmen all looking to make a good first impression.
TIME TO STEP UPThe situation allows the Panthers an opportunity for new players to step up or returning players to expand their roles from last season. The team returns just 30.7 percent of its scoring (608 of 2,081 total points) and 36.9 percent of rebounding (370 of 1,004 total individual rebounds). When you break it down further, senior
Ashley Green accounts for 70 percent of that returning point total and 55 percent of the boards.
FOR OPENERSThe Panthers now hold an 8-17 record in season-openers at the NCAA Division I level (dating back to 1990-91) after topping North Dakota State. A year ago, Milwaukee fell to the Wisconsin Badgers by a score of 85-60 at the Klotsche Center in the season opener. Head coach
Kyle Rechlicz is now 2-1 in openers, as UWM ran away with an 82-58 win over Chicago State in Rechlicz's debut contest two years ago.
FOR OPENERS: PART IITaking the win-loss record a step further, the Panthers are now 13-12 in home openers over the same time period after falling to Bowling Green Nov. 22.
MORE THAN A GREEN THUMBOne look at the career statistics of senior
Ashley Green show an impressive trajectory. In each season at UWM, she has increased both her scoring average and her rebounding average and will look to continue the trend over her final campaign. As a freshman in 2011-12, Green averaged 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds. She upped that to 11.6 ppg and 6.2 rpg and then followed that up with a junior season where she contributed 14.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg.
HOW THEY ROLLThe Panthers were at it again last season and it would have been more noticeable had they not been even better at it two years ago. The team once again finished close to the top of the record book for three-pointers made and attempted. Prior to
Kyle Rechlicz's arrival, the most three's made was 212 and attempted was 586. The marks set in 2012-13 (255 of 726) smashed the old standards. Last year, the team finished at 241 makes and 733 attempts, both numbers ending in the top two all-time.
MAKING BUCKETSThe 90 points Milwaukee scored against Cleveland State Feb. 23 last season marked a season-high, topping the 86 it scored against Western Illinois Nov. 17. UWM went 4-1 last season when it scored over 80 points. That was a one-game jump over the prior year, when the Panthers scored at least 80 points four times. This is a marked change for the offense. Looking back, the last time a UWM team scored more than 80 points at least four times in the same season was 2006-07 (four times that campaign). The last time Milwaukee netted at least 80 more than four times was back in 2000-01, when it did so seven times.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESSThe Panthers set a record for fewest turnovers per game in 2012-13 at 16.2 - an impressive total considering the record that they broke was the former standard of 17.3 set during the 2001-02 campaign (an improvement of over one per game). The new record did not last long, however, as UWM turned the ball over just 14.9 times per contest a year ago to shatter the record once again.
SELECT COMPANYSenior
Angela Rodriguez went over 1,500 career points at the end of last season to become just the fifth player to reach that level in a UWM career. She started the season in 17th place on the all-time list moved all the way up to No. 5 (1,564).
1,000/500Ashley Green not only scores, but rebounds. Sitting at 499 career rebounds headed into the game at UIC Feb. 17 last season, she grabbed an early board to become the 23rd player in program history to collect 500 rebounds in a career. She is now just the fifth player to have recorded over 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career in UWM's NCAA Division I era. The rest of the list includes Traci Edwards (2,340 pts/1,193 reb), Maria Viall (1,867/971), Lindsay Laur (1,404/791) and Sami Tucker (1,172/774).
BIG-TIME HONORAngela Rodriguez was named Second-Team All-Horizon League last season, becoming the first Panther to earn postseason all-league honors since 2010-11. She also earned a spot on the Mexico National Team in October, one of 12 chosen to play on the squad.
SETTING THEM UPSenior
Angela Rodriguez broke the Milwaukee single-season record for assists against Wright State March 1 of last season. She went into the contest against the Raiders with 151, and her third of the day near the end of the first half in Dayton gave her 154 to break the mark of 153, set by Pam Bartnik during the 1993-94 campaign. She finished the season with 168.
MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELFHead coach
Kyle Rechlicz was named the seventh coach in program history in May of 2012. She also got off to one of the best starts - becoming the first UWM coach to win three of her first five contests of her initial campaign. In her first season, Rechlicz was also one of the youngest coaches at the NCAA Division I level - just seven coaches had earlier birth years when the 2012-13 campaign began.
BE A HOOPS COUCH POTATOFans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. The team will play five games on local broadcast television, once again returning to Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. Another 18 games will be carried live online on the Horizon League Network. For the Panthers' TWC SportsChannel contests, Bob Brainerd and former UWM great Maria Viall will once again be calling the action. Early season games will also be available on the SEC+ Network (Missouri) and the WAC Digital Network (UMKC).
HEAD TO THE BIG 920Every Milwaukee regular-season game will once again be available on the radio and online via "The Big 920" on your AM dial.
Scott Warras is back for his ninth season donning the headset. Fans can also catch Warras' call with the majority of the team's ESPN3 webcasts. A handful of games will be aired on WISN 1130 AM due to broadcast conflicts.
WELCOMEHead coach
Kyle Rechlicz rounded out her staff in the offseason by hiring
Ashlee McGee as an assistant coach and
Scott Warras as the Director of Basketball Operations.
Kelly Poster also begins her first season as the team's athletic trainer.
McGee comes to Milwaukee after most recently serving as the women's basketball assistant coach at Tennessee State University since the summer of 2012. Warras, the voice of the Panthers on radio broadcasts for the past eight seasons, joins the Milwaukee staff on a full-time basis and will work directly with Rechlicz on coordinating team travel, budget, practices and other program functions.
UP NEXTThe Panthers make a quick return to the Klotsche Center, welcoming Valparaiso University Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip.