Women's Basketball January 13, 2016

Panthers Return Home On Time Warner Cable

Milwaukee hosts UIC Thursday from the Klotsche Center

MILWAUKEE - After a strong road trip to Ohio last weekend, Milwaukee returns home for a 7 p.m. contest against UIC Thursday night from the Klotsche Center. UWM is looking for its second-straight league win after a convincing 62-46 victory at Cleveland State on Saturday. Thursday's game will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and will be streamed live online at ESPN3.com.

LOOKING AT UIC
Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Ruvanna Campbell is the clear leader for UIC. The 6-foot-3 senior is averaging an impressive 17.8 points per game - the second-highest average in the league this year. Campbell also brings in 12.7 rebounds per game, with Steph Kostowicz's 8.9 ranking second in the league. Kendyl Nunn is second on the team in both points (13.7) and rebounds (5.3) per game.

UIC was picked third in the preseason poll and received one first-place vote. The Flames are off to a 9-6 start overall but have dropped their first four league games of the year. But, UIC has shown plenty of fight despite their early conference struggles, dropping falling to Northern Kentucky and Oakland by just two points each.

SERIES HISTORY
UIC and UWM put together a pair of thrilling games last season. The Panthers won a 64-63 game in the Klotsche Center before the Flames took down Milwaukee, 72-70, in Chicago one month later. UWM still holds the overall series at 27-21, but UIC has been hot of late, winning seven of the last nine.

UP NEXT
UWM wraps up its short two-game home stint with a Saturday afternoon game against Valparaiso at 2 p.m.

LAST GAME
Steph Kostowicz tied her career high with 18 points and Milwaukee women's basketball team applied smothering defense all game long en route to a 62-46 win over Cleveland State Saturday afternoon from the Wolstein Center.

Milwaukee (7-7, 1-2 Horizon) held CSU (3-11, 0-4) to just 12 made field goals for the game – just one shy of the school record of 11.

The Panther defense also held the Vikings to just 14 first-half points. That marked the lowest total of the season and is the third-lowest total in school history.

In fact, Milwaukee held CSU without a field goal for over a 10-minute span that saw the Panthers go from up by six to a 34-14 lead.

"I think our team is finding our groove in a sense of who we want to be," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "That's that defensive intensity and that pace on offense. I'm really proud of how we played today – especially in the first half. The intensity and focus we came out with came out with at the beginning of the game was probably the best that it has been all year."

Kostowicz was outstanding all game long. The sophomore tied her career high with 18 points, going a near-perfect 7-for-9 from the floor. She also had a game-high eight rebounds and three steals.

Jenny Lindner came off the bench for the first time and played a big role, going 7-for-10 for 14 points.

Sierra Ford-Washington also had a big game, scoring 11, including a three pointer midway through the fourth quarter to seal the win for Milwaukee.

PUSHING THE RIGHT BUTTONS
Coach Rechlicz has changed up her starting line up the past five games with plenty of solid results in each contest. Against Youngstown State, Christina Wakeman got the nod for the first time this season and made the most of her 13 minutes. The junior scored the first five points of the game for Milwaukee and finished with a season-high seven points to go with five rebounds. Then, against Cleveland State, Jenny Lindner came off the bench for the first time this season and went 7-for-10 from the floor for 14 points - her highest scoring output in nearly a month (25 pts at EIU, 12/10).

DE-FENSE
Milwaukee posted some impressive defensive numbers in its 62-46 win at Cleveland State Jan. 9. UWM held the Vikings to just 12 made field goals - just one shy of the school record. The 14 first-half points also marked the lowest total of the season and the third-lowest in school history. In fact, the Panthers held CSU without a field goal for over 10 minutes between the first and second half.

CLOSING OUT THE NON-CONFERENCE
With Milwaukee's 55-48 win over Chicago State on Jan. 3, it finished out its non-conference schedule with a winning record of 6-5. In fact, while it has been close plenty of times, UWM has not finished with a winning out-of-conference mark since the 2001-02 season when it went 6-5. Ironically, the sixth win in that season also came on the road against Chicago State.

THE W'S AND THE L'S
As one might expect, there are certainly some stark statistical differences in Milwaukee's seven wins compared to its seven losses:

                          W's    L's
FG%                   .429   .310
Def FG%              .325   .442
3FG%                 .362   .231
3FG's Made/GM    7.1     5.1
PPG                    69.1   55.4
PPG Against           54.9   72.3

FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's seven wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 254-159 in the opening half when they win, including a 133-77 edge in the second quarter.

WORKING THE GLASS
Milwaukee has made a clear emphasis on the rebounding front this season, and it has shown. The Panthers are out rebounding their opponents by a remarkable 7.1 per game, including a decisive 42-22 edge against Chicago State Jan. 3. In fact, UWM is averaging over 11 more boards than its opponents in wins (42.4-30.7), and still has the edge in losses, though the margin is much closer (41.6-39.0).

Here's a look at some of the largest rebounding margins for Milwaukee thus far this season:

1. +24 vs. IPFW (50-26)
2. +21 at Youngstown State (46-25)
3. +20 at Chicago State (42-22)
4. +17 vs. La Salle (53-36)

EARLY CHARITY SUCCESS
The Panthers are off to an impressive start from the free throw line, currently near the lead in the Horizon League with a 73.5 percent clip after sinking 186-of-253 in their first 14 games. That's a better ratio than the past few seasons. Milwaukee shot 69.8 percent last year and have not finished over 70 percent since a program-record 79.1 percent showing back in 2010-11.

In fact, Milwaukee has two of the best free throw shooters in the league this season. Sierra Ford-Washington - who twice has gone 8-for-8 in a game this year - ranks second in the league at 89.1. Meanwhile, Jenny Lindner - who went 10-for-10 once this season and hasn't missed a free throw in 2016 - ranks fourth at 87.5 percent this year.

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 403 games in a row heading into the game against the Flames. 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 four 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.

SHARP SHOOTER
Milwaukee's Alexis Lindstrom has hit some big shots this season, quite of few of which have come from behind the arc. Playing her first season in Milwaukee, the junior has connected on at least one three pointer in all 14 games this season, connecting on three or more four different times and netting a season-high five against La Salle Nov. 28.

In fact, Lindstrom hasn't gone a full game without a made three pointer since March 8, 2014 while she was playing at Northern Illinois.

INSIDE OUT
While it's no secret that Milwaukee has been hitting plenty of threes since Kyle Rechlicz was named head coach, this year's squad team has a different identity than Rechlicz's first three teams. The Panthers have been establishing an inside presence much more this season, racking up 350 points in the paint through 14 games. That includes a 32 points in the paint at Youngstown State Jan 7 followed by 40 at Cleveland State just two days later.

BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore Steph Kostowicz has made quite an impact down in the post defensively for Milwaukee this season. One year after averaging just over one block per game despite battling an injury, the second-year player is averaging 1.9 blocks per game. That number ranks second in the conference and 66th in the nation.

AN OLD, OLD WOODEN SHIP
Milwaukee's offense has been very diverse this season. One year after Ashley Green led the team in scoring in 20 of UWM's 30 games, the Panthers have already had four different players lead the team in scoring through 14 games this season. Jenny Lindner leads the way with six, with Sierra Ford-Washington (four) and Steph Kostowicz (four) also big in the early going.

GO FISCH
Freshman Alyssa Fischer was key off the bench in Milwaukee's win over Eastern Illinois Dec. 14. The Manitowoc native went 4-of-8 from the floor - including 2-of-4 from three - for a season-high 10 points. That was a big lift for Fischer, who had been in an offensive funk since dropping 22 against Tiffin in the exhibition.

5-FOR-5
Despite playing in a season-low 19 minutes due to foul trouble, Steph Kostowicz still made quite the impact in Milwaukee's 73-60 win over IPFW Dec. 28. In fact, Kostowicz was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the game, the first time a Panther has finished without a miss in a game with a minimum of five attempts since Ashlee Imperial's 6-for-6 performance against Loyola back on Jan. 24, 2009.

10-FOR-10
While Kostowicz did it from the floor against IPFW, Jenny Lindner was perfect from the free throw line in that win. The sophomore drained all 10 of her attempts from the charity stripe, the first Panther to do so since Angela Rodriquez also went 10-for-10 at New Mexico State Nov. 30, 2013.

THE BIG 2-0...TIMES TWO
The Panther offense certainly was clicking in the 82-71 win at Eastern Illinois on Dec. 10. Milwaukee shot nearly 50 percent as a team in that game, headlined by Jenny Lindner and Sierra Ford-Washington both netting 25 points apiece. That marked the first time a pair of Panthers scored at least 20 points in a game this season.

ALL A-BOARD
Steph Kostowicz's performance against NIU on Dec. 3 was one for the ages. The sophomore hauled in an incredible 20 rebounds in the big win to go with 11 points for her second double-double of the season. The 20 rebounds shattered her previous career-high of 14 and ties her for sixth-most in program history. It is also the first time a Panther has collected 20+ rebounds in one game since Traci Edwards accomplished that feat Dec. 30, 2006.

I'LL TAKE LINDNER FOR 25 PLEASE
Sophomore Jenny Lindner was red hot in the second half of Milwaukee's win over EIU Dec. 10, finishing the game tied for a team high 25 points. That was already the second time this season the Neillsville, Wis. native has notched 25 this season, tying her career high set late last year. It marked the fifth 20-point game already in her young career.
1. 25 vs. UMKC, 11/16/15
2. 25 vs. Youngstown State, 2/19/15
3. 25 vs. Eastern Illinois 12/10/15
4. 20 vs. Cleveland State, 2/28/15
5. 20 vs. La Salle, 11/28/15

EFFICIENT, TOO
Not only did Lindner tie her career high with those 25 points in the season opener, but she did it with some of the most efficient shooting in school history by making 10 of her 12 shots on the night. That 83.3 field-goal percentage marked the third-best marksmanship in a single UWM game.

1. .909 (10-of-11), Nichole Drummond, 2/11/06
2. .857 (12-of-14), Traci Edwards, 2/21/08
3. .833 (10-of-12), Lindner

SPORTSCENTER TOP 10
When Sydney Howard hit a three-pointer from near midcourt to beat the halftime buzzer in the Dec. 3 win over NIU, she not only brought the crowd to its feet for a standing ovation, she got the attention of the national media. Howard's buzzer-beater was featured the following day on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day.

PRESEASON PUBLICITY
Sophomore Jenny Lindner was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team in the league's annual preseason poll by the staff at the College Sports Madness website.

A WHOPPER OF AN OPENER
The 22-point margin of victory was nearly the highest in the history of the program. The only bigger one? That would be Kyle Rechlicz's first-ever game on the Panther bench, a 24-point win over Chicago State, 82-58, back on November 9, 2012.

NEW-LOOK PANTHERS
Milwaukee will have a new look to the roster this season after graduating three influential seniors from a year ago. The roster features six players who were on the team in 2014-15 and nine newcomers. Among the new faces is a trio of transfers (one will be sitting out, one a JUCO transfer and one ready to play this season after sitting out a year ago due to transfer rules) as well as six true freshmen all looking to make a good first impression.

TIME TO STEP UP
The situation allows the Panthers an opportunity for new players to step up or returning players to expand their roles from last season. The team will return just under half - 48.6 percent - of its scoring (963 of 1,981 total points) and just over half - 51.5 percent - of rebounding (558 of 1,083 total individual rebounds). When you break it down further, senior Jordyn Swan, who will miss the season due to injury, accounted for returning totals of 201 points and 108 boards.

HOW THEY ROLL
The Panthers were at it once again from deep last season and it would have been more noticeable had they not been even better at it the previous two years. 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. In 2013-14, the team finished at 241 makes and 733 attempts, both numbers ending in the top two all-time. After three seasons under Kyle Rechlicz, the triple-happy Panthers nearly hold each of the top three marks for 3's made and attempted for a season.

3's MADE
1. 255 in 2012-13
2. 241 in 2013-14
4. 205 in 2014-15

3's ATTEMPTED
1. 733 in 2013-14
2. 726 in 2012-13
3. 676 in 2014-15
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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
The 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 in 2013-14 to shatter the record once again. The team came close again last season and the past three years under Kyle Rechlicz now account for the top three entries in the record book.

TEAM TURNOVERS PER GAME
1. 14.9 turnovers per game, 2013-14
2. 15.2 in 2014-15
3. 16.2 in 2012-13

MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF
Head 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.

WATCH 'EM ANYWHERE
Fans 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 16 games will be carried live online on ESPN3 as well as four other road games via opponent platforms. 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. Scott Warras is back for his 10th season donning the headset. Fans can also catch Warras' call with the majority of the team's ESPN3 webcasts. A select few games will not be aired due to broadcast conflicts.

WELCOME
Head coach Kyle Rechlicz rounded out her staff in the offseason with a series of moves. Ashlee McGee moved up a spot in the assistant coach hierarchy and former video coordinator Dan Carey was promoted to assistant coach, with the recruiting coordinator role also added to his title.

Mike Hamilton was hired as the new Video Coordinator and Molly Hanson as the Director of Basketball Operations.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Ashley Green: G/F; 5' 11"; Senior

#15 Sydney Howard: G; 5' 7"; Senior

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

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

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

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

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

#21 Alyssa Fischer: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

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

Players Mentioned

#4 Ashley Green
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G/F

#15 Sydney Howard
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

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

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

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

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

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

#21 Alyssa Fischer
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

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