Women's Basketball January 29, 2016

UWM Looks To Rebound Saturday Versus Oakland

Panthers had five-game win streak snapped Thursday

MILWAUKEE - Less than 48 hours after seeing their season-high five-game win streak snapped by a hot-shooting Detroit, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will look to start a new win streak when they host Oakland Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. from the Klotsche Center. The Golden Grizzlies are flying high after a win in Green Bay on Thursday. Before Saturday's game, UWM will hold its annual alumni game as part of alumni day.

LOOKING AT OAKLAND
After being picked fifth in the preseason Horizon League poll, Oakland currently sits tied for sixth nearing the midway point of conference action. The Golden Grizzlies are 12-7 overall and 4-4 in league play following a huge 58-56 win over No. 22 Green Bay Thursday.

Oakland heads into Saturday's game as one of the top scoring teams in the nation at 76.6 ppg. The Golden Grizzlies do give up quite a few points, as well, allowing 70.5 against on average. Those numbers are slightly skewed by Oakland's 123-38 win over UM-Dearborn to start the season. OU has been getting it done with some solid shooting, hitting at a .447 clip on the year - tops in the conference and 26th in the country.

Individually, Elena Popkey, Taylor Gleason and Olivia Nash all play over 31 minutes per contest. Nash leads the team with 17.6 ppg (second in the league) and 8.6 rpg (fifth in the league). Taylor Jones (13.4) and Popkey (11.0) also both average in double digits.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will give one team a slight edge in the overall series with the two teams deadlocked at 3-3 all time. Oakland had won the first three since joining the Horizon League before a 66-60 Panther win at the Klotsche Center last February.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will have a little more time to rest up with just one game on the schedule next week - a Saturday contest at Green Bay scheduled for 1 p.m. from the Kress Center.

LAST GAME
Detroit shot a season-high 57 percent from the field – including 52 percent from behind the arc – to snap the Milwaukee women's basketball team's five-game winning streak with an 89-79 win at the Klotsche Center Thursday night.

Despite shooting nearly 50 percent themselves, UWM (11-8, 5-3 Horizon) lost for the first time since Jan. 7.

"We really didn't come out with any defensive energy tonight," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "A lot of credit to Detroit. They played tough, they hit open shots when they needed to and they're extremely well coached. They definitely deserved this win more than us."

Milwaukee closed the lead to just one with 3:16 left in the game. But, Detroit (9-10, 5-3 Horizon) made eight free throws in the closing minutes to ice the game away.

"We had a couple shots right around the basket toward the end of the game that needed to fall. Sierra doesn't normally miss free throws. There were a lot of things that didn't seem to go our way down the stretch and we have a day and half to get ready for Oakland so we have to get our defense figured out."

Four players scored in double figures on the night for the Panthers, led by Sierra Ford-Washington. The junior led all players with 24 points, also grabbing five rebounds.

ALL GOOD THINGS...
Milwaukee's five-game win streak was snapped on Thursday at the hands of Detroit, 89-79. It took a total team effort from the Titans to finally end the Panthers big run, including a season-high shooting percentage of 56 percent by Detroit.

The five-game run marked the longest winning streak under head coach Kyle Rechlicz. Milwaukee's last string of five or more came in 2007-08 when it rattled off five in a row early in conference play. Prior to that, the longest win streak of at least five came during the 2005-06 season when UWM ended the season with 12 straight all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

AWARD-WINNING PLAY
The awards have started to pile up for Steph Kostowicz after her recent run of play. She was named Horizon League Player of the Week this week after stuffing the stat sheet in a pair of Panther road wins. Kostowicz was also honored by College Sports Madness for the second-straight week, this time being named the High Major Player of the Week to go with the league's weekly award.

HOW THEY'RE DOING IT
The Panthers posted three-straight 20-point wins and five-straight wins overall in the month of January, but have be getting it done in very different ways in each game.

The offense wasn't firing on all cylinders against Cleveland State or UIC, as Milwaukee grinded out a pair of low-scoring affairs, including a comeback, one-point win over the Flames.

Then, the Panthers blew things open early against both Valparaiso and Wright State in a pair of 82-60 wins. Milwaukee was completely sound throughout all four quarters, leading Valpo by 19 the whole second half and Wright State 20.

Finally, UWM shot a season-best 55.6 percent from the field and slowly pulled away from a talented Northern Kentucky team, using a 15-1 run in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

WINNING BIG
The win at Northern Kentucky on Jan. 23 was Milwaukee's third-straight and fourth overall this season by at least 20 points. That is the most 20-point wins in a single season since the 2008-09 team also had four 20-point wins.

The last time Milwaukee has had more than four 20-point wins in a single season? The 2001-02 team posted nine victories by at least 20 points. That team went 20-8 with an average winning margin of 18.1 and has the largest win in school history - a 100-46 win over Youngstown State.

FOURTH TIME'S A CHARM
Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz is enjoying quite a bit of success in her fourth season at the helm. Rechlicz has led the Panthers to 11 wins with at least 10 more games left on the schedule. That is more than each of her first three seasons, finishing last season with 10 victories. UWM hasn't won more than 12 games in a season since the 2008-09 team won 15.

EARLY SUCCESS
It's no secret Milwaukee has had plenty of early success this season. UWM got its 11th win of the year on Jan. 23 against Northern Kentucky - the fastest calendar date Milwaukee has gotten to 11 wins since the 2001-02 season when they reached that mark on Jan. 17.

MAKE IT RAIN
The Panthers hit a season-high 11 threes in its 82-60 win over Valparaiso Jan. 16. While making three-pointers is nothing new for Milwaukee, the rate at which UWM was clicking against the Crusaders was worth taking note. Milwaukee went 11-for-16 in that win for a .688 percentage, ranking third all-time in program history.

HEATING UP
The three ball has been a big part of the Panthers last three wins, connecting on 32 threes in those games. Even more impressively, 25 of those triples have come in the first half. That's more than Milwaukee's previous five game totals combined.

THE KOST OF ADMISSION
Steph Kostowicz posted career-highs in Milwaukee's last three wins. After tallying 20 points, six steals and five assists - all career highs - against Valpo, she again netted 20 against Wright State before pouring in a new career-best 23 points on 7-8 shooting at NKU.

LIKING LEAGUE PLAY
Since the conference season started, the Panthers have seen some significant improvements in quite a few categories, especially the team's shooting. Before league play started up, Milwaukee was shooting .367 from the floor and jsut .302 from behind the arc. Now that conference play has started? UWM is shooting a whopping .437 from the floor and an impressive .396 from three.

DE-FENSE
Milwaukee has been posting some impressive defensive numbers over the last month. In its last 10 games, the Panthers are averaging giving up just over 60 points against per contest. There have been quite a few standout performances during that stretch, as well.

In it's 62-46 win over Cleveland State on 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.

Then, one game later against UIC, the Panthers overcame a rough second quarter to limit the Flames to just 11 and 12 points in each of the final two periods to claim a 54-53 win.

Finally, in back-to-back 82-60 wins over Valparaiso and Wright State, Milwaukee held its opponents to single digits in scoring in three of the eight quarters in those two games. That's even more impressive considering WSU came into that game averaging 80.4 ppg - the 11th best total in the nation.

THE W'S AND THE L'S
As one might expect, there are certainly some stark statistical differences in Milwaukee's 11 wins compared to its eight losses:

                          W's    L's
FG%                  .445   .332
Def FG%             .333   .456
3FG%                 .408   .251
3FG's Made/GM 7.8     5.5
PPG                   71.6   58.4
PPG Against         56.1   74.4

FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's 11 wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 412-272 in the opening half when they win, including a 232-142 edge in the second quarter.

STARTING THE CONFERENCE SEASON
After its 86-60 win over NKU on Jan. 23, Milwaukee started 5-2 in Horizon League play this season before a loss to Detroit on Thursday. While it's still early, the 5-3 start marks the best start through eight league games under head coach Kyle Rechlicz. In fact, it's the best conference start for UWM since the 2007-08 season when that team went 6-2 in the early going.

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. 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.

LOTS OF 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 72.9 percent clip after sinking 237-of-325 thus far. That's a better ratio than the past few seasons. Milwaukee shot 69.8 percent last year and has not finished over 70 percent since a program-record 79.1 percent showing back in 2010-11.

Individually, Milwaukee has two of the best free throw shooters in the league this season. Jenny Lindner - who went 10-for-10 once this season and hasn't missed a free throw in 2016 - leads the conference and is 10th in the nation at 88.9 percent this year. Meanwhile, Sierra Ford-Washington - who twice has gone 8-for-8 in a game this year - ranks fifth in the league and 68th in the country at 83.1.

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 an impressive 6.6 per game, including a decisive 44-32 edge against Wright State - a team that came into that game ranked second in the nation in rebounding. In fact, UWM is averaging nearly 10 more boards than its opponents in wins (41.5-31.6), and still has the edge in losses, though the margin is much closer (39.9-37.6).

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)
5. +14 vs. Valparaiso (42-28)

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 408 games in a row heading into the game against the Golden Grizzlies. 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 19 games this season, hitting three or more five different times and netting a season-high five against twice (La Salle/Nov. 28. & Northern Kentucky Jan. 23). That marks the most games with a made three to start the season since Angela Rodriguez did so in her first 19 games to start the 2012-13 season.
In fact, Lindstrom hasn't gone a full game without a made three pointer since going 0-for-1 March 8, 2014 while she was playing at Northern Illinois. One game after that performance, Lindstrom drained a career-high nine triples in the first game of the MAC conference tournament.

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 has a different identity than Rechlicz's first three teams. The Panthers have been establishing an inside presence much more this season, racking up 502 points in the paint through 19 games. That includes a 38-point performance against Detroit Jan. 28 - the fourth time in its last six games that UWM has posted at least 30 points in the paint.

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 1.6 blocks per game. That number ranks second in the conference and 103rd 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 18 games this season. Steph Kostowicz and Sierra Ford-Washington lead the way with seven, with Jenny Lindner (six) also big in the early going.

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. It also is the first time on record since moving to D-I in 1990 that two Panthers have each scored at least 25 points in a single game.

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.

AWFULLY EFFICIENT
Not only did Jenny Lindner tie her career high with 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

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.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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