Women's Basketball January 06, 2016

Conference Play Resumes With Trip To Ohio

Panthers open road swing with Thursday contest at Youngstown State

MILWAUKEE - After closing out its non-conference schedule with a win on Sunday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team returns to Horizon League action this Thursday at Youngstown State. The Panthers and Penguins are set to tip off at 4:15 pm Central Time from the Beeghly Center. The Milwaukee men are making the same road swing, taking on YSU directly following the women's game.

PANTHER BITS
• Milwaukee closed out its non-conference schedule with a 55-48 win over Chicago State on Sunday.

• The Panthers return three starters and seven letterwinners from last season, welcoming nine newcomers to the roster, including six true freshmen.

• In the three seasons under head coach Kyle Rechlicz, the Panthers have set two of the top three program marks for three-pointers made and all three for three-pointers attempted, with highs of 255 makes and 733 attempts.

• Milwaukee also knows how to take care of the ball, setting the top three marks for fewest turnovers in a season over the past three campaigns. The school record of 14.9 per game was established in 2013-14.

• The Panthers were picked ninth in the 2015-16 preseason coaches' poll after finishing in eighth place a year ago.

• Kyle Rechlicz is in her fourth season after being named the seventh head coach in program history in May of 2012.

WHAT'S NEW
After closing out its non-conference schedule with a win on Sunday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team returns to Horizon League action this Thursday at Youngstown State. The Panthers and Penguins are set to tip off at 4:15 pm Central Time from the Beeghly Center. The Milwaukee men are making the same road swing, taking on YSU directly following the women's game.

LOOKING AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE
The Penguins are off to a hot start to the 2015-16 season. The team has 11 wins and just two losses heading into Thursday's game. YSU was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll but is already 2-0 after wins at Oakland and Detroit. Thus far, they are a perfect 7-0 at home, averaging over 80 ppg with a winning margin of over 20.

Sarah Cash is leading YSU this season in both points and rebounds with 14.5 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Nikki Arbanas also is averaging double-digit points per game with 10.8. As a team, the Penguins have been quite efficient, hitting 40.9 percent of their field goals and 71 percent of their free throws.

Youngstown has made a noticeable jump over the past few years. After recording 70 wins from the 2002-03 to 2011-12 seasons, the picked up its 70th win since that time Saturday at Detroit.

SERIES HISTORY
Despite some recent setbacks in the overall series, Milwaukee still owns a convincing 24-11 edge against the Penguins. In fact, the entire series has been on of notable runs. Before YSU's recent run of six straight, the Panthers had claimed 15 in a row. UWM also won nine straight from 1992-2004 when Youngstown joined the Horizon League, while YSU also had runs of two and three in the series history.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will make the short drive from Youngstown, Ohio to Cleveland for a Saturday afternoon game. That one is scheduled for Noon Central Time from the Wolstein Center.

LAST GAME
Alexis Lindstrom scored 10 points – all in the fourth quarter – as the Milwaukee women's basketball team fended off a late run by Chicago State for a 55-48 win at the Jones Convocation Center Sunday afternoon.

Milwaukee (6-6) led from start to finish in this one and was up by 11 at the half before holding off a pair of CSU (2-12) runs down the stretch.

"I felt like we came out very focused in the first half," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We were really executing the offense and getting good shots – we just weren't knocking them all down. We were moving the ball well, and then in the second half we came out very complacent. We came out with less energy and played a little too free. As I told the team after the game, we're not going to beat anyone in our conference turning the ball over 20 times. We've got to figure that because we're about to hit conference play this weekend."

Sierra Ford-Washington led UWM with 16 points, including going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Steph Kostowicz had 12 points and seven rebounds and Emma Roenneburg chipped in five points to go with her game-high eight rebounds.

Christina Wakeman was big off the bench with six points and six boards, while Alyssa Fischer also hauled in five rebounds.

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.

PUSHING THE RIGHT BUTTONS
Coach Rechlicz has changed up her starting line up the past three games with plenty of solid results already. Against Chicago State, Alexis Lindstrom and Emma Roenneburg were called to start and both put up big numbers. Roenneburg got it going early and finished with five points and a game-high eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Lindstrom was the hot hand late in the game, finishing with 10 points and four steals - nearly all of which came in the fourth quarter.

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

                          W's    L's
FG%                   .428   .294
Def FG%              .333   .450
3FG%                 .382   .216
3FG's Made/GM    7.8     5.0
PPG                    70.3   53.5
PPG Against           56.3   72.8

FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's six wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 224-145 in the opening half when they win, including a 115-72 edge in the second quarter.

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.

AN OLD, OLD WOODEN SHIP
Milwaukee has had plenty of early season success, thanks largely in part to the team's very diverse attack. Four different players have led the Panthers in scoring in at least two games this season, including Jenny Lindner (six) and Sierra Ford-Washington (four).

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 nearly seven per game, including a decisive 42-22 edge against Chicago State Jan. 3. In fact, UWM is averaging over 13 more boards than its opponents in wins (43.5-29.8), while that margin is much closer (41.3-40.8) in losses.

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.

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 401 games in a row heading into the game against the Penguins. 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 74.5 percent clip after sinking 164-of-220 in their first 12 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.

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

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

#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

#24 Emma Roenneburg: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

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

Players Mentioned

#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

#24 Emma Roenneburg
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F

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