Panthers Look To Go 2-0 Wednesday at NIU

Team won season opener 76-68 Sunday

MILWAUKEE - After an exciting season-opening win on Sunday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team returns to the court Wednesday at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center for a 5:30 pm tipoff. The Huskies also won their first contest of the year, making Wednesday's matchup a battle of two 1-0 squads. This game will also serve as the home opener for NIU and can be air live on ESPN3. Fans can also catch Matt Menzl on the radio call on the Big 920 AM or TheBig920.com.

Panther Bits
• Milwaukee is coming off one of its best seasons in program history, winning 19 games a year ago and earning a berth to the WNIT.

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

• The Panthers were picked third in the 2016-17 preseason coaches' poll after finishing in second place a year ago.

• Kyle Rechlicz enters her fifth season as head coach of Milwaukee with high hopes, having been named Horizon League Coach of the Year last season. She became just the second coach in school history to earn that honor.

• After earning First-Team All-Horizon League honors last season, Steph Kostowicz doubled down after being named preseason first-team all-league entering to the 2016-17 campaign.

WHAT'S NEW
After an exciting season-opening win on Sunday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team returns to the court Wednesday at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center for a 5:30 pm tipoff. The Huskies also won their first contest of the year, making Wednesday's matchup a battle of two 1-0 squads. This game will also serve as the home opener for NIU and can be air live on ESPN3. Fans can also catch Matt Menzl on the radio call on the Big 920 AM or TheBig920.com.

LOOKING AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Wednesday's contest is the home opener for Northern Illinois after they dispatched Loyola Chicago 90-70 on Friday to start the year 1-0. Four of last year's starters return this season for the Huskies, after an 11-19 overall record last year. Ally Lehman is the leading returner for NIU, earning preseason all-conference honors just a few weeks ago. Lehman also was the leader for the Huskies last year in Milwaukee's 73-58 win in Milwaukee.

SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday's contest will break the 9-9 tie in the all time standings between Milwaukee and Northern Illinois. The two teams faced off just last year, with Milwaukee walking away with a 73-58 win from UWM Panther Arena. That continued a recent trend for the Panthers, who have won three in a row and eight of the last nine in the all-time series.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee returns to the Land of Lincoln on Sunday with a trip to former Horizon League institution Loyola Chicago. The Panthers and Ramblers will showdown at 2 pm from Gentile Arena.

LAST GAME
The Milwaukee women's basketball team started the 2016-17 season on a strong note, jumping out to a big lead early and never looking back for a 76-68 win over Western Illinois Sunday afternoon from the Klotsche Center.

Jenny Lindner netted a game-high 23 points, while Steph Kostowicz started the season with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Panthers (1-0) improved to 4-1 in season openers under head coach Kyle Rechlicz.

"This absolutely feels good," Rechlicz said after the win. "There's always a little more excitement and a few more jitters when you're coming into that first game and I think that's why we turned the ball over more than I would have liked. I think we were just so excited to get out on the court and play somebody else. Western is a really good team and this is a good win."

Lindner was big early for Milwaukee, scoring 12 of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter alone. Meanwhile, Kostowicz was key late for the Panthers with 12 of her 20 in the fourth quarter.

Alexis Lindstrom and Bailey Farley also reached double figures in scoring for Milwaukee, with Lindstrom netting 11 and Farley another 10 off the bench in her first game for the Black & Gold.

FOR OPENERS
The Panthers improved to 10-17 all-time in season openers at the NCAA Division I level (dating back to 1990-91) after their 76-68 win over Western Illinois to start the 2016-17 season. The win over WIU was an exciting one, with Jenny Lindner pouring in 23 points to go with eight rebounds, while Steph Kostowicz notched her first double-double of the young season with 20 points and 11 boards. Head coach Kyle Rechlicz is now 4-1 in openers, as UWM ran away with an 82-58 win over Chicago State in Rechlicz's debut contest four years ago.

EARLY LEAGUE HONORS
Freshman Lizzie Odegard made her collegiate debut in Sunday's win over Western Illinois, collecting five points, five rebounds and one assist in just 14 minutes of action. Lost in the stat sheet is that most of Odegard's efforts came at a crucial time, with WIU closing in on Milwaukee's big lead midway through the third quarter. For her efforts, Odegard was named Horizon League Freshman of the Week, becoming the first Panther to earn a league award after her collegiate debut in program history.

DOUBLING DOWN
Steph Kostowicz picked up right where she left off in the 2016-17 season opener with 20 points and 11 rebounds. That marked the 11th double-double of her career as she kicks off her junior season after recording eight double-doubles last year on her way to first-team all-league honors.

JENNY BEING JENNY
Jenny Lindner was a big part of Milwaukee's season-opening win over Western Illinois. The junior netted a game-high 23 points, now giving her 20 or more points in four of her last six games dating back to last season. Impressively, Linder was able to score anywhere she wanted on the court, going 6-12 from inside the arc, 1-2 from outside and 8-8 from the charity stripe.

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.

WORKING THE GLASS
Milwaukee made a clear emphasis on the rebounding front last season. The Panthers out-rebounded their opponents by nearly 4.0 per game, including out-rebounding league foe Wright State - a team that came into all three contests ranked second in the nation in rebounding - a remarkable three times. In fact, UWM averaged six more boards than its opponents in wins (40.4-34.8), and still has the edge in losses, though the margin is much closer (38.8-37.9).

Here's a look at some of the largest rebounding margins for Milwaukee last 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 422 games in a row heading into the game against the Huskies. 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.

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.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM...
UWM is coming off an incredible season that saw them finish second in both the regular season and conference tournament to earn a postseason berth with a trip to the WNIT. Even more impressive, the Panthers were picked ninth overall in last year's preseason league poll following an eighth-place finish (of nine) in 2014-15. That made them just the third team in Horizon League history to finish in the bottom two one season and follow that up with a top-two finish the very next year. The other two?

-Youngstown State finished last (4-14) in the 2011-12 season before jumping up to second (11-5) in 12-13, making it to the WNIT.

-Butler placed seventh of eight (3-11) in 1988-89 before leaping up to second (12-4) the next year, losing to Notre Dame by just one point in the conference tournament championship.

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.

STEPPING UP
After solid freshman campaigns, Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz stepped up in a big way last year during their sophomore seasons. The duo averaged a combined 27.2 points and 14.8 rebounds per game last year despite still being some of the younger members of the squad. Now, heading into their junior year, the future looks bright for could be in store for them this 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 due to broadcast conflicts.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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