Women's Basketball December 01, 2016

UWM Looks To Improve On Hot Start Saturday

Panthers welcome Bison to Klotsche Center

MILWAUKEE - Already off to their best start in Division I history, the Milwaukee women's basketball team looks to keep things rolling Saturday when they host North Dakota State University at 2 pm inside the Klotsche Center. The Panthers return home after a successful trip to Vermont over the Thanksgiving weekend, winning the TD Bank Classic, with four players being named to the all-tournament team. Fans can watch Saturday's contest live online at ESPN3.com, with Matt Menzl on the call.

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
Already off to their best start in Division I history, the Milwaukee women's basketball team looks to keep things rolling Saturday when they host North Dakota State University at 2 pm inside the Klotsche Center. The Panthers return home after a successful trip to Vermont over the Thanksgiving weekend, winning the TD Bank Classic, with four players being named to the all-tournament team. Fans can watch Saturday's contest live online at ESPN3.com, with Matt Menzl on the call.

LOOKING AT THE BISON
The Bison have struggled a little out of the gates, coming to Milwaukee with a 1-6 record after their comeback effort fell just short Wednesday night against Western Michigan. Senior forward Emily Spier already has three double-doubles on the young season and is averaging 11.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game thus far. Junior guard Taylor Thunstedt leads the team through seven games with 14.7 points/game. NDSU averages seven three-pointers each contest and is out-rebounding its opponents by nearly two per contest.

SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers will look to even up the all time series with NDSU, entering Saturday's game with two wins and three losses. UWM has won the last two, though, including memorable a 77-73 Panther win on the road Nov. 16, 2014. In that one, Ashley Green had a monster night with 36 points and 15 rebounds. Jenny Lindner also went for 12 and seven in that one in what was her collegiate debut.

UP NEXT
UWM returns to the road on Wednesday, heading to Normal, Ill. for a 7 pm contest against Illinois State.

LAST GAME
The Milwaukee women's basketball team raced out to another big first-quarter lead on its way to a 24-point win over Vermont to win the TD Bank Classic title Saturday from Patrick Gymnasium.

Alexis Lindstrom, Sierra Ford-Washington and Bailey Farley were all named to the all-tournament team, with Steph Kostowicz also earning an all-tournament nod while being named tournament MVP.

This marks the first in-season tournament championship for Milwaukee since going 2-0 at the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic in 2006.

"This is huge for our program," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We haven't won one of these tournaments since 2006 and we haven't gone 5-1 to start since we were NAIA, so this is really big for our program.

"I thought our team played so-so today. We came out so strong yesterday, with the one-day turnaround, you never know what you're going to get. We had moments of greatness and moments of lulls. We've got to continue working to play a complete game, but our energy was great. Our team was really bought in and a lot of people stepped up."

Lizzie Odegard led all players with 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench, also adding one steal.

WHAT A START!
The 5-1 start by Milwaukee may not be overly surprising to some fans based on how successful last year went, but it is still plenty noteworthy. In fact, this year's 5-1 record is the best start through six games in the Division-I history of the program. The only one better dates back to the NAIA 1988-89 team that began that season 5-0.

AWARD-WINNING PLAY
While Milwaukee is only a few short weeks into its season, people have taken plenty of notice of the Panthers play on the court thus far.

In fact, last week alone, six different players earned various awards after posting three wins in a five-day span. Bailey Farley, Alexis Lindstrom, Sierra Ford-Washington and Steph Kostowicz were all named to the TD Bank Classic All-Tournament Team, with Kostowicz also earning MVP honors.

On top of that, junior Jenny Lindner was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after three outstanding games. First, Lindner poured in a game-high 28 points to lead the way in the convincing 17-point win over Wisconsin. She also finished as the top scorer of the TD Bank Classic, with a combined 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as Milwaukee swept through the tournament.

As if that weren't enough, Lizzie Odegard also was recognized, being named the league's freshman of the week after capping her strong week with a 14-point, seven-rebound performance in the tournament championship game. That already is the second time Odegard has earned the league's weekly freshman honor, also doing so following her first collegiate game. With that, Odegard became the first Panther to earn a league award after her collegiate debut in program history.

TURKEY TOURNEY
With its sweep at the TD Bank Classic hosted by Vermont over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Panthers claimed their first in-season tournament title since the 2006 team went 2-0 at the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic in Dallas, Texas. Milwaukee no only won both games this season in Vermont, but did so dominating fashion - taking the title by an average winning margin of 31. UWM improved its record to 17-10 all time in tournaments over the Thanksgiving holiday and broke the tie to jump up to 27-25 in all in-season tournaments.

WINNING BIG
The Panthers have made a habit of late with some rather lopsided wins. First, Milwaukee claimed a 27-point win over Loyola (73-46) on Nov. 20 - the biggest win in Kyle Rechlicz's four-plus years as head coach of the Panthers at that time. UWM then took down in-state rival Wisconsin by an impressive 17 points before a 38-point smothering (88-50) of LIU-Brooklyn to start the TD Bank Classic Nov. 25. Milwaukee then closed out that tournament with a 24-point win (68-44) over host Vermont Nov. 26.

Not only is the 38-point win the new bench mark for margin of victory under Rechlicz, it's also the fourth-largest win for UWM since they moved to Division I heading into the 1990-91 season. It also marks the biggest win since the school-record 54-point victory (100-46) over Youngstown State back on Feb. 2, 2002.

THE COUNTDOWN TO 1000
Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz have been on a mission since day one in the Black & Gold and it seems only a matter of time until both individuals crack the 1,000-point milestone during this their junior seasons. Milwaukee entered the season with 19 players in program history reaching the historic scoring mark, with Lindner and Kostowicz well on pace to eclipse the barrier shortly. Heading into Saturday's game, Lindner sits with 843 points (157 away), while Kostowicz is at 704 points (296 away). Of Milwaukee's 19 players with 1,000+ points in their careers, there have been two other tandems to achieve the feat as part of the same class:

-Umenia White (1,597 points) and Cammie Nonhoff (1,087 points) from 1985-89

-Jaci Clark (1,830 points) and Marsha Housley (1,491 points) from 1979-83.

...AND THE COUNTDOWN TO 500
The same duo that has been lighting up the scoreboard for Milwaukee the past two-plus seasons has also been getting things done on the glass. Not only are Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Linder closing in on 1,000 career points, but both seem likely to crack the 500 rebound list this season, as well. Kostowicz is closest, with 449 (51 away) entering Saturday's game, while Lindner isn't far away at 398 (102 away). To date, UWM has 23 players with 500 rebounds all time in program history. Of those 23, only 12 also reached the 1,000-point mark in their careers.

YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH WAKEMAN
Christina Wakeman has been chosen as a nominee of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team. The award - in its fifth year of existence - honors college basketball players for their community service work - something Wakeman has been no stranger to in her time with the Panthers.

Wakeman is one of 97 student-athletes nominated. A total of 10 will be named to the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team in February, and selected student-athletes will be honored at the 2017 WBCA Convention and at the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four in Dallas, Texas.

STREAK SNAPPERS
The Panthers have already put a pair of long losing streaks to bed this season. With its win at Loyola on Nov. 20, UWM ended a six-game win streak by the Ramblers in the series, with the last win coming back in 2011. Then, just two days later, Milwaukee emphatically took down Wisconsin for its first win in that series since Dec. 15, 1992 - a span of 17-straight wins by the Badgers over nearly 25 years.

A B1G WIN
Another notable feat in its win over in-state rival Wisconsin was that it marked just the seventh time the Panthers have taken down a Big Ten foe. That marked the first win over the Big Ten since an 81-73 victory over Northwestern on Jan. 18, 2006.

DE-FENSE
The Panthers turned up the defensive pressure Nov. 20 at Loyola and held the Ramblers to just 15 first-half points and 46 total for the game. That tied the fewest allowed by Kyle Rechlicz-coached Milwaukee team, equal to a 62-46 win at Cleveland State Jan. 9, 2016.

Then, just six days later, Milwaukee one-upped themselves yet again. Going up against tournament host Vermont as part of the TD Bank Classic, the Panthers again cranked things up defensively and limited the Catamounts to just five first-quarter points and just 44 for the game. That trumps both 46-point games as the new standard under Rechlicz.

In fact, no UWM team has conceded fewer points since the 2011-12 squad posted a 50-31 win over Valparaiso on Feb. 25 at the Klotsche Center.

WHAT A TURNAROUND
After the 114-104, double-overtime thriller at Northern Illinois on Nov. 16, defense was a clear point of emphasis heading into the next game. The result: the Panthers held Loyola to just 46 points (just 15 in the first half) en route to a 27-point win over the Ramblers. The 68-point shift in points allowed is the largest - plus or minus - between two games in Milwaukee's 46 years of women's basketball.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK
After missing the entire 2015-16 season following a preseason injury, Jordyn Swan returned for her redshirt senior year and made her return to the court with three minutes of action at NIU Nov. 16. Four days later, Swan had a big impact - netting 13 points in just 13 minutes of action. That is significant, as it marks the first time Swan reached double figures in scoring since her junior season when she netted 11 against Youngstown State on Jan. 31, 2015.

LEAGUE LEADERS
While it is still early, UWM has started out much like they played all of last season with their preliminary statistics ranking quite high in the league standings. Milwaukee already leads the conference in rebounding margin (+13.3) and free throw percentage (.813) and also ranks second in scoring offense (81.5 points/game), second in three-point shooting (.358) and fourth in field goal percentage (.438).

Individually, quite a few Panthers check in atop the league standings, headlined in numerous categories by do-it-all forward Steph Kostowicz. The junior is fourth in the Horizon League in scoring (17.0 points/game), second in field goal percentage (.590), second in three-point percentage (.545), third in rebounding (9.3/game), fourth in blocks (1.3/game) and eighth in free-throw shooting (.889).

A LOT OF CHARITY WORK
Kyle Rechlicz's teams have increasingly improved on their free throw shooting, with last year being the third-best in program history, connecting on .737 percent of their freebies. This year's Panther squad is well above that mark, sinking 113-139 of their shots from the charity stripe heading into the game against NDSU. That is good for an .813 percentage - well above the school record of .790 set back in the 2010-11 season.

Not only that, the Panthers' free throw shooting ranks fifth in the entire nation after six games. Providence leads the NCAA at .861 (58-64), but Milwaukee has both attempted and made more free throws than the four schools ahead of them through six games.

COMING OUT SWINGING
Last year, Milwaukee made a habit of jumping out quickly on its opponents and building a very sizeable lead before they knew what hit them. That has been a trend once again in the early going this season. UWM is outscoring its first six opponents by 63 in the first quarter alone and boasts a 235-151 edge in first halves thus far.

BREAKING THE CENTURY MARK
Milwaukee's 104-point performance against Northern Illinois Nov. 16 tied the second-most points in a game in program history - second only to the memorable 116-point game Dec. 4, 2012 against Bradley. The Panthers also scoring 104 points in a big win over Northeastern Jan. of 1991. This year's performance marked the sixth time UWM has eclipsed the 100-point barrier in its D-I history and the 12th time since basketball began at the school in 1971. The Bradley game marked the most recent reaching the century mark, with the other triple-figure outings including totals of 104 (Northeastern, 1/22/91), 102 (Detroit, 1/19/02), 101 (CSU, 2/17/96) and 100 (YSU, 2/2/02). The 218 combined points in the NIU this season also marked the second-most total points in a game in program history, shy of only the 228 in the 2012 win over Bradley. It also marked just the second time both teams were 100-plus in the same contest.

THAT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL
Milwaukee did something it has never done before in the Nov. 16 game at Northern Illinois - have three players with a double-double in the same contest. Steph Kostowicz (30 pts, 11 reb), Sierra Ford-Washington (18 pts, 11 reb) and Jenny Lindner (16 pts, 12 reb) all recorded double-doubles in Milwaukee's 114-104 loss, marking the first time three players have done that all in the same game.

6 x 10 = TEAM EFFORT
Another notable from Milwaukee's Nov. 16 contest at Northern Illinois - six Panthers reached double figures in scoring. The Panthers entire starting five of Bailey Farley, Alexis Lindstrom, Jenny Lindner, Sierra Ford-Washington and Steph Kostowicz all scored 11 or more points, while freshman Lizzie Odegard came off the bench to also chip in 12. That marked the first time six players scored since Mar. 9, 2007 in an 83-79 win over Wright State in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals - a total of 280 games earlier.

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.

JENNY BEING JENNY
Jenny Lindner has been a big part of Milwaukee's success in the early going this year. In the season-opening win over Western Illinois, the junior netted a game-high 23 points. 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. She then followed that up with 16 points and 12 rebounds at Northern Illinois Nov. 16. Lindner saved her best for the big stage against in-state rival Wisconsin. The junior recorded her eight career double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds in taking down the Badgers, now giving her 20 or more points in five of her last nine games dating back to last season. Lindner then closed out last week with a tournament-best 28 points in two games during Milwaukee's sweep of the TD Bank Classic.

DOUBLING DOWN
Steph Kostowicz has picked up right where she left off last year, recording four double-doubles in her first six games of the year. The preseason first-team all-league honoree opened with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Western Illinois and followed that up with 30 points and 11 boards against Northern Illinois. She also went for 12 and 13 in the big win over Wisconsin before tallying 10 and 12 at Vermont. That gives her 14 double-doubles now in her career at the early part of her junior season. In fact, the back-to-back double-doubles to start the season marked the first time any Panther has achieved that feat in program history.

THREE-HEADED MONSTER
Sierra Ford-Washington, Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner have helped make Milwaukee a force to be reckoned with. The trio attributed for .612 percent of the Panthers' scoring last season and have gotten off to a blazing start to the 2016-17 season. So far, that number is down to .585 percent, with the big three combining for 15 double-digit scoring performances and seven double-doubles in just six games.

AWFULLY EFFICIENT
Not only is Steph Kostowicz lighting up the scoreboard in the early going of her junior season, she's doing so in an awfully efficient manner. Kostowicz started the season going 8-10 in the season opener and is now shooting .590 (36-61) from the floor on the year, including .545 (6-11) from behind the arc. Not to be overshadowed, her free-throw shooting of .889 (24-27) is also awfully impressive and is a big reason why Milwaukee ranks fifth in the nation in that category.

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.

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 427 games in a row heading into the game against the Bison. 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.

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.

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.

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 over the radio waves due to broadcast conflicts, but can still be found online at MKEPanthers.com

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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