Women's Basketball February 19, 2016

UWM Battles UIC In Saturday Matinee

Panthers aiming for 2-0 road swing

MILWAUKEE - After a big road win at Valparaiso on Thursday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will look to make it a 2-0 road trip Saturday when they take on UIC from the UIC Pavilion at 3 p.m. Milwaukee won the first matchup earlier this season after Sierra Ford-Washington hit a contested jumper with just seconds left on the clock to give the Panthers the one-point win. Saturday's game will serve as the annual "Stop The Violence" game for the Flames.

LOOKING AT UIC
A full 25 games into the season and the Flames have scored the exact same number of points they have allowed - 1559/62.4 points per game. That even play is also evident in UIC's record, entering Saturday's game with 12 wins and 13 losses.

Individually, Ruvanna Campbell is still one of the most dominant players in the Horizon League. The senior forward is averaging an impressive 17.9 ppg and 13.0 rebounds per game. Junior guard Kendyll Nunn is also a key piece of the puzzle for the Flames, scoring 13.2 per contest.

THE FIRST MEETING...
Sierra Ford-Washington hit a close-range jumper in traffic with seven seconds left on the clock to give Milwaukee a well-deserved 54-53 win over UIC from the Klotsche Center.

Milwaukee trailed by as many as 11 in the first half and was down by one with 17 seconds remaining. UWM drew it up for Ford-Washington to take the shot, and she hit it with a pair of UIC players in her face to give UWM the lead with seven seconds left.

UIC had time for one last shot, but Jenny Lindner blocked the final attempt to seal the win for Milwaukee.

The win was the start of a five-game win streak in conference play by the Panthers.

SERIES HISTORY
With its win earlier this year, the Panthers improved its all time record against UIC to 28-21. Milwaukee will be looking for its first season sweep over the Flames since 2005-06 season. In fact, UWM has not won at UIC since a 51-50 victory on Jan. 21, 2010.

UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the Klotsche Center for their final home stand of the season next week. Milwaukee will host Northern Kentucky Thursday night at 7 p.m. before Saturday's senior day game against Wright State.

LAST GAME
Steph Kostowicz poured in a career-high 27 points and registered her fifth double-double of the season to help the Milwaukee women's basketball team to a key road win over Valparaiso, 70-60, Thursday evening from the ARC.

Valparaiso (8-17, 4-10 Horizon) cut the Panther lead to just one with 7:40 remaining, but Milwaukee (14-10, 8-5 Horizon) responded with a 14-2 run to secure the win.

"We knew it was going to be a competitive game," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We both push the pace, both have inside-outside players, posts that can shoot the three and guards that can take it on the drive.

"When the second quarter started and we were down a little bit, we just kept telling them, 'We're on the road.. We're going to be fine. We just need to go on our own little run and get some stops. And then we went on a 15-3 run to end the second quarter and that was huge for us. That was the lift that we needed."

Kostowicz had one of the best games of her young career, dominating from start to finish and closing out with a career-high 27 points, 12 rebounds, a pair of steals and assists and one block in 31 minutes. The 27 points are the most by a Panther since Ashley Green scored 30 on Feb. 28 last season.

THE KOST OF ADMISSION
Steph Kostowicz was a big part of Milwaukee's five-game winning streak earlier this year and she returned to that form in Thursday's win over Valparaiso. The sophomore forward poured in a career-best 27 points to go with 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. It also marked the most points by a Panther this season and is the most since Ashley Green's 30 points against Cleveland State late last season.

HERE'S JENNY
After a 25-point, 10-rebound performance in the season-opener, it had been a little bit more of a struggle for sophomore Jenny Lindner in the early going this season. That was until the last nine games. After entering the season still working her way back from an off-season injury, Lindner has returned to form in a big way. Over those last nine games, she scored in double digits all nine times and is averaging over 15 points per game, including a 23-point performance against Youngstown State on Feb. 13. She has also been picking it up on the rebounding front in the time, averaging eight rpg over the last five contests.

THAT'S WHAT I CALL CLUTCH
Sierra Ford-Washington has come up with some big shots for Milwaukee this season, including a pair of game winners in the final seconds. The junior hit a tough jumper in the lane with 6.7 left in overtime to take down Cleveland State Feb. 11. Before that, her layup with 6.4 on the clock was the difference in UWM's 54-53 win over UIC Jan. 14.

A GOOD TIME TO GET GOING
While Sierra Ford-Washington stole the headlines in the 59-58 overtime win over Cleveland State Feb. 11 with her game-winning shot with just 6.7 seconds left on the clock, ironically it was one of the worst games she has played as a Panther. Entering that game averaging a team-leading 13.4 ppg, Ford-Washington nearly went scoreless, scoring her lone basket of the contest as the game's final points.

A LOT OF NAIL BITERS
Milwaukee's one-point, last second win has been just part of the norm for the Horizon League this season. Heading into Saturday's action, 21 league-only games have been decided by five points or less, with five of those being decided by just one point.

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 14 wins with at least six 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 14 games in a season since the 2008-09 team won 15.

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 24 games this season. Jenny Lindner has led the way in nine games thus far, while Steph Kostowicz has done so eight times this year and Sierra Ford-Washington seven.

In fact, UWM currently has four players that average 10+ points per game, making them one of just two league schools (Oakland) with that much wide-spread scoring options.

DOUBLING DOWN
Steph Kostowicz had a monster of a game in the win over Valparaiso Feb. 18. The sophomore led the way with a career-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year.

That marked the 10th double-double by a Panther this season. Impressively, those 10 different outings have come by four different players (Kostowicz, Jenny Lindner, Emma Roenneburg and Sierra Ford-Washington).

BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore Steph Kostowicz has made quite an impact down in the post defensively for Milwaukee this season. The second-year player is averaging 1.5 blocks per game. That number ranks fourth in the conference and 101st in the nation.

Not only that, her 36 blocks this season are already closing in on the all-time record list for a single season. While Maria Viall's school record of 53 in 2003-04 might be hard to reach, Kostowicz already stands eighth in UWM history and needs just eight more to move into a tie for seventh place all time.

A PEEK AT THE LEAGUE STANDING
While there is still a lot of basketball yet to be played, UWM currently finds itself sitting in sole possession of third place in the league standings. That is significant as the Panthers haven't finished in the top half of the table since the 2010-11 team placed fourth and hasn't finished runner-up since the 07-08 season.

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 just .302 from behind the arc. Now that conference play has started? UWM is shooting a whopping .410 from the floor and .343 from three.

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.

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 72.2 percent clip after sinking 296-of-410 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 has missed just four free throws in 2016 - is third in the conference and is 15th in the nation at 86.5 percent this year. Meanwhile, Sierra Ford-Washington - who twice has gone 8-for-8 in a game this year and was 11-for-11 against Oakland - ranks fifth in the league and 61st in the country at 83.2.

ALL GOOD THINGS...
Milwaukee's five-game win streak was snapped on Jan. 28 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 Jan. 25 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. Finally, she was also named to the NCAA's "Starting 5" for the week as one of the top-five players in the nation.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE
It's no secret Milwaukee has had plenty of success so far this season. UWM got its 14th win of the year on Feb. 18 against Valparaiso - the fastest calendar date Milwaukee has gotten to 14 wins since the 2005-06 season when they reached that mark on Feb. 11. That team finished the year with an impressive 22 wins, making it all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

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.

1- .786 (11-14) Central Michigan     2/17/00
2- .722 (13-18) Western Michigan    11/14/12
3-              .688 (11-16) Valparaiso        1/16/16

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 5.9 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 eight more boards than its opponents in wins (41.2-33.5), and still has the edge in losses, though the margin is much closer (39.4-37.4).

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)

THE W'S AND THE L'S
As one might expect, there are certainly some stark statistical differences in Milwaukee's 14 wins compared to its 10 losses:

                          W's    L's
FG%                   .434   .329
Def FG%              .343   .451
3FG%                 .383   .250
3FG's Made/GM    7.4     5.6
PPG                    71.0   57.5
PPG Against           57.1   73.4

FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's 14 wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 511-349 in the opening half when they win, including a 291-180 edge in the second quarter.

DE-FENSE
Milwaukee has been posting some impressive defensive numbers over the last month. In its last 15 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.

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 413 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 24 games this season, hitting three or more seven different times and netting a season-high five twice (La Salle Nov. 28./Northern Kentucky Jan. 23). That marks the most games with a made three to start the season on record - topping Jess Wilhite's mark of 20 games with a three to start the 2000-01 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.
THE PERFECT GAME
The Panthers have had quite a few notable shooting performances this season. Despite playing in a season-low 19 minutes, Steph Kostowicz still made quite the impact in Milwaukee's 73-60 win over IPFW Dec. 28. She 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.

A pair of Panthers have also been perfect from the charity stripe this season with at least 10 attempts.

Jenny Lindner drained all 10 of her attempts from the line against IPFW, the first Panther to do so since Angela Rodriquez also went 10-for-10 at New Mexico State Nov. 30, 2013. Sierra Ford-Washington than did one better, going 11-for-11 as part of her 24 points against Oakland Jan. 30.

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.

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.

Print Friendly Version

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

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

#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

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

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