Women's Basketball February 05, 2016

Panthers Kickoff Second Half Of Season At Green Bay

Milwaukee looking to build off 6-3 start

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee women's basketball team will kickoff the second half of its Horizon League season Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest from the Kress Center in Green Bay. The Panthers have started the conference season 6-3 overall - the best start in eight years. The Phoenix was ranked just one week ago before suffering its first loss of the year to Detroit.

LOOKING AT GREEN BAY
Green Bay heads into Saturday's game with an 18-3 overall mark and sitting at the top of the league with an 8-1 conference record. The Phoenix suffered its first league loss last weekend when Oakland went up to the Kress Center and claimed a 58-56 win. GB responded with a 58-36 victory over Detroit just two days later to bounce back.

While Green Bay's offense has been slow and steady all year, averaging 65.9 per contest, it's the Phoenix defense that has been causing so many teams problem this year. GB holds a decisive lead in the league in team defense (53.0/game) and has allowed just one league opponent to score more than 60 in a game this year. In fact, the Phoenix boasted one of the more convincing defensive performances in the league all season when it held UIC to just 22 points on Jan. 16.

SERIES HISTORY
With Green Bay's win on New Year's Day earlier this year, GB improved to 43-11 all time against Milwaukee. The last Panther win in the series came in 2014 - a 75-64 win in Green Bay.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee hosts its annual school day game, welcoming numerous area schools to its Thursday game against Cleveland State. That one is scheduled to tip at 11 a.m. from the Klotsche Center.

LAST GAME
Five players scored in double figures and the Milwaukee women's basketball team got back on track with a 77-64 win over Oakland University Saturday afternoon in front of 698 in the Klotsche Center.

Less than 48 hours after their first loss in six games, UWM (12-8, 6-3 Horizon) started slow but used a pair of big scoring runs to bridge the halftime intermission to go from down four to up 14.

The Panthers would never trail in the second half and recorded their sixth win in their last seven games.

"This really is a testament to our team to be able to bounce back in 48 hours and go from a style of play like Detroit had to how Oakland played," Panther head coach Kyle Rechlicz said.

"This is a big win for our program. It finishes out the first half of conference and now we're 6-3. We really put it all on the line today. I thought our team played very, very hard."

Sierra Ford-Washington led all players Saturday with 24 points – the third-straight game with at least 20 points for the junior.

Emma Roenneburg recorded the first double-double of her young career, scoring 11 to go with a season-high 10 rebounds.

HALF WAY THERE
UWM heads into the second half of Horizon League play with quite a few noteable stats under its belt:

• The Panthers are 6-3 in league play, marking the best record at the midway point in league play since the 2007-08 team was also 6-3.

• The six league wins and 12 wins overall are both the most under head coach Kyle Rechlicz in her four years at the helm.

• Milwaukee sits in second place in the league standings through nine games. UWM hasn't finished on the top half of the table since the 2010-11 team placed fourth and hasn't finished runner-up since the 07-08 season.

• At 12-8, this marks the most games over .500 UWM has been this deep into the season since the 2000-01 was 14-6 after 20 games played.

DOUBLING DOWN
Emma Roenneburg recorded her first collegiate double-double in Milwaukee's 77-64 win over Oakland Jan. 30. The freshman grabbed 10 rebounds to go with her 11 points.

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

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.

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 12 wins with at least nine 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.

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 20 games this season. Steph Kostowicz and Sierra Ford-Washington lead the way with seven, with Jenny Lindner (six) also big in the early going.

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 1.6 blocks per game. That number ranks second in the conference and 103rd in the nation.

Not only that, her 30 blocks this season are already closing in on the all-time record list. While Maria Viall's school record of 53 in 2003-04 might be hard to reach, Kostowicz only needs four more to crack the top-10.

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 one week ago 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.

HOW THEY'RE DOING IT
The Panthers posted three-straight 20-point wins and won five of their last six 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.

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.

Finally, the Panthers gutted out a come-from-behind victory over Oakland at home last weekend, trailing by as many as seven before a pair of runs sparked the comeback and UWM rebounded from its first league loss in three weeks with a 13-point win at home.

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.

EARLY SUCCESS
It's no secret Milwaukee has had plenty of early success this season. UWM got its 12th win of the year on Jan. 30 against Oakland - the fastest calendar date Milwaukee has gotten to 11 wins since the 2001-02 season when they reached that mark on Jan. 19.

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

HEATING UP
The three ball has been a big part of the Panthers offense lately, connecting on 46 threes in its last five games. Even more impressively, 33 of those triples have come in the first half. That's more than Milwaukee's previous six game totals combined.

THE KOST OF ADMISSION
Steph Kostowicz was nearly unstoppable in three-straight Panther wins against Valpo, WSU and NKU, posting career-highs in all three games. 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 just .302 from behind the arc. Now that conference play has started? UWM is shooting a whopping .435 from the floor and an impressive .384 from three.

DE-FENSE
Milwaukee has been posting some impressive defensive numbers over the last month. In its last 11 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%                            .443       .332
Def FG%                        .339       .456
3FG%                           .398       .251
3FG's Made/GM               7.7        5.5
PPG                             72.1       58.4
PPG Against                     56.8       74.4

FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's 12 wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 444-302 in the opening half when they win, including a 256-157 edge in the second quarter.

STARTING THE CONFERENCE SEASON
After its 77-64 win over Oakland on Jan. 30, Milwaukee started 6-3 in Horizon League play this season. While it's still early, the 6-3 start marks the best start through nine 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 73.2 percent clip after sinking 254-of-347 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 one free throw in 2016 - is third in the conference and is 15th in the nation at 87.7 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 last week - ranks fourth in the league and 39th in the country at 85.2.

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 (41.4-32.0), 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 409 games in a row heading into the game against the Phoenix. 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 20 games this season, hitting three or more six 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 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.

A 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.

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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

#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