Box Score

Wright State WSU 24-10, 12-6

Milwaukee UWM 19-11, 12-6

Wright State WSU

24-10, 12-6

Final

Mar. 12, 2016

Milwaukee UWM

19-11, 12-6

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Wright State WSU	16	11	15	18	60
Milwaukee UWM	19	15	15	19	68

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | March 12, 2016

Panthers Advance To Sunday’s Final After Win Over Raiders

Milwaukee to take on Green Bay for trip to NCAA Tournament

Green Bay, Wis. – Jenny Lindner poured in a game-high 31 points and the Milwaukee women's basketball team got a big 68-60 win over Wright State Saturday evening from the Kress Center to advance to Sunday's Horizon League Tournament Championship at noon.

While Lindner was dominant, this was a total team effort for Milwaukee (19-11); taking down the Raiders (24-10) for the third time this season.

UWM will now make its first appearance to the league tournament championship since the 2008-09 season. The Panthers will face Green Bay, who narrowly edged Northern Kentucky in the other semifinal, 80-78, in double overtime.

"Wright State is an unbelievable team and a great program. We knew it wouldn't be easy coming in. The standards are so much higher when you have this opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament. We just knew we had to bring a full effort game.

"We came out so much focus; so much intensity. We just have a team that is really bought it and they really want to win.

"It's exciting. But, as we said when we entered this tournament, we really want to win it all. We want to go for that championship and we know our team is going to be ready for that."

Milwaukee outrebounded WSU, 44-41; the third time this season they have achieved that against the No. 2 rebounding team in the nation.

The Panthers got contributions from up and down the lineup, with eight of the nine players who saw the court tallying at least two points.

Emma Roenneburg had career highs in rebounds (12), assists (six) and blocks (three). Steph Kostowicz was held to a quiet seven points but added 10 rebounds and six assists.

Senior guard Sydney Howard had four points but a career-high eight rebounds to go with her three assists.

Sierra Ford-Washington was great off the drive all night, netting 15 points on 5-10 shooting.

Lindner once again stole the headlines with her 31 points on an incredibly efficient 11-15 shooting – 3-5 from behind the arc – while going 6-8 from the free throw line. Lindner also added seven rebounds in tonight's contest.

"Jenny is such a unique player, in that she has the power as a guard to post up in the paint," Rechlicz said. "We were able to exploit that against Wright State, especially once they got in foul trouble in the second half. We knew if we could get her inside, they would have a really hard time figuring out how to guard her."

Milwaukee, which hadn't played a game in over a week after earning a double bye into the semifinal, burst out of the gates with a 14-2 run to start the game.

Wright State would show why they earned the No. 3 seed, battling back and tying the game at 27-27 with 1:35 left in the first half. But the Panthers responded, going on a 7-0 spurt to end the first half, capped with a three ball from Lindner with just seconds remaining.

After the break, Wright State once again did what it could, taking its first lead of the game at 37-36 of a Richelle van der Keijl layup at the 6:10 mark in the third quarter.

That would be the only time all game that WSU led, however, as Milwaukee once again responded by slowly and steadily taking back the lead.

UWM used an 11-1 run that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth to really take control, going up 53-42. A free throw by Lindner with 4:45 left gave the Panthers their largest lead of the night, up 12.

Wright State would try their best, with Horizon League Player of the Year Kim Demmings scoring 11 of her team-high 27 points in the final four and a half minutes of the game, but it wasn't enough as Milwaukee sank its free throws to ice the win.

"Kim Demmings put her team on her back tonight," Rechlicz said. "I give her a lot of credit. She was outstanding. But I give a lot of credit to our guards, too, who stepped up and defended her. She's the best player in our league – I felt like we held her the best that we could."

It's a quick turnaround for Milwaukee for tomorrow's Horizon League Tournament Championship. The Panthers will take on in-state rival Green Bay for the all-Wisconsin final at noon from the Kress Center with a berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

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