MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee women's basketball team makes its first trip to the postseason since 2006 on Wednesday with a matchup against Minnesota in the WNIT. The Panthers and Gophers will tip off at 7 p.m. at historic Williams Arena. UWM earned an automatic berth to the WNIT by finishing second in the Horizon League in both the regular season and the conference tournament. Minnesota earned an at-large bid after going 19-11 this season.
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PANTHER BITS
• Milwaukee finished the Horizon League Tournament as runners-up, falling to league champ Green Bay (28-4) in the title game.• The Panthers return three starters and seven letterwinners from last season, welcoming nine newcomers to the roster, including six true freshmen.
• The Panthers were picked ninth in the 2015-16 preseason coaches' poll after finishing in eighth place a year ago.Â
• In her fourth season at the helm, Kyle Rechlicz was named Horizon League Coach of the Year this season, becoming just the second coach in school history to earn that distinction.
• Steph Kostowicz was also honored by the Horizon League, earning first-team all-conference honors.Â
• The Panthers will play in the postseason for the first time since the 2005-06 season when it went to the NCAA Tournament, falling to Michigan State, 65-46.
LOOKING AT MINNESOTA
The Gophers head into the postseason with a 19-11 overall record and went 11-7 in Big Ten play this season. Minnesota hit a rough patch down the stretch, dropping three of its last four in the regular season and coming up short to Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament opener.Â
In that conference tournament game, Rachel Banham became just the 11th player in Division I women's basketball to reach 3,000 points for her career. The Big Ten Player of the Year, Banham is the clear leader for U of M, averaging 27.6 points per game - the second-highest average in the nation this season. Banham and sophomore Carlie Wagner have reached double figures in scoring every game this season.
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As a team, Minnesota runs a very fast-paced offense, averaging 83.3 ppg while connecting on over nine made threes in each contest.
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THE LAST TIME THEY MET...
Milwaukee shot just 21.9 percent in the first half and could not rebound in falling to Minnesota, 76-53, in the first game of the Subway Classic Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena.
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Milwaukee had three players score in double-figures, led by Roseville, Minn., native Lindsay Laur, who had 14 points and seven rebounds while playing her first collegiate game in front of her hometown crowd. Angela Rodriguez added 13 points and Courtney Lindfors 12 in the game.
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China Antoine buried 5-of-6 three-point attempts on her way to a game-high 17 points for Minnesota and Kiara Buford added 15. Antoine also had 11 assists and six rebounds.
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SERIES HISTORY
Despite being just a few hours apart, Milwaukee and Minnesota have met just two times in program history, with both games taking place at Williams Arena. Each team has won one game, with the Gophers claiming a 76-53 victory In 2010. Milwaukee's 75-57 W came in 1997.
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UP NEXT
The winner of the Milwaukee/Minnesota game will face off against the winner of South Dakota and Creighton. The Jayhawks and Coyotes also play Wednesday also at 7 p.m. in Vermillion, S.D.
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LAST GAME
The Milwaukee women's basketball team shot just 28 percent from the floor and never quite got on track in a 64-32 loss to Green Bay in the Horizon League Tournament Championship final Sunday afternoon from the Kress Center.
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The 32 points were a season low for UWM, while Green Bay shot 55 percent from the floor in the first half and finished the game shooting better than 40 percent overall.
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Milwaukee finished the league tournament just as they did the regular season - in second place - a remarkable improvement from an eighth-place finish one year ago.
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"I'm really proud of my team to actually be in this position," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Being picked ninth (preseason) in the league and having the opportunity to play in the championship game is something that doesn't come easy. It has taken a lot of work in our program to get to this point and I'm really proud of the effort that we put forward.
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"Hats of to Green Bay. They're an excellent team. They're an excellent program and they have been for many years. I'm hoping that this loss helps propel us in our postseason now, but also coming into the summer and next year on how much more we have to improve if we want to compete for a championship.
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"We're excited for the opportunity to play in the WNIT after earning the automatic bid, so our season is not over. We still have a lot that we want to accomplish."
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POSTSEASON PLAY
For the first time since the 2005-06 season, the Panthers are making a trip to the postseason. Wednesday's game at Minnesota will mark the first ever for UWM in the WNIT. Milwaukee has made two previous trips to a postseason tournament since making the jump to Division I in 1990. Both previous trips were to the NCAA Tournament, falling at Duke in 2001 and coming up just short against Michigan State in 2006.
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IN THE BOOKS
Milwaukee wrapped up its best regular season in a decade with quite a few remarkable accomplishments achieved by this year's squad.
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• 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.
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• The 12 conference wins are the most also since the 05-06 season.
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• Milwaukee also now has 10 wins away from home, just one shy of the record 11 non-home wins set by the 2001-02 team.
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• The Panthers finished their home season with a 9-5 mark - the first home winning season since 2010-11 (7-6). In fact, this season's home winning percentage of .643 is the highest since the 05-06 team went 13-3 for an .813 mark.
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• This marks 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.
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THE BIG 2-0
The Panthers have a chance this season to do something only a handful of others have done in program history - reach the notable 20 win plateau. Entering Wednesday's game with a 19-12 overall mark, Milwaukee has a chance to join the 2005-06 (22-9) and the 2001-02 (20-8) teams as the only others to reach 20 wins since joining the Division I ranks.
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POSTSEASON AWARDS
The Horizon League handed out its annual postseason awards last week and Milwaukee was very well represented this season. Head coach Kyle Rechlicz was named league coach of the year - just the second UWM coach to earn the honor from the Horizon League and first since Sandy Botham did so in 2005-06. Steph Kostowicz was also recognized, being named first team all-league after being one of the key pieces for Milwaukee all season long.
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STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM...
UWM has known for some time it would be playing in a national postseason tournament this year. With its 98-95 win at Oakland on March 3, Milwaukee officially clinched a second-place finish in the league standings and a double bye in the conference tournament. That is quite the remarkable turnaround from last year, when UWM finished eighth of nine. With the regular season officially in the books, the Panthers have become 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?
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-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.
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-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.
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LINDNER DOWN THE STRETCH
While Jenny Lindner's career-high 32-point effort at Oakland is impressive for a variety of reasons, it's worth taking note that 16 of those 32 points came in the final 10 minutes of action. It's not the first time she has taken over in the fourth quarter either. In her previous season-high performance at Eastern Illinois on Dec. 10, Lindner netted 14 of her 25 points in the final quarter to help secure that win, as well.
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Not only that, she also had a monster third quarter in Milwaukee's narrow loss at Detroit in the regular season finale. Lindner scored a team-high 20, with 14 coming in the third quarter.
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Finally, Lindner poured in another 31 points in the Horizon League Tournament semifinal against Wright State. She was once again big late, netting 21 of those points after halftime to help seal the Panther win.
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WHAT A WIN
Milwaukee clinched a second-place finish in the league standings with a memorable, 98-95 win at Oakland on March 3. Quite a few notable stats came out of that big win.
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• Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner each scored 32 points in that win, marking the first time in the D-I era that two Panthers each scored 30+ points in a single game.
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• Kostowicz did so on 13-14 shooting from the floor, including 2-2 from three and 4-4 from the free throw line. That shooting percentage of .929 is the highest in program history for a single game, besting Nicole Drummond's .909 (10-11) performance Feb. 11, 2006.
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• Lindner got her 32 points on 14-24 shooting. That marks the second-most attempts in a game for Milwaukee, short of only Traci Edwards' 33 attempts in 2007.
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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 19 wins with at least one more game 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 19 games in a season since the 2005-06 team won 22.
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DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY
Milwaukee has racked up 19 wins this season and has gotten to that impressive total in a variety of ways.
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During its first five-game win streak of the season, UWM blew the doors off quite a few opponents, winning three-straight at one points, all by at least 22 points. The Panthers have also had some grind-em-out wins (most recently at Valpo and at UIC) and have shown they can win both low-scoring (54-53 vs. UIC) and high-scoring (98-95 at Oakland) affairs.
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AWARD-WINNING PLAY
The Panthers have posted some prolific performances this season, and the league office has taken notice. Steph Kostowicz was named league player of the week twice this season, Sierra Ford-Washington's earned the award once and in the last week of the regular season it was Jenny Lindner's turn. The sophomore led UWM in scoring in both games, averaging 26 points on the final road swing. Lindner netter a career-high 32 points - including 16 in the final quarter - to help spark UWM past Oakland, 98-95, and clinch the No. 2 seed. She was also big defensively with six rebounds and three steals. Then, two days later, she scored a team-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds and another three steals in a narrow loss at Detroit.
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HOW SWEEP IT IS
With its win over Oakland on March 3, the Panthers completed their sixth sweep of a team this year (UIC, Cleveland State, Northern Kentucky, Wright State and Valparaiso being the other five). That is significant as Milwaukee has had just one season sweep in the past three years combined. In fact, UWM has not swept six or more season series since the 2005-06 team reached that same mark.
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QUITE THE HAUL
Steph Kostowicz has had quite the impressive season on the boards and has quickly climbed the charts in Milwaukee single-season history. Her offensive rebound total of 114 is already tied for third in school history and is just eight shy of Traci Edward's single-season best 122 in 2005-06. She also ranks tied for ninth in total rebounds (274) and 10th in defensive rebounds (160).
THERE'S NO DEBATING IT
With debates from Presidential hopefuls taking hold of the national spotlight these days, the Panthers have shown they are up to the task when paired up against Washington's big wigs, going 2-0 when playing in the same city a debate is being held on the same day. Milwaukee beat Cleveland State, 59-58, on Feb. 11, the same day of the Democratic debate on the UWM campus. Then, the Panthers won at Oakland, 98-95, while the Republican nominees duked it out just down the road in Detroit on March 3.
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THE W'S AND THE L'S
As one might expect, there are certainly some stark statistical differences in Milwaukee's 19 wins compared to its 12 losses:
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                                 W's      L's
FG%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .440Â Â Â Â .330
Def FG%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .348Â Â Â Â .449
3FG%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .369Â Â Â Â .244
3FG's Made/GMÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6.8Â Â Â Â Â Â 5.5
PPGÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 72.0Â Â Â Â 56.9
PPG Against                 59.9    73.2
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AN OLD, OLD WOODEN SHIP
Milwaukee's offense has been the definition of diversity 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 31 games this season. Jenny Lindner has done so 12 times, while Steph Kostowicz has done so 11 times and Sierra Ford-Washington is right behind with nine.
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LOTS OF CHARITY SUCCESS
The Panthers are having an impressive season from the free throw line, currently near the lead in the Horizon League with a 73.4 percent clip after sinking 395-of-538 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.
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Individually, Milwaukee has two of the best free throw shooters in the league this season. Sierra Ford-Washington - who twice has gone 8-for-8 in a game this year and was 11-for-11 against Oakland the first time around - ranks third in the league and 33rd in the country at 85.0. Meanwhile, Jenny Lindner - who went 10-for-10 once this season - is fourth in the conference and is 58th in the nation at 83.2 percent this year.
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 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 is averaging 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).
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Here's a look at some of the largest rebounding margins for Milwaukee thus far this season:
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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)
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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 420 games in a row heading into the game against the Gophers. 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.
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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 point in 27 of the Panthers' 31 games so far this season. In fact, Lindstrom started the season with at least one triple in the first 24 games - topping Jess Wilhite's mark of 20 games with a three to start the 2000-01 season.
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With at least one game left on the schedule, Lindstrom has already knocked in 60 shots from deep this season, tying her with Angela Rodriguez for ninth place in school history.
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FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's 19 wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 696-506 in the opening half when they win, including a 399-255 edge in the second quarter.
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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 106th in the nation.
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Not only that, her 47 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 catapulted herself into a tie for fourth place after record four blocks in the league tournament final.
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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.
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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.
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DOUBLING DOWN
Steph Kostowicz had a monster of a game in the win over Oakland March 3. The sophomore led the way with a career-high 32 points and added 12 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the year.
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That marked the 12th double-double by a Panther this season. Impressively, those 12 different outings have come by four different players (Kostowicz, Jenny Lindner, Emma Roenneburg and Sierra Ford-Washington).
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A LOT OF NAIL BITERS
Milwaukee's one-point, last second win against Cleveland State was just part of the norm for the Horizon League this season. A total of 24 league-only games were decided by five points or less, with five of those being decided by just one point.
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SENIOR SALUTE
Sydney Howard played her final two games from inside the Klotsche Center last week and what a week it was for Milwaukee's lone senior. The Milwaukee native poured in a season-high 15 points against both Northern Kentucky and Wright State and shot over .500 for the week, including draining a season-high three three-pointers in each win.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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A pair of Panthers have also been perfect from the charity stripe this season with at least 10 attempts.
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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.
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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.
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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.Â
