Women's Basketball March 04, 2016

Second-Place Panthers Close Regular Season At Detroit

Milwaukee looking for sixth-straight win

MILWAUKEE - After securing second place in the league standings and a double bye in the Horizon League tournament with its win on Thursday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will look to finish the season on a strong note with a noon (Central) contest at Detroit on Sunday. A win would be a season-high sixth-straight for UWM. Ironically, Detroit halted a five-game win streak for Milwaukee earlier this year with 89-79 win from the Klotsche Center.

LOOKING AT DETROIT
The Titans head into their final home game looking to improve on their seeding heading into the league tournament. Detroit's seeding for the tournament is yet to be determined, with a possibility of the three seed still in play.

Detroit is not unlike Milwaukee's last opponent in they can score quite a few points (69.1/game), but give up a league-worst 74.1/game.

Individually, Rosanna Reynolds is sixth in the league in scoring at 15.6 ppg, while Brianne Cohen (14.7) and Nicole Urbanik (14.2) are seventh and ninth. Over half of Urbanik's attempts this season have been from three where she has gone 79-220 (.359) this year.

THE FIRST MEETING...
Detroit shot a season-high 57 percent from the field – including 52 percent from behind the arc – to snap Milwaukee's five-game winning streak with an 89-79 win.

Despite shooting nearly 50 percent themselves, UWM lost for the first time since Jan. 7.

"We really didn't come out with any defensive energy tonight," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "A lot of credit to Detroit. They played tough, they hit open shots when they needed to and they're extremely well coached. They definitely deserved this win more than us."

Milwaukee closed the lead to just one with 3:16 left in the game. But, Detroit made eight free throws in the closing minutes to ice the game away.

SERIES HISTORY
The Titans hold a slight 26-24 edge in the all time series with Milwaukee. The two teams have split the last two season series, with each team winning on the road a year ago. UWM is 10-12 all time at UDM.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee now will get ready for the Horizon League Tournament, which starts Thursday in Green Bay. The Panthers earned a double bye into this year's dance and will wait to find out who they play on Saturday at 5:30.

LAST GAME
Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner each scored 32 points to lead the Milwaukee women's basketball team to a thrilling 98-95 win over Oakland Thursday night from the O'rena.

Despite all the offense, the biggest play of the night came on defense as Kostowicz blocked Elana Popkey's fade away jumper in the final seconds to secure the W.

The win is a huge one for UWM (18-10, 12-5 Horizon) as it secures a second-place finish in the league standings and a double-bye in next week's Horizon League tournament.

After an eighth-place finish one year ago, this year's second-place finish marks one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in league history, equaling the 2012-13 Youngstown State squad and the 1989-90 Butler team as the only others to finish in the top two in the league standings one year after finishing in the bottom two.

"We knew we were going to be able to score," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "(Steph and Jenny) stepped up huge for us really worked together as a unit to get the best shots possible. We had a lot of pride going into the game. Our focus and intensity going into the game was incredible. I knew from the start that it was going to be a tight game because of how Oakland can score.

"But at the end of the day, I knew our team would come through because of how badly they wanted to win this game."

LOCK IT IN
With its win over Oakland on Thursday, Milwaukee has already guaranteed quite a few notable achievements on the season.

• The 18 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 since also since the 05-06 season.

• Milwaukee also now has nine wins away from home, tying the same mark done also by the 05-06 team.

• The Panthers also 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.

• 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.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM...
With its 98-95 win at Oakland on Thursday, Milwaukee officially clinched a second-place finish in the league standings and a double bye in next week's conference tournament in Green Bay. That is quite the remarkable turnaround from last year, when UWM finished eighth of nine. With the seeding now locked in, 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?

-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.

WHAT A WIN
Milwaukee clinched a second-place finish in the league standings with a memorable, 98-95 win at Oakland on Thursday. Quite a few notable stats came out of that big win.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING...AGAIN!
With its win over Oakland, Milwaukee has now won five straight. That marks the second time this season the Panthers have rattled off a win streak of at least five games. Prior to this season, 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.

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 over the last two and a half weeks. During Milwaukee's current five-game win streak, Kostowicz is averaging a double-double with 21.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. That includes a 32-point, 12-rebound performance at Oakland March 3.

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.

DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY
Milwaukee has racked up 18 wins this season and has gotten to that impressive total in a variety of ways.

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) affairs.

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 already this season and this past week, it was Sierra Ford-Washington's turn. The junior led UWM to a pair of huge home wins, taking down Northern Kentucky and Wright State while averaging 25 points in the two victories. Not only that, she netted a season-high 26 points on 9-17 shooting to go with nine rebounds and five assists in the win over WSU on Saturday to put Milwaukee into sole possession of second place in the league standings.

THERE'S NO DEBATING IT
With debates from Presidental 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.

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 18 wins with at least two 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 18 games in a season since the 2005-06 team won 22.

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.

THE W'S AND THE L'S
As one might expect, there are certainly some stark statistical differences in Milwaukee's 18 wins compared to its 10 losses:

                          W's    L's
FG%                  .439 .329
Def FG%             .349 .451
3FG%                .370 .250
3FG's Made/GM 6.9    5.6
PPG                   72.2 57.5
PPG Against         59.9 73.4

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 two season sweeps 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.

A LOT OF NAIL BITERS
Milwaukee's last second win at Oakland has been just part of the norm for the Horizon League this season. Heading into Saturday's action, 24 games played within the conference have been decided by five points or less, with five of those being decided by just one point.

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 26 games this season. Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz have led the team 10 times apiece, while Sierra Ford-Washington is right behind with nine.

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 73.1 percent clip after sinking 367-of-502 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. 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 fourth in the league and 47th in the country at 84.3. Meanwhile, Jenny Lindner - who went 10-for-10 once this season - is fifth in the conference and is 55th in the nation at 83.7 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 4.7 per game, including twice out-rebounding league foe Wright State - a team that came into both games ranked second in the nation in rebounding. In fact, UWM is averaging six more boards than its opponents in wins (41.0-34.8), 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)

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 26 of the Panthers' 28 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.

With at least two games left on the schedule, Lindstrom has already knocked in 59 shots from deep this season, tying her with Jen Greger for 10th place in school history.

FAST STARTS
One other notable stat from Milwaukee's 17 wins is how fast the team gets out of the starting blocks. The Panthers are outscoring their opponents 662-479 in the opening half when they win, including a 374-244 edge in the second quarter.

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 105th in the nation.

Not only that, her 42 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 two more to move into a tie for seventh place all time.

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.

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

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 417 games in a row heading into the game against the Titans. 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.

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.

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

#15 Sydney Howard: G; 5' 7"; Senior

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#4 Ashley Green
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G/F

#15 Sydney Howard
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

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

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

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

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