Women's Basketball November 15, 2017

Milwaukee Closes Out WNIT In New Orleans

Panthers to play Cougars Friday, Matadors or Privateers Saturday

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team will close out its participation in the 2017 Preseason WNIT this weekend with a pair of games in New Orleans, La. UWM will take on Houston Friday evening at 5pm before a Saturday showdown with either host New Orleans or CSUN. Panther fans can hear Matt Menzl's call for both games streaming live on the Black & Gold Network and can watch all the action with the links provided at MKEPanthers.com.

LOOKING AT THE COUGARS
Houston enters the 2017-18 season in the fourth year with Ronald Hughey as head coach. Hughey guided the Cougars to a 12-19 mark a season ago, doubling their win total from the previous year. UH fell to Texas A&M in their WNIT opener, 83-65 at College Station.

The Cougars return four of their top-five leading scorers from last season, including sophomores Jasmyne Harris and Angela Harris, who combined to average 21.3 of Houston's 61.2 points/game as freshmen. Sophomore Dorian Branch led UH against the Aggies in this year's opener with 17 points, going 4-5 from behind the arc.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday's showdown will be the first ever between Houston and Milwaukee. In fact, the two schools have never played in any current sports before Friday's contest.

UP NEXT
The winner of Friday's contest will take on the winner of New Orleans/CSUN. The loser will take on the opposite. Both of those games are scheduled for Saturday, starting at 2pm.

LAST GAME
Bailey Farley hit a three-pointer with 5.5 seconds left to cut the deficit to two, but Drake hit a pair of free throws in the closing second to ice away a very close 77-73 win over the Milwaukee women's basketball team Friday evening from the Knapp Center in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT.

The Panthers (0-1) – coming off another postseason berth a season ago – nearly pulled off the road upset against a Drake (1-0) squad that went 28-5 last year - including a perfect 13-0 mark at home - and is ranked third in the mid-major poll.

"I thought we played with an incredible amount of effort tonight and the level of pride that we stepped out on the court with was tremendous," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "The team was really locked in from the start, which was something we needed in a game like this.

"The biggest thing is that we have to stop turning the basketball over. That's a huge part of what we talk about in practice and the details of the game, and we're just not there yet. We're making a number of mistakes on the offensive end. But, I do think we can learn from something like this and apply it to the next practice and the next game and hopefully it will propel us to getting more wins."

Steph Kostowicz was huge all night for Milwaukee, finishing with a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds to go with two assists, two blocks and one steal in 31 minutes. Kostowicz was awfully efficient in her performance, as well, going 9-14 from the floor and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.

Farley finished the night with 12 points. Jamie Reit chipped in with seven points and six rebounds, while Lizzie Odegard also had seven points. Jenny Lindner stuffed the stat sheet with five points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

ABOUT THE PRESEASON WNIT
The Women's National Invitational Tournament is an annual invitation-only tournament featuring 16 of the nation's top women's Division I basketball teams. The event features a three-game guarantee format, with the first-round winners continuing on in traditional bracket play. The eight teams that lose their first-round game will be re-grouped in "consolation bracket quads", which will be two four-team pools.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRACKET
After Friday's game against Houston, Milwaukee will either go up against CSUN or host New Orleans.

The Matadors - hailing from Northridge, California - return five of their top six scorers from a year ago. Last year's squad put together an 18-14 overall record, taking down fellow Horizon League program Detroit Mercy, 76-67, early last season at home. CSUN has put together three 18+ win seasons over the last four years and enters the weekend 0-2.

New Orleans' head coach Keeshawn Davenport is coming off her most successful season in her 12+ years with the Privateers, going 14-15 last season. UNO was tough to beat at home, going 10-4 at Lakefront Arena. Guard Randi Brown returns for her senior season after leading New Orleans in scoring last year with an average of 22.7 points/game. Junior forward Shania Woods averaged 9.9 points and 7.4 rebounds/game last season and opened up this year with a team-high 13 points at Texas A&M.

RIGHT OUT OF THE GATES
McKaela Schmelzer and Sydney Staver both inked their names into the Panther record book before their first collegiate game even ended. That's because the duo both were in the starting lineup in their first collegiate game, becoming the first freshmen to achieve that feat since Kelsey Cunningham did so in her debut in 2014. In fact, it marks just the second time in program history two freshmen started the season opener, joining Angela Rodriguez and Courtney Lindfors back in 2010.

WELL THAT WAS FAST
Steph Kostowicz wasted little time in putting together an incredible performance to start her senior season. The 6-1 forward went off against mid-major power Drake for 26 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal. For her efforts, Kostowicz was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after just the first week of the season.

DOUBLE VISION
After turning in two double-doubles as a freshman, Steph Kostowicz has been a machine at putting together 10+ performances in points and rebounds. In fact, with her 26-point, 12-rebound performance in this year's season opener at Drake, Kostowicz now has 24 double-doubles in her collegiate career. That already ranks her fourth in program history and is just three shy of Lindsay Laur for third place all-time.

PRESEASON RANKS
The Horizon League released its preseason rankings as voted on by coaches, media members and SIDs, with the Panthers picked to once again battle for the top this season. Milwaukee was tabbed fourth overall this year with 129 points, behind only Green Bay (246), Wright State (204) and Oakland (139). Steph Kostowicz was once again recognized when the votes were announced, earning preseason first-team all-league honors for the second-straight year.

EXHIBITION REWIND
UWM put together a total team performance to the tune of an 80-35 win over Cornell College this past Sunday. The three-leading scorers were new to Panther fans as redshirt transfer Ryaen Johnson led all players with 15 points, while redshirt freshman McKaela Schmelzer had 11, as did true freshman Sydney Staver. In all, the Milwaukee bench churned out 47 points, while the Panther defense limited the Rams to just single digits in each of the first three quarters.

PILING UP THE WINS
Over the past two seasons, Milwaukee has been racking up the total in the win column. With the win over Oakland in the conference tournament last year, the Panthers eclipsed the 20-win mark for just the third time in program history. UWM ran that total to 22 last year, tying program record for most wins in a season. previously by the 2005-06 squad. Additionally, that marked the first time UWM has had back-to-back seasons with at least 16 wins since doing so in three-straight years from 99-2000 through 00-02.

INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Last year was another memorable season for Milwaukee, with quite a number of team records being surpassed by the offensive powerhouse of a squad. The Panthers nearly re-wrote the whole record book last season, with some of the notable marks including:

-For the second-straight year, Milwaukee shattered the school's scoring record with 2,463 points last season, besting the 2015-16 mark of 2,131.

-While they racked up the points, the Panthers did so with an extremely effective shot selection. Last year's squad shot .434 overall on the season - fifth best in program history.

-Milwaukee also continued its trend of lighting up the nets from behind the arc, connecting on 247 triples on the year. That is the second most all time. In fact, five of the top-six years in that category have come with head coach Kyle Rechlicz at the helm.

-The Panthers were also one of the best in the country from the charity stripe last year, sinking 78.4 percent of their free throws. That mark now ranks second in program history, and was eighth best in the entire nation.

400 AND COUNTING!
The Panthers have been on fire from behind the arc of late, headlined by hitting 14 threes against Valparaiso Jan. 7 of last season. That's nothing new for Milwaukee, though, as they have been lighting it up from three-point range for a while now. In fact, the Panthers have made at least one three-point in every game dating back to an 0-for-4 showing against Marquette back on Nov. 26, 2002. That makes 456 games in a row heading into the game against the Cougars.

In fact, when Alexis Lindstrom hit her first three pointer against Green Bay on Feb. 17, the Panthers broke the league record for consecutive games with a made three. That topped the previous mark of 446 set by Loyola, halted six years ago when they went 0-11 against Butler. It's still a ways to go for the NCAA record, however, which is held by Canisius at 510 in a row (1994-2011). For comparison, the NBA's longest streak is the Dallas Mavericks at 1,108 in a row.

BEST IN THE BADGER STATE
The Panthers made a case for themselves as one of the top teams within the Badger State last season. Milwaukee started its in-state rivalries a year ago with a big 80-63 win over Wisconsin before the 72-60 handling of conference foe Green Bay on Feb. 17. Had it not been for a woeful first quarter against Marquette - a game in which UWM drew back to within three late in the fourth before running out of gas in the final minutes - the Panthers would have claimed wins over all three fellow D-I foes within state lines for the first time in program history.

THE W's AND THE L's
As one might expect, there were certainly some statistical categories that stood out as the difference between Milwaukee's 22 wins compared to its 12 losses last season:

                                    W's      L's
FG%                            .469    .385
Def FG%                     .407    .481
Rebound Margin         +10.4 +1.5
PPG                             78.4    64.1
PPG Against                62.2    78.5

MILESTONE MEMORIES
Yet another notable moment from last year's run was marked by both Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner surpassing the 1,000-point mark for their careers - both doing so during big wins at home.

With both reaching the 1,000-point mark in their junior seasons, they become the first duo to reach the century mark during the same season for the Black & Gold and just third pair of classmates to add their names to the prestigious list. The other two:

-Umenia White (1,597 points) and Cammie Nonhoff (1,087 points) from 1985-89

-Jaci Clark (1,830 points) and Marsha Housley (1,491 points) from 1979-83.

THE BIG 5-0...0
The same duo that has been lighting up the scoreboard for Milwaukee the past three seasons has also been getting things done on the glass. Not only have Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Linder both reached 1,000 career points, but both also cracked the 500-rebound list last season, as well. Not only are they two of the 25 players in program history with 500 rebounds to their name, but they are just the 13th and 14th in Milwaukee history to do so while also scoring 1,000 career points.

WORKING THE GLASS
Milwaukee has prided itself in its ability to control the boards over the past few years, with that standing out in a number of games last season. The Panthers' final home stand was a prime example, with Milwaukee outrebounding its two opponents over the weekend by a combined 84-45. In fact, against Youngstown State, the Panthers had 38 rebounds to YSU's 17 - a difference of +21, with UWM limiting the Penguins to just one offensive rebound for the whole game - the Panthers best showing of the year.

Here's a look at some of the largest rebounding margins for Milwaukee thus far this season:

1. +25 vs. Detroit Mercy (47-22)
2. +23 at Vermont (45-22)
3. +21 vs. Youngstown State (38-17)
4. + 19 vs. Chicago State (48-29)
5. + 18 at St. Francis (50-32)
6. + 17 - two times (N. Kentucky/S. Illinois)
8. + 16 - two times (Loyola/LIU-Brooklyn)

MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF
Head coach Kyle Rechlicz was named the seventh coach in program history in May of 2012. After three years of hard work, the Panthers broke through in her fourth season at the helm with an incredible campaign last year. Milwaukee racked up 19 wins, finished second in the Horizon League and earned a trip to the WNIT. All that work did not go unnoticed, as Rechlicz was named Horizon League Coach of the Year at the end of last season, making her just the second coach in program history to earn that honor. She followed that up with an impressive 22 wins in 2016-17, tying the school record in that category and helping guide the team to its second consecutive postseason berth in program history.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
With its tournament win over Southern Illinois last week, the Panthers improved their home slate with a 12-3 record inside the Klotsche Center this season. That marks the first time the team has reached double-digit home wins since the 05-06 team went 13-3 on campus. UWM could potentially host the WBI championship contest should they advance that far, giving them one more chance to play on the court that they have defended mighty well this season.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Kelsey Cunningham: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#4 Bailey Farley: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

#25 Ryaen Johnson: F; 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior

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

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

#45 Lizzie Odegard: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#10 Jamie Reit: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#3 McKaela Schmelzer: G; 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

#1 Sydney Staver: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#12 Kelsey Cunningham
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#4 Bailey Farley
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#25 Ryaen Johnson
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior
: F

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

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

#45 Lizzie Odegard
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#10 Jamie Reit
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#3 McKaela Schmelzer
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#1 Sydney Staver
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G