Women's Basketball December 02, 2017

Women’s Basketball Heads To Northwestern Sunday

Panthers looking for fifth-straight win

MILWAUKEE – Fresh off a 38-point win over North Dakota State on Friday, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will look for its fifth-straight win when it heads to Evanston, Ill. on Sunday for a showdown with Big Ten foe Northwestern. Tip time is scheduled for 2pm at Beardsley Gymnasium on the campus of Evanston Township High School. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network's BTN Plus. Fans can also catch all the action with Matt Menzl's call every game, streaming live on the Black and Gold Network - with all game links found at MKEPanthers.com.

LOOKING AT THE WILDCATS
After starting the season 4-0, the Wildcats have dropped three of their last four, including an 81-74 loss at Syracuse on Thursday as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. NU played fellow Horizon-League school Oakland earlier this year, coming out with an 88-70 win at home.

Northwestern has a different look to it this year after the graduation of four-time First-Team All-Big Ten honoree Nia Coffey and the back-to-back Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ashley Deary. Freshman Lindsey Pulliam leads this year's squad with 15.9 points/game, while junior Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah is averaging a double-double of 10.9 points and rebounds/game through the first eight contests.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee will be looking for its fourth win all-time against NU, entering Sunday's contest 3-5 in the series. The Panthers nearly tied that up a season ago but fell just short at home, 65-63. UWM's last win over the Wildcats came Jan. 18, 2006 with an 81-73 performance in Evanston.

UP NEXT
UWM returns home for a mid-week contest against Illinois State on Thursday at 7 pm from the Klotsche Center.

LAST GAME
The Panthers used a 33-4 run between the end of the first quarter and into halftime to blow Friday's game against North Dakota State open early for a 74-38 win over the Bison in front of 387 fans inside the Klotsche Center.

The 38 points by NDSU (5-3) is the third-fewest allowed by a Milwaukee (4-2) team in its Division I history.

"I'm impressed with our team," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We fought and we came out with a sense of focus and determination tonight. Anytime we get an opportunity to play at home is really big for us; to be able to be in front of our fans and our family. The atmosphere was great in here tonight. I thought the energy from the bench to our fans was really good and our team just came out with a lot of heart."

Jenny Lindner had the hot hand during that decisive run and finished with a game-high 13 points to go with five rebounds. Steph Kostowicz added another 12 points, eight assists, three steals and two blocks, and Jamie Reit also reached double-digit scoring with 10 points and five rebounds.

Bailey Farley and Alyssa Fischer each netted eight on the night as 12 different Panthers found their way into the scoring column in the home win.

WINNING BIG
The Panthers have made a habit lately of posting some rather lopsided wins. Milwaukee put together nine 20-plus-point wins a season ago and has already done so twice this season. It started in the home opener with a 22-point smothering of Loyola (63-41) Nov. 21 before UWM steamrolled North Dakota State by a whopping 36 points (74-38) Dec. 1.

Wisconsin's big win over NDSU marked the fifth-largest margin of victory for UWM since they moved to Division I heading into the 1990-91 season. Milwaukee only has two bigger wins in the last 15 years - the 38-point handling of LIU-Brooklyn last year and the school-record 54-point victory over Youngstown State back on Feb. 2, 2002.

DE-FENSE
Milwaukee has put together some lock-down showings on the defensive side of the ball recently, including the Dec. 1 performance against Loyola. The Panthers limited the Ramblers to just 38 total points - the ninth time over the past two-plus seasons UWM has held an opponent to 50 points or less in a game. In fact, that marks the fewest points allowed by Milwaukee since head coach Kyle Rechlicz took over the program in 2012 and the third-fewest points allowed in the program's Division I history. The Panthers also held Bison to just 29-percent shooting for the game - the second time this season UWM has held its opponent below 30 percent for four quarters.

Milwaukee has also held teams to single digits in the scoring column for an entire quarter six times now this season, including in both the second and fourth quarters against NDSU.

WHAT A WIN
Milwaukee's 77-67 win over Western Illinois Nov. 26 was significant for a number of reasons:

-The Panthers trailed by 13 points with just over five minutes left in the third quarter and finished with a 10-point win; a 23-point swing over the final 15:20.

-The home loss was the first for WIU in nearly 10 months (12/31/17) after going 13-1 at Western Hall last year.

-The Leathernecks entered that game ranked in the mid-major top-25. That marks the second win for Milwaukee over a mid-major-ranked team in a short span, taking down highly ranked Green Bay late last year, 72-60.

WORKING THE GLASS
Milwaukee has prided itself in its ability to control the boards over the past few years. Last season, the Panthers won the rebounding battle in 26 of their 34 games. That dominance has carried over into this season, with Milwaukee claiming the rebounding edge in all six games to start the season. In fact, five of those six games have finished with a double-digit advantage by UWM, with the season high so far coming in the Dec. 1 drubbing of NDSU as Milwaukee finished that game with a 53-28 edge on the boards.

COMEBACK KIDS
Milwaukee's 13-point comeback over Western Illinois Nov. 26 isn't a program record, but it certainly is a memorable one. It marks the largest come-from-behind win since the Panthers turned a 44-28 deficit (16 points) in a 60-57 win over Toledo back in 2011.

Fans shouldn't be too surprised by Milwaukee's comeback win over WIU though. UWM set a program record with seven comeback (trailing at halftime) wins last season, besting the previous mark of six set back in the 2006-07 season.

SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES
Steph Kostowicz has come out of the gates on fire to start her senior season. The 6-2 forward opened the season with 26 points on 9-14 shooting from the floor and a perfect 8-8 showing from the free throw line. Then, in the Nov. 21 home opener, Kostowicz racked up another 19 points while going 8-10 from the floor. She enters Sunday's game with a .633 percentage from the field - 14th best in the entire NCAA.

A CAREER PERFORMANCE
Jenny Lindner turned in one of her best performances to date in Milwaukee's road win at Western Illinois Nov. 26. The senior poured in a career-high 34 points - 21 of which came in the second half - to go with 10 rebounds to lead all players in both categories. That marks the third time in her career Lindner has finished with 30+ and it surpasses her previous high of 32 set late in her sophomore season in a win at Oakland.

In fact, her 34 points were the most by a Panther since Courtney Lindfors netted 35 in a road win over Chicago State Nov. 16, 2010.

EARLY HONORS
Just three weeks into the 2017-18 season, Milwaukee has already turned in some of the top performances in the entire Horizon League. Steph Kostowicz was named Horizon League Player of the Week after just the first week of the season, going off for 26 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, two assists and one steal at perennial power Drake in the Preseason WNIT. Then, Jenny Lindner was named player of the week by the conference after pouring in a career-high 34 points to go with 10 rebounds in the road win at Western Illinois Nov. 26.

RECAPPING THE PRESEASON WNIT
The Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament is an annual invitation-only tournament featuring 16 of the nation's top women's Division I basketball teams. Milwaukee opened up at No. 3 in the Mid-Major poll Drake, finishing just short in the back-and-forth showdown, 77-73. The Panthers then were sent south to New Orleans, La. for their final two contests. Milwaukee started its trip in the Big Easy with a 74-59 loss to Houston before a great bounce-back showing against CSUN, 58-50.

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.

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.

Teammate Jenny Lindner is also steadily climbing that chart in this season's early going. The senior turned in a 19-point, 11-rebound performance in the win over CSUN Nov. 18 before exploding for 34 points and 10 rebounds in the comeback win over Western Illinois eight days later. Those marked Lindner's 13th and 14th career double-doubles, ranking eighth in program history and just three shy of sixth place.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
It's no secret Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz have already left their mark on this program heading into their senior year. The duo both eclipsed both the 1000-point and 500-rebound milestones as juniors and have continued to climb up the statistical charts. Entering Sunday's game, Lindner ranks eighth in scoring (1,331 points), eighth in rebounding (616), eighth in double-doubles (14) and ninth in games started (98). Meanwhile, Kostowicz sits at 10th in career scoring (1,223 points), seventh in rebounding (717), third in blocks (122) and fourth in double-doubles (24).

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 set 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.

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 461 games in a row heading into the game against the Wildcats.

In fact, when Alexis Lindstrom hit her first three pointer against Green Bay on Feb. 17 of last season, 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.

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.

CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. All 13 of Milwaukee's home games will be carried live online on ESPN3, with 10 road contests also streaming live through ESPN, as well as the entirety of the Horizon League Tournament. An additional six games this season will be streamed through various opponent platforms. Milwaukee women's basketball will also make its TV debut on FOX Sports Wisconsin this season when they host Marquette inside the Klotsche Center on Dec. 17, with Bob Brainerd and former UWM great Maria Viall once again calling the action.

Panthers fans will also be able to listen this year's games everywhere they go this year, as Matt Menzl calls all the action on the Black & Gold Network. Menzl will be courtside for all 30 regular season contests, as well as the exhibition game against Cornell and all postseason action. The Black & Gold Network is streaming live online and can be accessed at MKEPanthers.com.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#21 Alyssa Fischer: G; 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

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

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

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

#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

#21 Alyssa Fischer
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

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

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

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

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

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

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