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WBI win
53
Southern Illinois SIU 16-15
81
Winner Milwaukee UWM 21-11
Southern Illinois SIU
16-15
53
Final
81
Milwaukee UWM
21-11
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Southern Illinois SIU 17 19 7 10 53
Milwaukee UWM 16 26 17 22 81

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Panthers Red Hot In WBI Win Over Salukis

Team records first postseason tournament win in DI history

MILWAUKEE – Three players scored in double figures as the Milwaukee women's basketball team shot nearly 60 percent for the whole game for an 81-53 first round win over Southern Illinois in the WBI Wednesday night from the Klotsche Center.
 
All 12 players saw significant minutes and scored at least two points for Milwaukee (21-11) for a total team effort in the first postseason tournament win in the Division I era.
 
"This is a proud moment for the program," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Our team is the closest knit group that I've had as a coach and I just see how much they want to win for each other and how much the culture has changed over the years. Players like (seniors) Jordyn (Swan) and Christina (Wakeman) who have been here for a long time have really seen that progress. I'm just proud; I'm proud to be a part of this program and proud to be a part of this university. I'm excited and I hope we can keep it going."
 
Steph Kostowicz led the way for Milwaukee with 16 points and 12 rebounds – her 11th double-double of the season - in just 25 minutes of action.
 
Lizzie Odegard came off the bench for 13 points and Jordyn Swan added another 11 as the Panthers scored a season high 39 points total from non-starters.
 
Nicole Martin led the way for Southern Illinois (16-15) with 19 points and six rebounds.

As a team, Milwaukee shot a whopping 65.4 percent from the floor in the first half, connecting on 17 of its 26 attempts in the opening 20 minutes alone.
 
UWM also dished out a season-high 24 assists on its 33 made field goals.
 
"We did a great job of going inside first," Rechlicz said. "That was the whole focus of the first half to get the ball in the paint. Once they started doubling down, it left our shooters really open. We still had to knock them down and they did.
 
"It was incredible how we moved the basketball in this game and how every person on this team scored. That's something that, in a postseason game that doesn't happen a lot."
 
A high-scoring game right out of the gates, Milwaukee quickly found its rhythm as Alexis Lindstrom and Bailey Farley both drilled threes on back-to-back possessions for an early 10-6 Panther lead.
 
SIU responded with a burst of its own and carried a 17-16 edge after the first 10 minutes.
 
The two teams continued to battle in a close first-half, with Milwaukee getting a little separation as Odegard hit one of her three triples just before halftime to give her team a 42-36 lead at the break.
 
From there it was all Milwaukee.
 
The Panthers held Southern Illinois to just two made field goals in the third quarter and rattled off a 13-3 run that spanned nearly six minutes to suddenly blow the game open at 55-41.
 
Milwaukee's shooting barrage continued in the fourth as Jamie Reit, Swan and Odegard all connected from downtown as the Panthers cruised late for the 28-point victory.
 
UWM outrebounded the Salukis, 40-23, and hit 10 three-pointers while limiting them to just two. The Panthers also committed just 12 turnovers and had 24 assists – the team's best assist-to-turnover ratio of the season.
 
Up next, the Panthers will hit the road for round two of the WBI, taking the court next on Sunday at a time and location still to be determined. They will play the winner of Campbell/St. Francis (PA), who play each other Thursday evening.
 
 
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