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McKaela Schmelzer, team

Women's Basketball

Five Game Homestand Starts Friday For Women's Basketball

Panthers welcome conference newcomer IUPUI to Klotsche Center

MILWAUKEE – Winners of five in a row, the Milwaukee women's basketball team kicks off a five-game homestand Friday when they welcome IUPUI to the Klotsche Center for a 7pm tipoff. Friday's game features two of the mid-major teams in the country, as IUPUI enters tied for the league lead at 7-1 in conference play and No. 15 in this week's mid-major poll, while Milwaukee is just one game back at 6-2 and is once again just outside this week's top-25.
 
Fans can continue to take advantage of January's Buy-One/Get-One-Free ticket offer by bringing a non-perishable food item to donate to the UWM Food Pantry. They can also purchase the Panther Value Pack - getting 4 tickets, 4 t-shirts, 4 hot dogs and 4 sodas for a special price.
 
LOOKING AT THE JAGUARS
IUPUI enters the league tied with Green Bay for the top record in Horizon-League play at 7-1. Their 15-4 overall record has them sitting at No. 15 in this week's CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll after a 64-61 road win at Wright State last week.
 
The Jags boast some impressive numbers, ranking second in the conference in scoring (71.7 points/game), second in scoring defense (58.4 points against/game) and first in field goal percentage (.455).
 
Individually, three players are averaging double-digit scoring for the Jags, led by senior guard Danielle Lawrence.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Despite being just a few hours apart, Friday's showdown will be just the third ever between IUPUI and Milwaukee and the first for UWM since moving to Division I.
 
UP NEXT
The long homestand continues Sunday when UIC comes to campus for a 2pm contest.
 
LAST GAME
Jenny Lindner turned in a dominant second half to finish with 21 points and 14 rebounds to help lead Milwaukee to a 70-61 win on the road at Calihan Hall Saturday afternoon.
 
Up by three late in the third, the Panthers (15-5, 6-2 Horizon) used a 10-2 run to finish the quarter and went 18-19 from the free-throw line in the second half to help put the game away down the stretch.
 
With the win, the Panthers swept their busy stretch of five games in 10 days with five consecutive wins and are now the fastest team in program history to win number 15 on the season.
 
Saturday's win is even more impressive, as senior preseason all-league selection Steph Kostowicz sat out due to injury.
 
"I'm just really proud of how people stepped up," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Jenny Lindner was tremendous today. Rebounding-wise, getting in double digits is exactly what we needed from her. And then also just getting to the free-throw, especially on the road."
 
"You never want somebody to go down or be hurt and thankfully (with Kostowicz) it's not super major. We're in one of those positions where other people have the opportunity to step up. Some of our bench players getting more minutes will help us down the road, especially as conference-tournament time comes around; that experience is invaluable."
 
Lindner was a monster, especially in the second half when she scored 15 of her 21 points and grabbed half of her 14 rebounds. She also set a new career-high in free throws, going a near-perfect 15-16 from the line, finishing the busy week averaging a double-double in Milwaukee's three wins.
 
FASTEST TO FIFTEEN
With its win on Saturday at Detroit Mercy, Milwaukee improved its record to 15-5 overall. That marks the fastest to 15 wins for the Panthers in program history, surpassing a pair of 15-6 starts.
 
PILING UP THE WINS
Over the past two seasons, Milwaukee has been racking up the total in the win column. The Panthers eclipsed the 20-win mark for just the third time in program history last season, finishing with a program-record-tying 22 wins on their way to the WBI Semifinals. That came just one season after going 19-13 and making the Postseason WNIT. Already with 15 wins this season, Milwaukee has already locked up its winningest three-season stretch with at least 11 games still to go.
 
FARLEY ON FIRE
Bailey Farley has made the most of an increased role during her senior season. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native went off for a career-high 24 points in the road win at Northwestern and has been on a tear ever since, setting new career highs in seemingly every statistical category. After dishing out a career-best six assists in a win at Northern Kentucky Dec. 28, Farley reigned in nine rebounds one game later at Wright State. She also set a new high three blocks at UIC Jan. 15 before going 8-8 from the free throw line in a career-best 37 points at Oakland Jan. 18.
 
In fact, Farley has a chance to reach 1,000 career points after her offensive surge this season. After netting 273 points in two years ago Loyola, she scored 277 last year for the Panthers and is now up to 213 already this season for a grand total of 763 with at least 11 games left on the schedule.
 
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 has seemingly been on fire ever since, scoring in double digits in 16 of her 19 games this season. Kostowicz enters this Friday's game with a sparkling .569 percentage from the field - 33rd best in the entire NCAA.
 
GOING STREAKING
Milwaukee enters Friday's game with a five-game win streak in tow. Impressively, that makes the second time this season the Panthers have turned in an impressive run of wins, rattling off eight straight earlier this season. That streak was the fourth longest in program history, shy of only a pair of nine-game runs and the school-record 12-game streak late in the 2005-06 season. In fact, this current string of W's marks the fifth time in the last two-plus seasons Kyle Rechlicz has coached her team to at least five wins in a row.
 
SHØT BLØCKERS
Milwaukee has established an impressive knack for blocking shots this season. With at least 11 games left this season, UWM has already racked up 77 blocks on the year - just seven shy of last season's final tally. This year's mark is on pace to be potentially one of the best in school history, with the program record standing at 109 from the 2008-09 season.
 
Individually, Steph Kostowicz has been a force with a league-leading 2.3 blocks per game. Her season total thus far of 43 is already one more than her mark from all of last season and her 156 career blocks is just 11 away from Maria Viall's program record of 167.
 
A LOT OF CHARITY WORK
Kyle Rechlicz's teams have increasingly improved on their free-throw shooting, with last year's squad finishing with the second-highest percentage in program history at .784 for the year - trailing only the 2010-11 team that connected on 79 percent of their freebies.
 
This year's Panther squad is once again off to a strong start from the line, shooting .769 (267-347) as a team through 20 games - ranking tops in the conference and 13th in the entire nation.
 
A pair of Panthers crack the national rankings on the individual level, as well. Jenny Lindner - one of the top free-throw shooters in the nation a year ago - is at it again, ranking 47th (.849) so far, while Steph Kostowicz is close behind at 109th (.815) in the country after hitting on 75 of her first 92 from the line this season.
 
DE-FENSE
Milwaukee has put together some lock-down showings on the defensive side of the ball this season, headlined by the Dec. 1 performance against North Dakota State. The Panthers limited the Bison 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.
 
UWM has also held teams to single digits in the scoring column for an entire quarter 13 times now this season (excluding overtime), including in both the second and fourth quarters against both NDSU and Illinois State.
 
The Panthers head into Friday's game with their defense boasting some impressive national rankings, checking in at 59th in scoring defense (59.2 points/game against) and 45th in field-goal percentage defense (36.8%).
 
COMEBACK KIDS
The Panthers have proven multiple times this season that they should never be counted out of any game.
 
Milwaukee has already put together a pair of 15-point comeback efforts this season, doing so against Northern Kentucky (Dec. 28) and Cleveland State (Jan. 11) in the early going on conference play. Those both mark the largest come-from-behind wins since the Panthers turned a 44-28 deficit (16 points) into a 60-57 win over Toledo back in 2011.
 
That also marks the fourth time this season UWM has erased double-digit deficits, trailing at Western Illinois by 13 in the second half Nov. 26 before winning by 10. Milwaukee also trailed Illinois State by 10 Dec. 7 before claiming an overtime win.
 
In all, the Panthers now have five comeback wins already this season. Fans shouldn't be too surprised by Milwaukee's comeback efforts though. UWM set a program record with seven come-from-behind (trailing at halftime) wins last season, besting the previous mark of six set back in the 2006-07 season.
 
LEAGUE HONORS
Still early in conference play, 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. Lindner then was honored once again after averaging a double-double last week in a pair of wins over Cleveland State and Youngstown State. Finally, Bailey Farley was named the Horizon League's Player of the Week Jan. 22 by College Sports Madness after turning in three impressive games - all on the road - to help her team to three more wins.
 
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 19 of the first 20 games to start the season. In fact, 12 of those 20 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.
 
Through its first 20 games, the Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents 818-624 for a +9.7 margin per game. That ranks ninth in the nation heading into Friday's game.
 
Here's a look at the best rebounding performances thus far this season by UWM:
 
1. +25 vs. NDSU (53-28)
2. +23 at Chicago State (42-19)
3. +16 vs. Youngstown State (42-26)
4. +15 - two times
5. +14 at Drake (44-30)
6. +13 vs. Loyola (43-30)
7. +12 - three times
 
TAKING ON THE TOP TALENT
In just their first 20 games of the season, the Panthers have faced quite a number of challenging foes, including five that were either ranked or receiving votes in the Mid-Major Top 25. Four of those five early season meetings took place on the road. UWM opened the season with a narrow 77-73 loss at Drake (Nov. 10) before an impressive 77-67 win at Western Illinois (Nov. 26). Milwaukee then dropped a 56-51 decision at Wright State (Dec. 30) and a 52-29 contest at Green Bay (Jan. 6), before an impressive 79-72 win over Cleveland State (Jan. 11).
 
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. With her 16-point, 13-rebound performance Jan. 18 against Oakland, Kostowicz now has 29 double-doubles in her collegiate career. That ranks her third in program history, two past former Panther great Lindsay Laur.
 
Teammate Jenny Lindner is also steadily climbing that chart in this season's early going. The senior turned in a 21-point, 14-rebound performance - the majority coming in the second half - to help propel Milwaukee to another road win at Detroit Mercy Jan. 20. That marked the 17th career double-double for the Neillsville native, ranking tied for sixth in program history and just three shy of a tie for fifth place.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
UWM is returning home after another road trip for the Panthers, who have played 14 of their first 20 regular season games away from the Klotsche Center this season. Milwaukee has proven to feel right at home on the road so far this year, with a 10-4 record in road/neutral games. That already surpasses last year's regular season total of eight with at least four more road/neutral games still to come.
 
MORE B1G WINS
With wins over both Northwestern (Dec. 3) and Wisconsin (Dec. 14) this season, the Panthers now own two wins over Big Ten foes in the same season for the first time in program history. While it marks just the eighth and ninth wins all-time against the current Big Ten schools, the success should come as no surprise. Milwaukee thumped the Badgers, 80-63, at home a year ago and dropped a 65-63 heartbreaker to NU a few weeks later. That came one year after nearly upsetting Minnesota in the WNIT to close out the 2015-16 season.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With a 9-3 non-conference record, Milwaukee wrapped up this season's early going with the best non-conference start in Division-I history. This year's squad surpassed last year's 8-3 mark and the 1997-98 team's 8-4 record.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Panthers have certainly enjoyed playing in front of their home fans recently. Milwaukee went an impressive 12-3 at home last season and is already 5-1 at the Klotsche Center this season with a pair of emphatic wins. UWM is now 26-9 over the past two-plus seasons when playing in front of their home fans.
 
In fact, the Panthers recently closed out a 10-game home winning streak with the win over Illinois State Dec. 7. That finishes as the fourth-longest home win-streak in the team's Division I history.
 
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 four times this season. It started in the home opener with a 22-point smothering of Loyola (63-41) Nov. 21 before steamrolling North Dakota State by a whopping 36 points (74-38) Dec. 1 and a 25-point (84-59) handling of Chicago State Dec. 21. Most recently, the Panthers dropped UIC by 23 (76-53) on the road Jan. 15 in the early going of conference play.
 
Milwaukee'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.
 
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 Friday's game, Lindner ranks fifth in scoring (1,491 points), eighth in rebounding (718), seventh in double-doubles (17) and tied for third in games started (111). Meanwhile, Kostowicz sits at eighth in career scoring (1,405 points), third in rebounding (832), third in blocks (156) and third in double-doubles (29).
 
GETTING EVERYONE INVOLVED
Coach Rechlicz has a much deeper bench this season compared to years past, as evident to just how many different people can score for UWM this year. Milwaukee has had at least 10 different players score in a single game seven times already this year, with six of those seven featuring 11 or more scorers. The season high came against North Dakota State when 12 different players got in on the fun. When 11 players scored Jan. 15 at UIC, that marked surpassed last year's total of six games with that many scorers with at least 11 games still on the schedule.
 
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.
 
400 AND COUNTING!
Despite relying on the three-pointer much less this season, the Panthers have continued their impressive streak of games with at least one made shot from behind the arc. In fact, Milwaukee has 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 475 games in a row heading into the game against the Jaguars.
 
That run stands as a new league standard, after Alexis Lindstrom hit her first three pointer against Green Bay on Feb. 17 of last season, topping the previous mark of 446 set by Loyola. It's still a ways to go for the NCAA record, however, which is held by Iowa State. Their run was still active entering the season and started out at 704 in a row (1995-present). For comparison, the NBA's longest streak is the Dallas Mavericks at 1,108 in a row.
 
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 that 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.
 
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 at 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.
 
Panther fans will also be able to listen to this year's games everywhere they go, 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

Bailey Farley

#4 Bailey Farley

G
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
Steph Kostowicz

#32 Steph Kostowicz

F
6' 2"
Senior
Jenny Lindner

#20 Jenny Lindner

G
6' 0"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Bailey Farley

#4 Bailey Farley

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
G
Steph Kostowicz

#32 Steph Kostowicz

6' 2"
Senior
F
Jenny Lindner

#20 Jenny Lindner

6' 0"
Senior
G