Women's Basketball November 29, 2018

MKE Hosts Purdue Fort Wayne For Saturday Matinee

Two teams met in Indiana last season

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team will wrap up an unexpected two-game homestand this weekend when they play host to Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday at 2 pm from the Klotsche Center. The Panthers will look to build off a solid second half against No. 22 Marquette on Wednesday that saw them score 29 fourth-quarter points. Saturday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+ . In addition to $1 hot dogs, fans can also stick around for a post-game autograph session. Saturday's game is also Milwaukee's Shots For POTS Awareness game.

LOOKING AT THE MASTODONS
Purdue Fort Wayne comes to Milwaukee with a 3-5 overall record. They dropped their last two in close affairs, including an 81-67 loss at Loyola-Chicago on Thursday, a game that the Mastodons led 58-54 early in the fourth before the Ramblers got hot and finished the game on a 27-9 run.

The Mastodons have proven to be a second-half team so far this season, being outscored by 45 in first halves so far before outscoring opponents 293-268 in second halves.

Senior De'Jour Young leads Purdue Fort Wayne with 13.5 points/game, with Chicago State transfer Sh'Toya Sanders ranks fourth on the team with 8.0 points/game.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee never trailed in cruising to a 60-48 road win over Fort Wayne Sunday (Dec. 10, 2017) afternoon from Gates Sports Complex.

A total of 11 different players scored for MKE (7-2), which used a 17-3 run between the first and second quarters to establish a big lead early before coasting to their seventh consecutive win.

Steph Kostowicz led all players with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting. She also hauled in a team-high six rebounds to go with three blocks and three assists in just 26 minutes.

Jenny Lindner was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor and finished with eight points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes.

SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers will look to extend their lead in the series with Fort Wayne on Sunday, entering the game with a 3-2 edge. The two teams last played on Dec. 10 of last season in Fort Wayne, with MKE claiming the first road win by either team in the series at the DI level.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will head to North Dakota for a pair of games next weekend, starting Friday in Grand Forks for a Fox Sports Wisconsin game against the Fighting Hawks.

LAST GAME
Freshman guard Sydney Levy netted a career and game-high 19 points to help the Milwaukee women's basketball team on a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt before running out of time in an 83-74 loss to No. 22/17 Marquette Wednesday night from the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (2-5) closed the gap all the way down to seven late in the fourth before their comeback effort ran out of time against their crosstown rivals.

The 74 points by Milwaukee are the most against Marquette (5-1) on the season, surpassing the previous high of 63.

Levy led Milwaukee with 19 points on 7-11 shooting, including going 5-8 from behind the arc. She also finished with a career-high four rebounds.

Cera and Megan Walstad each finished with 11 points, combining for 12 boards and five assists.

Schmelzer had a solid shooting performance, going 3-4 from three to finish with a season-high nine points.

Seniors Akaylah Hayes and Ryaen Johnson each had solid nights with seven points and six rebounds apiece.

The Panthers outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 39-34, and finished the night shooting a season-best 48.1-percent from the floor, spurred on by a 9-14 (64.3) performance in that fourth quarter.

DROVE THE CHEVY TO THE LEVY
Sydney Levy had herself quite the night against No. 22 Marquette this past Wednesday. The freshman finished with 19 points and 4 rebounds - both career highs - while draining five three pointers and finishing shooting 7-11 from the floor on the night.

BENCH PLAY
The Panthers have shown great depth so far this season and have proven to have an awfully deep bench. In fact, through the first seven games, Milwaukee's bench is outscoring the opposition by a whopping 202-133. MKE has scored at least 20 points off the bench in five of its first seven games, with the season high so far coming against Columbia when 47 points came from non-starters.

SHOTS FOR POTS
Saturday's game is Shots For POTS Awareness Day at the Klotsche Center as the Panthers aim to raise awareness for a condition that head coach Kyle Rechlicz was diagnosed with in 2013. Fans can take advantage of a special ticket deal that helps support POTS by calling the Milwaukee Ticket Office at 414.229.5886.

BUZZER BEATERS
Milwaukee has made somewhat of a habit of buzzer-beater wins over the past few seasons. Ryaen Johnson's put back at the horn against UC Riverside brings back memories of Jamie Reit's jumper that just beat the buzzer in a 62-61 home win over Youngstown State last season.

Former Panther Steph Kostowicz had a number of memorable shots in her time in the Black & Gold. Her reverse layup with 0.1 left on the clock gave Milwaukee a big comeback win at Cleveland State for an 80-78 win in the 2016-17 season. Earlier that season, Kostowicz sent MKE into overtime at NIU with a mid-range jumper at the horn in a double-OT thriller.

Sierra Ford-Washington had a pair of buzzer beaters her senior year. The former Panther guard ended things for both conference foes UIC (Jan. 14, 2015) and Cleveland State (Feb. 11, 2015).

Ashley Green also finds her name in this category, hitting a jumper with less than five seconds left on the clock back on Jan. 24, 2015 for a 64-63 win over UIC.

GONE FISCH'N
Alyssa Fischer had a career performance in Milwaukee's near comeback against Saint Mary's last week. The redshirt junior exploded for seven three pointers, finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds - both career highs. Even more impressively, 17 of those points came in the second half with Saint Mary's trying to stop Milwaukee's main offensive threat on the day.

Fischer's seven three pointers are also a career high, are now tied for the third most in program history and are the most by a Panther in a game since Jessica Wilhite sank eight triples back in December of 2002.

So far this season, Fischer's seven made three's rank her tied for 10th in the NCAA at the D-I level. Eight different players have connected on eight triples in a single game so far, while Lamar University senior Moe Kinard sank an NCAA record 13 three pointers in a 117-110 double overtime loss at Denver on Nov. 23.

OK AKAYLAH!
Senior Akaylah Hayes has stepped up her game in the early going of her senior year, notching career-highs in three of the team's first six games. Against Wisconsin, Hayes made the most of her minutes with eight points off the bench before exploding for 17 points, six rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal in just 24 minutes against Columbia last week Friday. Hayes tied or set a career high in five different categories in that win over Columbia. She then tied her career high with nine rebounds in the win over UC Riverside Nov. 24.

EARLY HONORS
Newcomer Megan Walstad has quickly made a strong impression through the first few weeks of her collegiate career. The Apple Valley, Minn., native was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week Nov. 19 after leading MKE with 18 points and five rebounds in its win over Columbia earlier that week. Walstad followed that up with double-digit points in all three games on Milwaukee's California trip and was named to the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team, leading the team with 27 points in the two-day tourney.

STARTING FIVE
MKE head coach Kyle Rechlicz has already shown just seven games into the season how deep her team can be - using four different starting lineups through the first seven games. Sydney Staver, Bre Cera, Megan Walstad, Jamie Reit and Brandi Bisping got the nod on opening night at Indiana. McKaela Schmelzer's return from postseason play with the soccer team slotted her back into her starting spot from a year ago against Wisconsin, before Rechlicz went with an added post presence with Ryaen Johnson and Lizzie Odegard opening the game on the court against Columbia. In fact, if you include the exhibition game against Parkside, the Panthers have used five different starting lineups through their first eight times on the court this season.

FROM DOWNTOWN
After relying on the three-pointer the least amount in Kyle Rechlicz's tenure a season ago, the Panthers have been back to their M-O of lighting it up from behind the arc in the early going this season. MKE hit nine triples in the season opener at Indiana. They one-upped that total with 10 in the Nov. 13 game against Wisconsin, including an impressive six in the opening quarter. Milwaukee then hit a season-high 11 against Saint Mary's one day after Thanksgiving and equaled that total again Wednesday against No. 22 Marquette. MKE enters Saturday's contest averaging 8.4 threes per game - a total that ranks 47th in the nation.

Just as impressive, the Panthers early hot shooting has come from a wide variety of players with 11 players already connecting on at least one triple this season, and eight players sinking at least two threes so far.

TAKING THEIR TALENTS...EVERYWHERE
Milwaukee has traveled all over the country over the past few seasons and had a large amount of success. In addition to the traditional Midwestern trips against area power-five schools and conference foes, the Panthers have made a large number of long trips recently. Last week, the Panthers notched their first ever win in the state of California in just their second ever trip to the Golden State, taking down UC Riverside. Last year's Preseason WNIT sent MKE to New Orleans, going 1-1 in the Big Easy. That came one year after taking the tournament title at a Thanksgiving tournament held by Vermont. Couple that with a 2015 trip to Miami and Milwaukee's roster will have seen a large amount of the countryside just for team travel.

FOR STARTERS
Megan Walstad inked her name into the Panther record book before her first collegiate game even ended. That's because the highly touted freshman was in the starting lineup in her first collegiate game, becoming the fourth freshmen to achieve that feat in the last seven years. McKaela Schmelzer and Sydney Staver both started last year's opener, while Kelsey Cunningham did so in her debut in 2014. Walstad didn't disappoint either, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal in 19 minutes at Indiana.

REIT OUT OF THE GATES
Jamie Reit wasted no time in putting together an incredible performance to start her junior year. The 5-9 guard went off for 21 points on 8-13 shooting - including a red-hot 4-5 performance from behind the arc. Milwaukee has a history of big performances in its season openers of late, with at least one 20-point performance coming in each of the last five seasons now after Reit's big night. Ashley Green started that five-year run with 36 points in the first game of the 2014-15 season - a record for Milwaukee openers.

EXCUSED ABSENCE
McKaela Schmelzer missed Milwaukee's season opener at Indiana, but had an awfully good reason. The redshirt sophomore who played in every basketball game last season was off in California with the MKE soccer team as they were set to take on No. 7 Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tied at 1-1 with 21 minutes to go, the Panthers had a hard-luck loss to end their season with a 16-2-1 record.

PRESEASON RANKS
The Horizon League released its preseason rankings as voted on by coaches, media members and SIDs, with the Panthers once again picked to finish in the top half of the conference. Milwaukee was tabbed fifth in this year's poll despite graduating 65-percent of their scoring and their winningest class in program history.

AGAINST THE B1G
Milwaukee's strong showing at Indiana in this year's season opener should come as no surprise as the Panthers have had a fair amount of success against Big Ten opponents the past few seasons. MKE nearly finished perfect in three contests against the midwestern power-five foes last year, notching road wins at Wisconsin (67-64) and Northwestern (66-57) before falling to Indiana in the Postseason WNIT Second Round. That marked the second consecutive win over the Badgers by Milwaukee, taking down their in-state rival 80-63 back in 2016-17. The Panthers also came up just short of an upset bid in the Postseason WNIT First Round in 2015-16 at Minnesota, with the Gophers getting a herculean effort from Big Ten Player of the Year Rachel Banham in an 87-80 thriller from historic Williams Arena.

RISING HORIZON
The Horizon League made its case as one of the top mid-major conferences in the country last year. In addition to Milwaukee's advancement into the Postseason WNIT Second Round, Wright State and IUPUI also both qualified for the Postseason WNIT - marking a conference record for number of qualifiers. Not to mention league-leading Green Bay's narrow loss in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and four league teams competed in the top-two national postseason tournaments last spring.

TAKING ON THE TOP TALENT
Milwaukee has put together one of its most challenging schedules in recent memory with this year's ledger. The Panthers will play a total of 10 contests against teams that won at least 20 games from a year ago and 11 total against teams that participated in the postseason.

PILING UP THE WINS
Over the past three seasons, Milwaukee has been piling up the total in the win column. The Panthers eclipsed the 20-win mark for the second straight season and the fourth time in program history last year, racking up 21 wins and advancing to the Postseason WNIT Second Round. That came after tying the program record with 22 wins on their way to the WBI Semifinals one year earlier. That, piled on top of going 19-13 and advancing to the Postseason WNIT in 2015-16, and Milwaukee has tallied an impressive 62 wins over the past three seasons. That is by far the most in a three-year span in Milwaukee's DI history.

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

-Winning was once again a key theme for MKE last year, with its 21 victories now standing second-most in the Division-I history. Last year's squad also now ranks second in road-winning percentage (.706/12-5), fourth in overall win percentage (.636/21-12) and is tied for the third-longest win streak with a run of eight straight in the early going of last year.

-Milwaukee destroyed the program record for blocks in a single season last year with 124 rejections in all, easily surpassing the previous mark of 109 set back in 2008-09.

-Once again, MKE finished as one of the top free-throw shooting teams in the country a year ago. Milwaukee finished with a .772 shooting clip from the charity stripe, good for third all time.

-The Panthers also nearly broke the school record for margin of victory last year, taking down league foe Detroit Mercy 90-45 late in the season. The 45-point win now ranks third in program history.

SPECIAL SENIORS
Milwaukee's four graduating seniors from last season of Kelsey Cunningham, Bailey Farley, Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner certainly left their mark on the program and went out in style. The foursome broke the program record for most wins by a four-year class when they recorded the 72nd win of their careers in the WNIT First Round. That surpassed the 2003-04 class' previous standard of 71 career wins.

SPECIAL FRESHMEN?
Milwaukee is welcoming in one of its most decorated incoming freshman classes ever with this year's group of newcomers. Megan Walstad leads the way with high honors, being named Miss Minnesota as the top senior in the state last year. Sydney Levy was a McDonald's All-American nominee and guided her team to its second-straight state title last year. In fact, Walstad, Levy and Emma Wittmershaus all led their prep squads to state championships last year. All told, the combined freshman class of Anaiah Moore, Tahlia Walton, Levy, Walstad and Wittmershaus tallied a remarkable combined 119 wins in their final high school seasons compared to just 25 losses.

DISHING IT OUT
McKaela Schmelzer played in every game last season and made the most of her time on the court. The redshirt freshman racked up an impressive 95 assists on the season - fourth most for a freshman in Milwaukee history. Also noteworthy, Schmelzer's 3.3 assists/game in conference-only play ranked her sixth in the Horizon League.
400 AND COUNTING!
Despite relying on the three-pointer much less last 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 495 games in a row heading into the game against the Mastodons.

That run stands as a new league standard, after Alexis Lindstrom hit her first three pointer against Green Bay on Feb. 17 of the 2016-17 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 at the start of the of the 2018-19 season at 735 in a row (1995-present).

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. 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 before another postseason berth and 21 more wins last year. In fact, the 62 wins by Rechlicz's Panthers over the past three seasons is the most over that span in program history.

BLACK & GOLD ON DEMAND
Panther fans can also re-live all of the action by listening to archived games on the Black & Gold Radio Network. All games are chronicled at mixlr.com/milwaukee-panthers/showreel, where fans can re-live Matt Menzl's broadcast in its entirety.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#13 Brandi Bisping: G; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#23 Bre Cera: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore

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

#2 Akaylah Hayes: G; 5' 11"; Senior

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#13 Brandi Bisping
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Bre Cera
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

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

#2 Akaylah Hayes
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

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

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