Women's Basketball December 27, 2018

MKE Basketball Opens Conference Play Friday Against Green Bay

In-state rivalry set for 7 pm from the Klotsche Center

MILWAUKEE – Conference play is officially here as the Milwaukee women's basketball team is set to host in-state rival Green Bay for a 7 pm contest from the Klotsche Center on Friday. The Panthers and Phoenix both enter league play with five wins after non-conference action. Friday's contest will be streamed live on ESPN3, with Matt Menzl on the call. Fans can also listen to all the action on the Black & Gold from the in-state showdown at MKEPanthers.com.

LOOKING AT THE PHOENIX
Green Bay enters Friday's game with a 5-5 overall record, posting wins over Wisconsin (55-46), Dayton (51-35) and No. 16 Missouri (56-49). In its last two games, the Phoenix dropped its in-state showdown with Marquette (80-54) before taking down UW-Parkside (81-32).

Frankie Wurtz has taken over Green Bay's scoring role so far this season, averaging a team-high 11.3 points/game thus far. The 5'8" guard also ranks second on the team in rebounding at 5.2/game.

Defense has once again been the name of the game for GB, holding teams to just 54.3 points/game this season, good for 21st in the country heading into conference play.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Allie LeClaire scored 16 points to lead No. 20/17 Green Bay to a 65-36 win over the Milwaukee women's basketball team Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Center.

The nationally ranked Phoenix (22-2, 12-1 Horizon) finished one shy of a season high with 10 made threes on just 21 attempts to open up a close game midway through the second quarter.

SERIES HISTORY
Green Bay holds a 68-19 edge in the all-time series, including a 49-12 lead at the Division-I level. Milwaukee's last win over the Phoenix came back on Feb. 17, 2017 with a 72-60 victory from the Klotsche Center.

UP NEXT
The Panthers hit the road, heading to the state of Ohio to take on Northern Kentucky and Wright State next week, starting Thursday.

LAST GAME
Florida State smashed their program record by connecting on 15 three pointers to push to a 87-62 win over the Milwaukee women's basketball team Thursday night from the Klotsche Center.

A close game through three quarters, FSU (11-1) – which is the highest vote-getting team in the country not in this week's national top-25 poll – used a big run to start the fourth to take a five-point lead into an 87-62 victory.

"Credit to Florida State - they shot lights out tonight," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "They are a talented team from a talented conference in the ACC and they were on fire tonight."

Lizzie Odegard turned in a career-high 20 points on 8-15 shooting overall to go with four rebounds, three assists and a block in 29 minutes on the court.

Jamie Reit had the hot hand early, tying her career high with five triples to finish with 15 points.

MAKING THE MOST OF MORE MINUTES
Lizzie Odegard had a career night in Milwaukee's non-conference finale against Florida State. The junior went off for a career-high 20 points on 8-15 (.533 percent) shooting to go with four rebounds, three assists and one block in a career-high 29 minutes off the bench.

EARLY HONORS
After her career performance against Florida State, junior Lizzie Odegard was named the Horizon League Player of the Week. Odegard finished with a career-high 20 points on 8-15 (.533 percent) shooting in a career-high 29 minutes off the bench.

Newcomer Megan Walstad also has an early honor from the league office. 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.

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 Nov. 28 against No. 22 Marquette. MKE enters Friday's contest averaging 8.2 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 12 players already connecting on at least one triple this season, and 10 players sinking at least two threes so far.

As a team, MKE is shooting 36.6 percent from behind the arc - good for 37th best in the NCAA.

Additionally, Milwaukee has the top three deep-ball shooters percentage-wise in the conference (Alyssa Fischer at .457 [16-35], Sydney Levy at .405 [15-37] and Jamie Reit at .382 [21-55]) heading into league play.

SHØT BLØCKERS
Milwaukee established an impressive knack for blocking shots last season, racking up 124 blocks on the year and breaking the program record of 109 set back during the 2008-09 season.

Despite graduating the school-record-holder for blocks in Steph Kostowicz, the Panthers are right back at their rejecting ways. Ryaen Johnson already has 22 swats on the young season, with Megan Walstad (8) and Akaylah Hayes (8) not far behind, with Johnson's 2.0 blocks/game ranking her 37th nationally heading into the game against Green Bay. In all, MKE has already racked up 48 blocks on the season for an average of 4.4/game - which would shatter the school record of 3.8/game, set last year.

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.

So far this season, Schmelzer has stepped up her game with 4.2 assists/game thus far - ranking her second in the Horizon League and 134th nationally.

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 11 games, Milwaukee's bench is outscoring the opposition by a whopping 325-184. MKE has scored at least 20 points off the bench in nine of its first 11 games, with the season high so far coming against Columbia when 47 points came from non-starters.

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.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL BALANCE
Through its first 11 games, the Panthers have proven to be an incredibly balanced squad this season. Six different players (Jamie Reit, Sydney Levy, Megan Walstad, Alyssa Fischer, Bre Cera and Lizzie Odegard) have led the team in scoring in at least one game. Even more impressively, eight different Panthers (Ryaen Johnson, Brandi Bisping, McKaela Schmelzer, Akaylah Hayes, Odegard, Cera, Fischer & Walstad) have led the team in rebounding in at least one game on the young season.

STARTING FIVE
MKE head coach Kyle Rechlicz has already shown how deep her team can be - using six different starting lineups through the first 11 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 seven different starting lineups through their first 12 times on the court this season.

DROVE THE CHEVY TO THE LEVY
Sydney Levy had an impressive week in Milwaukee's two home games. Starting things off against No. 22 Marquette, 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. The hot shooting continued one game later, finishing with an awfully efficient 11 points and four rebounds in just nine minutes of action in a convincing win over Purdue Fort Wayne.

DE-FENSE
The Panthers turned in one of their best defensive performances in quite some time with its Dec. 1 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Milwaukee held the Mastodons without a field goal for the first 13 minutes of the game in building a 22-3 first-quarter edge. In fact, that marks the first time that MKE has held a team without a field goal over an entire quarter since the NCAA shifted from halves to quarters entering the 2015-16 season. The three points are tied for the fewest allowed by the Panthers in a quarter, also achieving that feat back on Dec. 31, 2016 in a 72-44 home win over Northern Kentucky.

Another notable stat from Milwaukee's impressive defense day - the Panthers limited the visitors to just 24.1 percent from the floor all game, marking the lowest shooting performance by an opposing team since MKE held Valparaiso to an 11-50 performance (.220) back on Feb. 25, 2012.

Impressively, the Panthers followed that up with yet another outstanding defensive performance on Friday, holding North Dakota to just .235 shooting.

MORE DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
In Milwaukee's back-to-back wins over Purdue-Fort Wayne and North Dakota, they held their opponents to just 48 and 46 points. That marks the first time MKE has held teams to under 50 points in back-to-back contests since doing so back in the 2001-02 season. Milwaukee actually accomplished the feat in three-straight back then, taking down Youngstown State (100-46), Loyola (74-49) and Wright State (64-47) from Feb. 2-7 on their way to a second-place finish in the Horizon League. The Panthers nearly made it three straight this season, with NDSU hitting a three at the buzzer to up their total to 55 points in MKE's road win.

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 Nov. 23. 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 23rd in the NCAA at the D-I level. Thirteen 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 499 games in a row heading into the game against the Phoenix.

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).

Print Friendly Version

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