Women's Basketball February 22, 2018

Women's Basketball Starts Final Homestand Friday

Panthers host Detroit Mercy at 7pm

MILWAUKEE – Returning home after a pair of impressive road wins, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will close out the 2017-18 regular season with two final home games, starting Friday against Detroit Mercy at 7 pm from the Klotsche Center. The Panthers will look to complete the season sweep of the Titans, marching to a 70-61 in Detroit back on Jan. 20.

THE FIRST TIME AROUND
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 Jan. 20.

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.

SERIES HISTORY
UWM will look to draw within one in the all-time series, currently trailing 26-28.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will say thank you to its four-person senior class with the final home game of the year Sunday, hosting Oakland at 2pm.

LAST GAME
Four Panthers scored in double figures as Milwaukee used a total team effort to take down IUPUI, 67-60, Monday evening from The Jungle.

Milwaukee (19-9, 10-6 Horizon) used an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to go up by five with 3:39 left and never trailed again, once again icing the game away from the line.

The Panthers' defensive effort was also notable Monday, holding IUPUI (20-7, 12-4 Horizon) to just 60 points after they came into the game averaging 86 over the last three games, handing the Jags just their fourth loss in conference play this season.

Jenny Lindner led the way for Milwaukee with 18 points, seven rebounds, a career-high six assists and three steals.

Steph Kostowicz battled foul trouble and finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 23 minutes.

Jamie Reit had 10 points and six rebounds, while McKaela Schmelzer also scored in double figures with 10 points.

LOOKING AT THE LEAGUE STANDINGS
With two games still on the schedule, Milwaukee still has a wide range of where it could finish in the league standings. Entering the weekend in fourth place, UWM could finish as high as second or as low as sixth when the final standings are established Sunday evening.

SPECIAL SENIORS
Senior day is fast approaching for Milwaukee's four-person class. Kelsey Cunningham, Bailey Farley, Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner have certainly left their mark on the program but they will have a chance to before the winningest class in program history. The current mark stands at 71, accomplished by the 2003-04 seniors. This year's group currently sits at 70 with at least three games to go.

TAKING ON THE TOP TALENT
In their first 26 games of the season, the Panthers have faced quite a number of challenging foes, including 10 that were either ranked or receiving votes in the Mid-Major Top 25. 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). The Panthers also own a pair of wins over Cleveland State (Jan. 11 and Feb. 17), a 59-53 victory over Wright State (Feb. 1) and a 67-60 win at IUPUI (Feb. 19). Milwaukee also saw a pair of close games fall just the other way at WSU (56-51, Dec. 30) and against IUPUI (70-68 at the buzzer, Jan. 26).

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.

UWM also erased an 11-point deficit against Cleveland State Feb. 17, marking the fifth time this season they have erased double-digit deficits in a win, 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.

UWM also nearly erased an 18-point deficit against Northern Kentucky Feb. 3, storming all the way back only to see their last-second three-point attempt to tie the game at the buzzer come up just short.

In all, the Panthers now have six 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.

SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES
Steph Kostowicz came 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 20 of her 25 games this season. Kostowicz enters this Friday's game with a sparkling .584 percentage from the field - 20th best in the entire NCAA.

SHØT BLØCKERS
Milwaukee has established an impressive knack for blocking shots this season. With at least three games left this season, UWM has already racked up 101 blocks on the year - already surpassing last season's final tally by 13. 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 2.0 blocks per game. Her season total thus far of 50 is already eight more than her mark from all of last year and is just three shy of tying for the most in a single season in program history. Her 163 career blocks is just four away from Maria Viall's program record of 167.

PILING UP THE WINS
Over the past two-plus 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 19 wins this year, Milwaukee has already locked up its winningest three-season stretch with at least three games still to go.

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 proving to be extremely efficient from the line, shooting .775 (373-481) as a team through 28 games - ranking tops in the conference and seventh in the entire nation.

A trio 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 40th (.848) so far, while Bailey Farley has been nearly automatic from the line of late to up her percentage to .829 (68-82) to rank 66th nationally - just ahead of Steph Kostowicz at 121st (.800) in the country after hitting on 84 of her first 105 from the line this season.

A SPRING IN BISPING'S STEP
Freshman Brandi Bisping has made the most of her increased playing time the past few games. The newcomer had a team-high seven points against Green Bay one game before her first double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds - both career highs - in 27 minutes at Youngstown State Feb. 15.

PLAYERS STEPPING UP
Milwaukee has seen its fair share of the injury bug rear its ugly head this season, but the team has shown an extra level of resilience when one of their teammates is forced to miss a game. In fact, the Panthers have now won four games where one of their four seniors was forced to sit with injury. It started early in win number one of the season when the team took down CSUN as part of the Preseason WNIT with Bailey Farley out. The Panthers beat Northern Kentucky on the road in the conference opener despite being without both Kelsey Cunningham and Jenny Lindner. Most recently, players have stepped up big while Steph Kostowicz has missed games against both Detroit Mercy and Wright State - both resulting in wins for UWM.

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 10-point, 17-rebound performance Feb. 17 against Cleveland State, Kostowicz now has 30 double-doubles in her collegiate career. That ranks her third in program history, three 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 an 18-point, 12-rebound performance Feb. 15 at Youngstown State. That marked the 19th career double-double for the Neillsville native, ranking sixth in program history and just one shy of a tie for fifth place.

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 24 of the first 28 games to start the season. In fact, 15 of those 28 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.

Thus far, the Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents 1081-857 for a +8.0 margin per game. That ranks 20th 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 - two times
7. +12 - four times

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 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 304 already this season for a grand total of 854 with at least three games left on the schedule.

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 14 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 70th in scoring defense (60.1 points/game against) and 68th in field-goal percentage defense (37.9%).

LEAGUE HONORS
Midway through the conference schedule, 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.

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 7-4 at the Klotsche Center this season with a trio of emphatic wins. UWM is now 28-12 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 Saturday's game, Lindner ranks fourth in scoring (1,610 points), fifth in rebounding (784), sixth in double-doubles (19) and second in games started (119). Meanwhile, Kostowicz sits at sixth in career scoring (1,480 points), third in rebounding (868), second in blocks (163) and third in double-doubles (30).

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 five 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 483 games in a row heading into the game against the Titans.

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 at the start of the of the 2017-18 season at 704 in a row (1995-present). For comparison, the NBA's longest streak is the Dallas Mavericks at 1,108 in a row.

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

#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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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