Women's Basketball Looks To Send Seniors Off On High Note

Group of four tied for winningest senior class in program history

MILWAUKEE – Coming off a 45-point win Friday night, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will look to carry that success into their final home game and regular season finale Sunday when they play host to Oakland at 2 pm from the Klotsche Center. Sunday's game will be the final home game for Milwaukee's outstanding senior class of Kelsey Cunningham, Bailey Farley, Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner, who will be recognized before Sunday's contest.

THE FIRST TIME AROUND
Four players scored in double figures as Milwaukee put together an impressive four-quarter performance for a 74-62 road win over Oakland at the O'rena Jan. 18.

The Panthers (14-5, 5-2 Horizon) shot a season-high 95.5 percent (21-22) from the free throw line, including 9-10 in the fourth quarter to ice the game away.

Steph Kostowicz had a dominant showing with 16 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Bailey Farley continued her hot streak, joining Kostowicz with a game-high 16 points, going 8-8 from the charity stripe. She also stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

SERIES HISTORY
In a series that has featured a number of three-game streaks on both sides, Milwaukee will look for its third straight win over Oakland Sunday. A win would move them up to 8-5 in the all-time standings.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will head to Detroit, Mich. for Motor City Madness, with the opening round starting Friday.

LAST GAME
Seniors Bailey Farley and Jenny Lindner each scored 21 points as Milwaukee cruised to a 90-45 win over Detroit Mercy Friday night from the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (20-9, 11-6 Horizon) used a 22-0 run in the third quarter to blow open what was already a lopsided affair into the team's largest win of the season, with the 45-point win equaling the third-largest margin of victory in program history.

Milwaukee finished the game with all 11 players scoring – the seventh time this season they've gone that deep in the scoring column this season.

Lindner had the hot hand right out of the gates and finished with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with 11 rebounds. That marks her 20th career double-double, tying her with Erica Young for fifth most in program history.

Farley also had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. She also collected four rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals.

Jamie Reit also finished in double figures with 13 points.

LOOKING AT THE LEAGUE STANDINGS
Heading into the final regular season game, Milwaukee still has a wide range of where it could finish in the league standings. The Panthers entered the weekend in fourth place and could still finish as high as second or as low as sixth when the final standings are established Sunday evening. For Milwaukee to move into the No. 2 spot, they would need to win Sunday, coupled with an IUPUI loss and a Cleveland State win on Saturday. As long as the Panthers win on Sunday, they can finish no lower than the No. 4 seed.

SPECIAL SENIORS
Senior day is officially here 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 become the winningest class in program history before its all said and done. The 2003-04 class set the standard at 71 career wins - which this year's group tied with their emphatic 90-45 win over Detroit Mercy on Friday. One more win would make this year's foursome the winningest in program 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 five times this season. The most recent came just two days ago when the Panthers took down Detroit Mercy, 90-45 - the third-largest margin of victory for UWM in program history. In fact, the last time Milwaukee won a contest by 40 or more points was all the way back on Feb. 2, 2002 with a 100-46 win over Youngstown State.

DE-FENSE
Milwaukee has put together some lock-down showings on the defensive side of the ball this season. That defense was again on display Friday in holding Detroit Mercy to just 45 points for the game, marking the seventh time this season UWM has held its opponent to 50 points or fewer for a contest, with the season low being the 38 points against NDSU back on Dec. 1.

UWM has also held Detroit Mercy to just five points in the third quarter - the 15th time this season Milwaukee has held its opponent to single digits for an entire quarter.

The Panthers head into Sunday's game with their defense boasting some impressive national rankings, checking in at 61st in scoring defense (59.6 points/game against) and 58th in field-goal percentage defense (37.5%).

DISHING IT OUT
McKaela Schmelzer has played in every game this season and has made the most of her time on the court. The redshirt freshman has now racked up an impressive 80 assists on the season - tying her for fifth most for a freshman in Milwaukee history. Also noteworthy, Schmelzer's 3.2 assists/game in conference-only play ranks her seventh in the Horizon League.

SHØT BLØCKERS
Milwaukee has established an impressive knack for blocking shots this season. With at least two games left this season, UWM has already racked up 109 blocks on the year - tying the program record standing set back during the 2008-09 season with at least two games still left on this year's schedule.

Individually, Steph Kostowicz has been a force with a league-leading 2.0 blocks per game. Her season total thus far of 53 ties Maria Viall's single-season record set back in 2003-04, marking just the second time in program history a play has notched 50 blocks in a single season. Kostowicz is also just one swat shy of tying Viall's career mark 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. Now with 20 wins already this year, Milwaukee has tallied back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in the program's Division I history - last occuring just before the jump in the 1986-87 and 87-88 seasons. The current combined win total of 61 over the past three seasons is by far the most in a three-year span in Milwaukee's DI history.

TAKING ON THE TOP TALENT
In their first 29 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 26 games this season. Kostowicz enters this Sunday's game with a sparkling .575 percentage from the field - 23rd best in the entire NCAA.

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 (386-498) as a team through 29 games - ranking tops in the conference and eighth 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 43rd (.843) so far, while Bailey Farley has been nearly automatic from the line of late to up her percentage to .821 (69-84) - just ahead of Steph Kostowicz at 117th (.804) in the country after hitting on 86 of her first 107 from the line this season.

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 this season. The senior turned in a 21-point, 11-rebound performance Feb. 23 against Detroit Mercy. That marked the 20th career double-double for the Neillsville native, ranking tied for fifth in program history

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 25 of the first 29 games to start the season. In fact, 16 of those 29 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 1137-889 for a +8.6 margin per game. That ranks 17th in the nation heading into Sunday's game.

Here's a look at the best rebounding performances thus far this season by UWM:

1. +25 vs. NDSU (53-28)
2. +24 vs. Detroit Mercy (56-32)
3. +23 at Chicago State (42-19)
4. +16 vs. Youngstown State (42-26)
5. +15 - two times
6. +14 at Drake (44-30)
7. +13 - two times
8. +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.

Farley is still chasing after her 1,000th career point 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 325 already this season for a grand total of 875 with at least two games left on the schedule.

LEAGUE HONORS
Milwaukee has already turned in some of the top performances in the entire Horizon League this season. 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 8-4 at the Klotsche Center this season with a trio of emphatic wins. UWM is now 29-12 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.

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 Sunday's game, Lindner ranks fourth in scoring (1,631 points), fourth in rebounding (795), tied for fifth in double-doubles (20) and tied for the program record in games started (120). Meanwhile, Kostowicz sits at sixth in career scoring (1,488 points), third in rebounding (872), second in blocks (166) 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 eight times already this year, with seven of those eight 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 surpassed last year's total of six games with that many scorers with at least two 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 484 games in a row heading into the game against the Golden Grizzlies.

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

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