Women's Basketball February 09, 2018

Panthers Host No. 20/17 Phoenix Saturday At Klotsche Center

Milwaukee looks for second-straight home win over Green Bay

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team will play host to their in-state rival Green Bay Saturday when the two Horizon League heavyweights square off at 2pm from the Klotsche Center. UWM notched a big 72-60 win over the Phoenix at home last season and will look to duplicate the effort. Meanwhile, GB enters the game up to No. 20 in this week's AP Poll and ranked 17th in the most recent USA Today Coaches Poll.

Saturday is alumni day for Milwaukee, with a host of former players on campus for the annual alumni game before Saturday's 2pm showdown. The first 100 youth in attendance will also receive a free replica Panther jersey.

THE FIRST TIME AROUND
Allie LeClaire finished with 28 points as 24th ranked Green Bay took down the Milwaukee women's basketball team, 52-29, Saturday, Jan. 6 from the Kress Center.

Going up against the top scoring defense in the country, the Panthers (10-5, 1-2 Horizon) struggled to find their rhythm in just their fifth loss of the season.

SERIES HISTORY
Green Bay enters Saturday with a 67-19 lead in the all-time series, but Milwaukee did claim a big home win just one year ago and pushed the Phoenix to the final minute of last year's Horizon League Tournament Semifinal.

UP NEXT
It's back on the road for UWM next week, making their final trip away from home before the Horizon League Tournament. This coming three-game stretch starts Thursday at Youngstown State.

LAST GAME
Milwaukee nearly erased an 18-point second-half deficit but needed one more minute to complete the comeback in a 60-57 loss to Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Center.

After an ice-cold first half, the Panthers (17-7, 8-4 Horizon) went back to their impressive shooting ways, connecting on a season-high 10 three-pointers to cut the gap all the way to two points late in the game. But, Milwaukee – playing without preseason all-league selection Steph Kostowicz out with injury – needed just one more possession to pull off what would have been one of the largest comebacks in program history.

"A lot of credit to NKU," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We knew it would be a physical game, a toughness game and we just weren't awake in the first half.

"That's one of the first times I've had to lay into our team a little bit, but they responded. I am proud of how they responded. They came out in the second half with a different attitude; a different sense about them. There was just not enough time."

Jamie Reit scored a career and game-high 18 points – with 15 coming in the second half.

ENJOYING A LITTLE DOWN TIME
When the Panthers and Phoenix tip off on Saturday, it will mark the first time either team has played in a full week. That marks just the second time all season Milwaukee has enjoyed seven days between games, especially coming off a recent stretch of five games in a 10-day span from Jan. 11-20.

GOING AGAINST THE TOP-25
Milwaukee will get another opportunity to take down a top-25 team in the nation Saturday when Green Bay comes to town, as the Phoenix check in at No. 20 in the Associated Press this week and No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. That marks the highest ranked team since Milwaukee traveled down to Evanston two years ago to a showdown with then No. 15/15 Northwestern.

REIT TIME TO GET GOING
Sophomore Jamie Reit was inserted into the starting lineup early in the season and there's been no looking back. In fact, her buzzer-beater against Youngstown State on Jan. 13, Reit has shown even more confidence in her shot. The sharp shooter has tallied four double-digit scoring efforts in the last six games, including a career-high 18 points last Saturday against Northern Kentucky.

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 17 wins this year, Milwaukee has already locked up its winningest three-season stretch with at least seven 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 off to a strong start from the line, shooting .774 (332-429) as a team through 24 games - ranking tops in the conference and 11th 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 (.845) so far, while Bailey Farley has been nearly automatic from the line of late to up her percentage to .817 (58-71) to rank 91st nationally - just ahead of Steph Kostowicz at 127th (.794) in the country after hitting on 77 of her first 97 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.

TAKING ON THE TOP TALENT
In their first 24 games of the season, the Panthers have faced quite a number of challenging foes, including seven 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 79-72 win over Cleveland State (Jan. 11) and a 59-53 victory over Wright State (Feb. 1). 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).

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 23-point, 16-rebound performance - the majority coming in the second half - to help propel Milwaukee to a win over Wright State Feb. 1. That marked the 18th career double-double for the Neillsville native, ranking sixth in program history and just two 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 21 of the first 24 games to start the season. In fact, 13 of those 24 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 945-738 for a +8.6 margin per game. That ranks 18th in the nation heading into Saturday'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

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 minutes 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 270 already this season for a grand total of 820 with at least seven 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 20 games this season. Kostowicz enters this Saturday's game with a sparkling .578 percentage from the field - 21st best in the entire NCAA.

SHØT BLØCKERS
Milwaukee has established an impressive knack for blocking shots this season. With at least seven games left this season, UWM has already racked up 86 blocks on the year - already surpassing last season's final tally by two. 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 2.1 blocks per game. Her season total thus far of 44 is already two more than her mark from all of last year and her 157 career blocks is just 10 away from Maria Viall's program record of 167.

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 Saturday's game with their defense boasting some impressive national rankings, checking in at 51st in scoring defense (58.8 points/game against) and 52nd in field-goal percentage defense (37.3%).

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 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 last Saturday, 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 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
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 7-3 at the Klotsche Center this season with a trio of emphatic wins. UWM is now 28-11 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 fifth in scoring (1,545 points), seventh in rebounding (754), sixth in double-doubles (18) and tied for second in games started (115). Meanwhile, Kostowicz sits at eighth in career scoring (1,423 points), third in rebounding (839), third in blocks (157) 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 eight 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 479 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 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

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