Women's Basketball March 13, 2018

Milwaukee Returns To WNIT To Take On UNI

Third straight postseason berth for UWM

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team will start its third consecutive postseason Thursday with a WNIT First Round contest from Cedar Falls, Iowa, taking on host UNI at 7pm from the McLeod Center. Thursday's postseason opener will be streamed live on ESPN3 and Panther fans can listen to Matt Menzl's call streaming live online. Live stats will also be available, with all links at MKEPanthers.com.

LOOKING AT THE (UNI) PANTHERS
UNI enters Thursday's WNIT opener with a 19-13 overall record. The Panthers turned in notable non-conference wins over Big 12 foes Iowa State and Kansas State, as well as a neutral-site win against fellow WNIT participant Wyoming. UNI finished with a 13-5 record in the Missouri Valley for third place. They advanced to the MVC Tournament Championship before falling to perennial powerhouse Drake, 75-63.

Three players average double figures for Northern Iowa, including First-Team All-MVC selection Megan Maahs, who is tied for the team lead with 10.3 points/game and leads her conference and is 34th nationally with 9.9 rebounds/game.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET...
Lindsay Laur scored a game-high 19 points and eclipsed 1,000 career points, but it was not enough, as Milwaukee fell to Northern Iowa, 72-58, Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

UWM (3-4) fell down by as many as 19 in the first half before rallying, but could get no closer than five late in regulation. UNI (4-3) drained seven first-half three-pointers and made its final eight free throw attempts to hold off the home Panthers.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee and UNI have battled eight times before at the Division I level, with Northern Iowa claiming six of those contests. The two schools have never met in the postseason and the last time they played each other was back on Dec. 4, 2010 - a 72-58 UNI win in Milwaukee.

Additionally, Thursday's game will be the 13th time the Panthers will be going up against another school nicknamed the Panthers, currently sitting at 6-6 in such games.

UP NEXT
The winner of Sunday's game will advance to the second round, taking on the winner of Indiana/UT Martin.

LAST GAME
As they have done so many times this season, Milwaukee erased a 17-point second-half deficit only to see Youngstown State answer back to win 62-58 in the Little Caesars Horizon League Championships quarterfinal showdown.

In a rematch of a pair of one-point games earlier this season, the Penguins (16-14) frustrated Milwaukee's (20-11) attack for the first three quarters to build a 48-31 lead late into the third.

The Panthers scored the next 20 points – including 10 straight from senior Kelsey Cunningham to start the fourth quarter – to storm back and take a 51-48 lead after a three-pointer from Jamie Reit with 3:36 to play.

From there the game went back-and-forth, with Milwaukee showing its fight all the way to the end only to fall just four points shy.

Jenny Lindner led Milwaukee with 14 points and 15 rebounds for her 21st career double-double.

Cunningham tied her career high with 12 points – all coming in the fourth quarter.

POSTSEASON PLAY
The Panthers are making their third consecutive trip to the postseason with this year's WNIT berth, all under head coach Kyle Rechlicz. That is significant, as Milwaukee earned just two postseason appearances prior to the team's current run. Thursday's game will mark the second time the Panthers qualified for the WNIT - doing so back in 2016 when they traveled to Minnesota in a near upset of the Gophers. UWM also qualified for the WBI last season, notching their first and second postseason wins in program history with a run to the semifinals before bowing out. Milwaukee has also qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice in program history, doing so back in 2001 and again in 2006.

LOOKING AT THE BRACKET
Milwaukee has plenty of familiarity with the 64-team field in this year's WNIT. The Panthers have played six games against fellow WNIT qualifiers this season alone, going 3-3 in those contests and outscoring them by a score of 381-380.

This marks the 21st season of the Women's National Invitational Tournament, with this season's field as deep as ever as 37 teams enter with 20 or more wins on the year.

The Horizon League will send three teams to this year's WNIT (Milwaukee, IUPUI, Wright State) for the first time in the conference's history. It is also tied for the fifth-most of any conference in the country for this season's field, surpassed only by the Atlantic 10 and Big Ten (five) and Conference USA and the Mountain West (four). The American, Big 12, Big East, Colonial and MAC all also will be sending three representatives, while 22 other conferences will have either two or one school.

PILING UP THE WINS
Over the past two-plus seasons, Milwaukee has been piling up the total in the win column. The Panthers eclipsed the 20-win mark for 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 occurring 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.

SPECIAL SENIORS
Milwaukee's four-person senior class of 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 it's all said and done. The 2003-04 class set the standard with 71 career wins - which this year's group tied with their emphatic 90-45 win over Detroit Mercy Feb. 23. One more win would make this year's foursome the winningest in program history.

ALL-LEAGUE STATUS
The Horizon League postseason honors came out earlier this week and Milwaukee had a pair of representatives on this year's all-league team. Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz both were recognized in the voting by the league coaches and media members as second-team selections. The award is the first for Lindner while Kostowicz has now received postseason honors three consecutive years now.

Although UWM has had at least one representative on the all-league squad for 20 of the last 23 years, this marks the first time Milwaukee has had a pair of representatives on the 10-player all-league team since 2005-06 when Traci Edwards and Nichole Drummond were both honored for their efforts.

SHØT BLØCKERS
Milwaukee has established an impressive knack for blocking shots this season. UWM has already racked up 116 blocks on the year - breaking the program record of 109 set back during the 2008-09 season with at least one game still left on this year's schedule.

Individually, Steph Kostowicz has been a force with a league-leading 2.0 blocks per game. She broke Maria Viall's single season block record with swat number 54 on the year on Senior Day, and is now career record holder after tallying block No. 168 in last week's league tournament before extending that total to 170 heading into Thursday's game.

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 in the final week of the regular season 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 Feb. 23 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 Thursday's game with their defense boasting some impressive national rankings, checking in at 71st in scoring defense (60.4 points/game against) and 71st in field-goal percentage defense (37.7%).

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 87 assists on the season - fifth most for a freshman in Milwaukee history and just three shy of passing Angela Rodriguez for fourth place. Also noteworthy, Schmelzer's 3.3 assists/game in conference-only play ranks her sixth in the Horizon League.

TAKING ON THE TOP TALENT
The Panthers have faced quite a number of challenging foes during this 20-win seasons, including 10 games against opponents 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 time and again 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 second-half 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.

Finally, in the Horizon League Tournament, the Panthers went from down 17 to up three in the blink of an eye with a 20-0 run to start the fourth quarter before running out of gas in the closing seconds against Youngstown State.

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 right away in 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 21 of her 28 games this season. Kostowicz enters this Thursday's game with a sparkling .568 percentage from the field - 25th 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 (407-525) as a team through 31 games - ranking tops in the conference and eighth in the entire nation.

A pair 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 66th (.828) so far. Bailey Farley (not ranked due to number of attempts) has been nearly automatic from the line of late to up her percentage to .816 (71-87) - just ahead of Steph Kostowicz at 114th (.802) in the country after hitting on 89 of her 111 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 five 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 showing 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 14-point, 15-rebound performance March 4 against Youngstown State in the Horizon League Tournament. That marked the 21st career double-double for the Neillsville native, moving her into sole possession of fifth place 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 27 of the first 31 games to start the season. In fact, 17 of those 31 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 1219-952 for a +8.6 margin per game. That ranks 17th in the nation heading into Thursday'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 - three 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 348 already this season for a grand total of 898 heading into the WNIT.

More impressively, Farley is set to graduate with the program record in three-point shooting percentage. She enters Thursday's game connecting at a .418 (105-251) clip - which would smash the previous record of .404 set by Aubri Rote back from 2005-08.

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.

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 Thursday's game, Lindner ranks third in scoring (1,668 points), fourth in rebounding (816), fifth in double-doubles (21) and recently broke the program record for games started (122). Meanwhile, Kostowicz sits at sixth in career scoring (1,510 points), third in rebounding (886), third in double-doubles (30) and just broke the program record in blocks (170).

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 nine times already this year, with seven of those nine 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.

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 486 games in a row heading into the game against the Panthers.

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.

A CASE OF THE RUNS
Milwaukee has proven all season long that its capable of scoring in a variety of ways and - coupled with its strong defense - can quickly make a big run against its opponents. In fact, the Panthers have put together a pair of 20-point runs this season, both coming down the stretch.

It started in the final home stand with a 22-0 blitz of Detroit Mercy in the third quarter that blew open an already 20-point Panther lead into a 71-29 edge with 1:35 left in the third.

Then, at the Horizon League Tournament against Youngstown State, the Panthers were at it again with a 20-0 run late. Down by 17 late in the third, Kelsey Cunningham sparked a 20-0 run by the Black & Gold (scoring 10 straight points herself, at one point) before Jamie Reit drilled a corner three to put Milwaukee up 51-48 with 3:36 left in the game,

ROAD WARRIORS
UWM is back on the road, heading to the Northern Iowa to start the WNIT. The Panthers have already played 18 games away from home this so far this season, proving to feel just fine away from the Klotsche Center. This year's squad has racked up 11 true road wins this year and is an impressive 12-6 overall in games away from UWM's campus. That already surpasses last year's total of 10, with this year's .734 road winning percentage equaling the second best in program history - shy of only the 2001-02 season's .786 percentage.

A SPRING IN BISPING'S STEP
Freshman Brandi Bisping has made the most of her increased playing time the down the stretch of the season. 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.

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.

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 finished 8-5 at the Klotsche Center this season with a trio of emphatic wins. UWM is now 29-13 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.

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.

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.

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

#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