Women's Basketball January 15, 2019

Milwaukee Starts Weekend Away At Oakland

Panthers, Golden Grizzlies square off Friday at 6 pm Central

MILWAUKEE – After a perfect 2-0 homestand, the Milwaukee women's basketball team will hit the road this weekend for a pair of games in the state of Michigan, starting Friday at Oakland. The Panthers and Golden Grizzlies will square off at 6 pm Central on the Black Top inside the O'rena. A year ago, the two teams split the season series, with each team winning on the road.

LOOKING AT THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland enters the weekend sitting at 4-12 overall and 1-4 in league play after an 82-53 loss at IUPUI last Sunday. Despite their record, OU still has plenty of nice numbers on the season, ranking second in the conference in blocks (4.6/game) and steals (9.3/game).

After being named the Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year each of the last two seasons, senior Taylor Jones has made the most of a starting role this year. She recently finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds against UIC and is averaging a team-best 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds/game thus far.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Ciarra Bond finished with 21 points and sparked Oakland to a red-hot shooting performance in an 80-75 win over Milwaukee Sunday afternoon from the Klotsche Center.

The Golden Grizzlies (14-15, 7-11 Horizon) connected on a season-high 14 three-pointers – including five in the decisive fourth quarter – to take down MKE (20-10, 11-7 Horizon) in the final regular season game of the year.

Jenny Lindner led all players with 23 points to go with six rebounds and three assists as she broke the school record for starts with her 121st in this her final home game as a Panther.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee holds a 7-6 lead over Oakland at the Division-I level. The two programs have traditionally created a number of memorable showdowns, including a 98-95 barn-burner win for MKE in the 2015-16 season in Michigan.

UP NEXT
The Panthers wrap up their roadtrip Sunday with a Noon Central showdown at Detroit Mercy.

LAST GAME
Bre Cera was clutch all game and finished with a career-high 13 points to help lead the Milwaukee women's basketball team to a 59-53 win over Cleveland State Saturday afternoon from the Klotsche Center.

Down by three at the break, the Panthers (7-9, 2-3 Horizon) put together an incredible defensive performance over the final 20 minutes, holding CSU (6-11, 3-3 Horizon) to just five made field goals in the entire second half.

"This wasn't the prettiest of wins for us, but I'm really proud of the effort that we gave to find a way today," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We started strong and then, credit to Cleveland State, they were able to do some things that got us out of that early rhythm. We needed some people to step up and it was great to see Bre Cera be one of those people and come through with some big baskets for us."

Cera led all players with her career-high 13 points to go with six assists and five steals – also career highs – and four rebounds.

QUE CERA CERA
After sitting out last year due to NCAA transfer regulations, Bre Cera has made the most of her time on the court this season. In fact, the redshirt-sophomore is the lone Panther to start every game on the year and had a career performance her last time out. The 5-10 defensive specialist finished with career highs in points (13), steals (5) and assists (5) to go with four rebounds to help spark MKE to a 59-53 win over Cleveland State.

SECOND-HALF SHUT DOWN
After trailing by three at the break last Saturday, Milwaukee turned in another outstanding defensive performance to flip the script for a 59-53 win over Cleveland State. The Panthers held the Vikings to just five made field goals over the final 20 minutes, limiting CSU to just 5-30 overall shooting (16.7 percent), while forcing a season-best 20 turnovers to go with 14 steals and another seven blocks.

AWFULLY EFFICIENT
Freshman Megan Walstad has been quickly making a name for herself at the college ranks - specifically for her impressive shot selection in the early going of her career. The 6-2 forward has used her soft-touch shot to connect on 57.6 percent (80-139) of her attempts on the season - good for 27th best in the country going into Friday's game. In fact, in league-only play, her numbers have gotten even better with a 65.9 clip (29-44) - tops in the conference.

SCHOOL DAY SUCCESS
MKE put together yet another memorable performance during its School Day game against Youngstown State Jan. 10. The Panthers handed the YSU its first league loss of the season with a 71-68 OT win, led by freshman Megan Walstad first double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in front of 3,089 area students and fans.

That adds to the long list of dramatic finishes for MKE in recent School Day games. Last season, the Panthers erased a 15-point deficit for a 79-72 win over Cleveland State. That came one year after the Panthers finished the game on a 26-10 run to take down Detroit Mercy and again erased a fourth-quarter deficit at the Klotsche Center. In 2015-16, Sierra Ford-Washington's runner in the lane with 6.7 seconds left again sent UWM past Cleveland State.

It's not just home success in front of the youthful crowds as Milwaukee stormed back from down 13 at Cleveland State last year before Steph Kostowicz beat the buzzer to send the Panthers home with yet another school day win.

In all, the Panthers have now won their last seven School Day contests, home or away.

RISING RYAEN
After playing a supporting role off the bench in her first year on the court for Milwaukee last year, Ryaen Johnson has taken a big step for the Black & Gold this year. The redshirt senior notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds Jan. 5 at Wright State, while also registering five blocks. Johnson ranks second in the Horizon League with 38 blocks so far this season - already 10 more than all of last year - and has scored 85 points (compared to 44 last season) and hauled in 79 rebounds (53 last season).

PANTHERS VS. TOP 25
The Jan. 10 win over Youngstown State was just another in recent history of Milwaukee taking down a team ranked in the Mid-Major Top-25 poll. YSU entered the week sitting at No. 24 after winning 12 of its first 15 contests.

Milwaukee has taken on three other teams ranked in this year's poll at the time of their game, dropping close road games at Saint Mary's (73-71) and Wright State (61-57).

Last season, MKE posted six wins over teams that were either ranked or receiving votes in the Mid-Major poll (Western Illinois, Cleveland State [twice], Wright State, IUPUI & Northern Iowa.

STARTING FIVE
MKE head coach Kyle Rechlicz has already shown how deep her team can be - using eight different starting lineups through the first 16 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 nine different starting lineups through their first 17 times on the court this season.

DOUBLING DOWN
After graduating Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner, the Panthers have perhaps found their next double-double outputters in their past two games. Senior Ryaen Johnson recorded her first double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds Jan. 5 at Wright State. Just five days later, it was freshman Megan Walstad's turn. The newcomer racked up career highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) to help secure the win over Youngstown State.

OH SO CLOSE
The Panthers sit at 7-9 heading into the Friday's game but have had a number of close contests go just the other way. Right out of the gates, MKE had the ball for the final shot at Indiana but couldn't find the winner in a two-point loss at Indiana. The Panthers also have had a shot at the buzzer in one-possession losses to Saint Mary's and Northern Kentucky. And, at Wright State Jan. 5, the Panthers were within one with under a minute to go before WSU earned a four-point win after sinking its free throws late.

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.

THE REIT STUFF
Jamie Reit has put together a number of outstanding offensive performance thus far in her junior season. In the season opener, Reit went off for 21 points on 8-13 shooting - including a red-hot 4-5 performance from behind the arc on the road at Indiana. The 5-foot-9 guard added another 18 against UC Riverside before exploding for six triples and a career-high 24 points against defending champ Green Bay in the conference opener last week. In all, Reit has upped her scoring average to over 10.0 points/game this season for the first time in her career despite being more of a focal point for opposing defenses.

EARLY HONORS
After her career performance against Florida State, junior Lizzie Odegard was named the Horizon League Player of the Week Dec. 23. 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 a pair of early honors from the league office. The Apple Valley, Minn., native first 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. The newcomer was again honored as the league's top freshman this past week after helping MKE to a pair of home wins after averaging 16 and 6 while recording her first collegiate double-double.

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 Saturday's contest averaging 7.8 threes per game - a total that ranks 49th 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 three threes so far.

As a team, MKE is shooting 33.9 percent from behind the arc - good for 76th best in the NCAA and tops in the Horizon League.

Additionally, Milwaukee has three of the top five deep-ball shooters percentage-wise in the conference (Alyssa Fischer - 1st at .425 [17-40], Sydney Levy - 3rd at .385 [20-52] and Jamie Reit - 5th at .378 [34-90] heading into Friday.

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 38 swats on the young season, with Akaylah Hayes (13) and Megan Walstad (11) not far behind, with Johnson's 2.4 blocks/game ranking her 22nd nationally heading into the game against Oakland. In all, MKE has already racked up 76 blocks on the season for an average of 4.8/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 fourth in the Horizon League and 136th nationally.

BENCH PLAY
The Panthers have shown great depth so far this season and have proven to have an awfully deep bench. In fact, thus far Milwaukee's bench is outscoring the opposition by a whopping 438-259. MKE has scored at least 20 points off the bench in 12 of its first 16 games, with the season high so far coming against Columbia when 47 points came from non-starters.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL BALANCE
Right around the midway point of the season, the Panthers have proven to be an incredibly balanced squad this season. Seven different players (Jamie Reit, Sydney Levy, Megan Walstad, Alyssa Fischer, Bre Cera, Akaylah Hayes 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, Hayes, Odegard, Cera, Fischer & Walstad) have led the team in rebounding in at least one game on the young season.

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.

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.

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.

500 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 504 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 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).

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Players Mentioned

#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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#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

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

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