Box Score 62 Winner Milwaukee UWM 9-9, 4-3 HL 44 Detroit Mercy UDM 3-15, 1-6 HL Winner Milwaukee UWM 9-9, 4-3 HL 62 Final Jan. 20, 2019 44 Detroit Mercy UDM 3-15, 1-6 HL Score By Periods Team 1 2 3 4 F Milwaukee UWM 11 11 20 20 62 Detroit Mercy UDM 10 11 10 13 44 Game Recap: Women's Basketball | January 20, 2019 Clutch Shooting Pushes MKE To Fourth-Straight Win Levy buries career-high seven threes DETROIT – Akaylah Hayes had the steady hand early and Sydney Levy had the hot hand late as the Milwaukee women's basketball team pulled away late for a 62-44 win Sunday afternoon against Detroit Mercy from Calihan Hall. After an early fourth-quarter run by the home team closed Milwaukee's (9-9, 4-3 Horizon) lead to just 42-39 with 5:59 left in the game, the Panthers finished the game on a 20-5 for an exclamation point on their fourth consecutive win. "Credit to Detroit – their zone really got us, especially in the first half," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I felt like we were rushing and they just took us out of a lot of things we were looking for. Thankfully we had some big performances from both Akaylah Hayes and Sydney Levy that kind of carried us through. "Having seen how the zone works in person, we were able to make some tweaks in the second half. We really focused in on that within the locker room. We took them through our offenses and where the holes were. Obviously, (point guard) McKaela Schmelzer was a huge leader for us. We had to sit her the whole second quarter, but her getting us into those offenses and getting us organized was really big." Levy finished the game red hot, netting 11 of her game-high 23 points during MKE's decisive run down the stretch. The freshman shot a blistering 8-for-13 from the floor, hitting a career-high seven three-pointers in just 21 minutes of action. The seven three's in one game now ties the Appleton North grad for third in program history. While Levy was the hot hand late, Hayes was the steady leader early. Going up against Detroit Mercy's high-pressure defense, Hayes made the most of her third career start and finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal. "I just love how she's playing," Rechlicz said of Hayes. "She's playing like a senior right now. Her mentality, her energy…it's just contagious and I want that on the court as much as possible." Jamie Reit added seven points and a career-high seven assists, while Ryaen Johnson continued to stuff the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks to up her season total to 43. Senior guard Brittney Jackson tied her career high with 16 points to lead the way for Detroit Mercy (3-15, 1-6 Horizon) After a low-scoring opening half that had MKE hold a 22-21 lead at the break, the Panthers burst out offensively after implementing some halftime adjustments. Walstad opening things up with a jumper, before buckets from Bre Cera and Reit to force an early timeout from the Titans. Levy's third triple gave MKE a 35-27 edge at the 4:25 mark and four straight points from Johnson stretched the Panther lead to 42-29 late in the third. After a strong push by the Titans to open the fourth quarter cut Milwaukee's lead down to just three at 42-39, the Panthers responded in a big way. Levy drilled another clutch triple before a tough jumper in the paint from Johnson. Another three from Levy made it 50-39 with just 3:14 to play. Reit hit her first three of the game the next time down the court and Levy hit her seventh from deep with 1:14 left to make it a 17-point edge for the road team. After connecting on just 34.6 percent (9-26) of its shots in the first half, the Panthers shot 50 percent (15-30) overall in the second half, including hitting four of its eight threes in the final 10 minutes. Milwaukee was dominant on the boards Sunday, claiming a season-best 46-24 edge in rebounding. Sharing the ball was once again an obvious strength for MKE, tallying 19 assists on the team's 24 made field goals. The Panthers also finished with a noticeable 32-4 edge in points off the bench. MKE now returns home for a two-game homestand, starting Thursday when IUPUI comes to the Klotsche Center for a 7 pm game. Print Friendly Version
