MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Following its second home victory of the season, the Milwaukee women's basketball team is back on the road, set to take on DePaul on Tuesday, November 26. This marks the fourth-ever matchup with DePaul, who is ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll.
 
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS
DePaul is off to a hot start to the 2019-20 season, earning four wins in its first five games. The No. 19/20 Blue Demons only loss came to No. 7/6 Oregon State. Following that, DePaul dispatched Arkansas State and No. 16/17 Miami.
 
The Blue Demons boast a high-scoring offense with a four-guard attack, averaging over 90 points a game led by Chante Stonewall, Sonya Morris, and Lexi Held, who all average more than 10 points per game. Kelly Campbell also adds a major piece to the DePaul attack, averaging 8.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and a team-high 6.0 assists per game.
 
As a team, DePaul is averaging 22.2 assists per contest and 13.0 steals per game.
 
The Blue Demons have been consistently one of the best teams in the Big East, totaling at least 20 wins in 11 consecutive seasons including at least 26 wins six straight years.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
The last meeting between DePaul and Milwaukee took place on December 11, 2012 with the Blue Demons taking a 94-83 victory in Chicago. The Panthers knocked down 14 three-pointers but DePaul took advantage of miscues, scoring 24 points off of 18 Milwaukee turnovers.
 
SERIES HISTORY
DePaul owns a 4-0 advantage all-time over Milwaukee but the two have not played since the 2012-13 season. The Blue Demons earned three of their wins in Chicago.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Following Tuesday's tip, Milwaukee flies to New York to take on Columbia University. The Panthers own a 2-0 record all-time over the Lions, earning a 78-65 decision last year at the Klotsche Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Behind a career-high 18 points from Sydney Staver, Milwaukee got back in the win column, topping Arkansas Pine Bluff 69-55 on Tuesday evening. The Panthers dominated the boards 48-25 in the victory.
 
"We were excited to be back at home. Needed to find the rhythm within the game," head coach Kyle Rechlicz commented. "I was really proud of our team resiliency."
 
BACK TO THE LINE
After combining for just 22 free throw over the last three games, the Panthers got to the line 25 times against Arkansas Pine Bluff. Milwaukee knocked down 19 of its chances, holding a 7-point advantage from the charity stripe. The Panthers are now 2-0 when reaching double digit made free throws.
 
HELPING HAND
Milwaukee dished out a season-high 17 assists in the win over the Golden Lions, helping on nearly 74 percent of its made field goals. Eight different Panthers recorded an assist led by McKaela Schmelzer (4), Sydney Staver (3), and Brandi Bisping (3).
 
BATTLING ON THE BOARDS
Through five games, Milwaukee holds a positive rebounding margin of 7.2. The Panthers put together another dominating rebounding performance on Tuesday, pulling in 48 boards compared to just 25 for Arkansas Pine Bluff. That marks the second time this season Milwaukee has outrebounded its opponent by double digits.
 
LOCKING DOWN THE ARC
Milwaukee has continued to tighten up its three-point defense, allowing opponents to hit just 22 percent from beyond the arc over the last three games. The Panthers have limited opponents to five three-pointers or less over the last three contests. After allowing 15 three-pointers against Parkside, the Panthers lowered that number to nine at Purdue and then four at Minnesota. Against Wisconsin, the Panthers allowed just three triples.
 
TURNOVER TROUBLES
Teams coached by Kyle Rechlicz have been historically good at taking care of the ball with the top four marks for fewest turnovers in Milwaukee history during her tenure. So far this year, that is not the case as Milwaukee is averaging 23.0 turnovers per contest. The Panthers have at least 20 turnovers in four of five games this season.
 
SENSATIONAL STAVER
Following three straight starts to open the year, Staver has been stellar off the bench the last two games for Milwaukee. The junior poured in a career-high 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting in a win over Arkansas Pine Bluff. The previous game, Staver connected on four of her five attempts from the field. In two contests off the bench, Staver is 10-for-12 from the field, averaging 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.0 steals.
 
BANKING ON BISPING
Bisping nearly tallied her second double-double of the season as she totaled 16 points and eight rebounds in the win over Arkansas Pine Bluff. The junior has been solid all year for Milwaukee, leading the team with 10.0 points per game while ranking second with 5.4 rebounds per contest. Bisping has also been nearly perfect from the line, hitting 19 of 21 attempts, ranking third in the Horizon League with a 90.5 free throw percentage.
 
MILWAUKEE RUNS DEEP
In five games, the Panthers have already piled up 133 bench points. Milwaukee has showed that depth with all 12 players earning minutes and each one contributing in the points column. The Panthers have 10 different players averaging at least 14 minutes per game.
 
FISCH LETTIN' IT FLY
Against Minnesota, Alyssa Fischer came in off the bench to provide a spark for Milwaukee as she knocked down four three-pointers in five attempts. The redshirt senior led the Panthers with 12 points and added three rebounds at Minnesota. Last season, Fischer led the team, hitting 40.6 percent of her shots from deep. The Manitowoc, WIs. native ranks third on the team with 60 career triples.
 
NEW FACES, SAME GOAL
Head Coach Kyle Rechlicz added two new faces to her staff in DéRonté Polite and Aaliyah Covington. Polite comes to Milwaukee with a plethora of coaching background, most recently at Lincoln College in Illinois for one season as head coach. Covington was hired as a graduate manager and video analyst in the summer of 2019 and is the younger sister of current assistant coach, Anya Covington.
 
EXPERIENCE IS KEY
The Panthers needed just two freshmen to fill their roster, returning 13 players from a season ago. Rechlicz has nine upperclassmen on her roster this season as Milwaukee brings back four of its top five scorers from 2018-19. Four players on the roster started in at least 20 games a season ago including McKaela Schmelzer (28), Megan Walstad (27), Jamie Reit (27), and Bre Cera (23). 
 
With the 13 returners, the Panthers have 81 percent of their scoring and 73 percent of their rebounding back for this year's campaign.
 
This year's group of seniors each have at least 55 appearances for the black and gold.
 
SOMETHING TO PROVE
Milwaukee was predicted to finish fifth in this year's Horizon League preseason poll. The Panthers earned 57 total poll points and were picked to come in behind Green Bay, Wright State, IUPUI, and Youngstown State. In the 2018-19 preseason poll, Milwaukee was also chosen to finish fifth in the Horizon League.
 
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
Last season, the Panthers picked up five non-conference victories. Milwaukee topped Columbia and Purdue Fort Wayne at home and took down UC Riverside, North Dakota, and North Dakota State on the road. That marks four straight years with at least five non-conference wins for the Panthers.
 
TAKING ON TOP TALENT
In addition to three Big Ten teams, Milwaukee also faces Marquette, who finished 27-8 last season. The Golden Eagles topped Rice 58-54 in the first round before narrowly falling to Texas A&M 78-76 in round two. In total, Milwaukee takes on 10 opponents that won at least 15 games from a year ago including seven that tallied 20 victories.
 
ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF
Kyle Rechlicz added a pair of freshmen to this year's squad - Grace Crowley and Tadri Heard. Crowley joins the black and gold from nearby Homestead High School. She grabbed headlines statewide this past February after recording a triple-double in a big home win for the Highlanders. Crowley is a proven winner, guiding Homestead to three straight state titles.
 
Heard comes to Milwaukee from Argo Community High School in the Greater Chicago area. The guard joined the 1,000-point club during her junior season and finished the season averaging nearly 16 points, 6.7 assists, 3.1 steals, and 4.3 rebounds.
 
FROM DOWNTOWN
Fans catching the Panthers in action will see no shortage of offense as the top five marks for three-point field goal attempts in a season are during Kylie Rechlicz' tenure. Last season, the Panthers hit 222 triples, fourth most in school history. In fact, during Rechlicz' seven years, Milwaukee has hit at least 200 three-pointers each season. Prior to Rechlicz' tenure, the Panthers reached 200 made three-pointers just three times.
 
Milwaukee has recorded at least one triple in 523 straight contests. Under Rechlicz, the Panthers have recorded 50 games with at least 10 three-pointers and 18 more with nine triples. The run is a new Horizon League standard, topping the previous mark of 446 set by Loyola. The Panthers still have a ways to go for the NCAA record, however, which is held by Iowa State. Their run was still active at the end of the 2018-19 season at 770 (1995-present).
 
The 17 three-pointers against Bradley on December 4, 2012 is both a school and Horizon League record.
 
Last year, 13 different Panthers connected from downtown with seven recording at least 10 three-pointers made. Jamie Reit led the way with 54 triples.
 
As a team, Milwaukee averaged 7.4 three-point field goals per game which ranked second in the Horizon League and 65th in the country.
 
EVERYONE CHIPPING IN
The Panthers had help from everyone last season with 11 different leading scorers in 30 games. Milwaukee had nine different players average at least 15 minutes per game while everyone on roster saw some playing time. Five Panthers appeared in all 30 games while 12 different players saw the court in at least 20 contests.
 
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. All 15 of Milwaukee's home games will be carried live online at ESPN3/ESPN+. The three road Big Ten games can be found on the BIG10 Network while other road games will also stream live through ESPN.
 
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 29 regular season contests, as well as 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.