MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team wraps up a tough non-conference road stretch in New York, facing Columbia University on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers tipoff against the Lions at 12:00 pm CT before returning home for a six game homestand.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
After dropping its first two contests, Columbia has won three of the past four to even its record at 3-3. The Lions most recently took down Robert Morris and Army in the last two meetings.
 
Freshman guard Abbey Hsu has been a spark in her first year for Columbia, leading the team with 14.3 points per game. Hsu is shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 45.8 percent from three-point range in her first year.
 
Kaitlyn Davis has also been a big piece of the offense, average 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds, shooting 56.7 percent in her first season.
 
The Lions have not had success from long range, hitting just 29.2 percent of their three-point attempts, but the defend it well, holding opponents to 28.7 percent from deep.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Last season, Milwaukee knocked off Columbia 78-65 at the Klotsche Center behind 18 points from Megan Walstad and 17 from graduated senior Akaylah Hayes. Lizzie Odegard pulled down 10 rebounds to go with seven points in the win. The Panthers got to the line 37 times in the last meeting, knocking down 25 free throws.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee is 2-0 all-time against Columbia with one win at home and one on a neutral court. This marks the first meeting at Levein Gymnasium for the two teams.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Following Saturday's tip, Milwaukee is in for a full month of home games. The Panthers host six straight contests from December 5-30. The first matchup is against Northern Illinois at 7:00 pm on December 5. The Panthers open the Horizon League schedule on December 28 against Wright State.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee tightened the defense after the half, owning a 38-35 advantage but couldn't gain ground from the first-half deficit, falling 94-65 to 16th-ranked DePaul. The Blue Demons forced 26 turnovers and turned them into 33 points at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
 
SENSATIONAL STAVER
Sydney Staver continues to be impressive as of late for the Panthers. The junior has scored in double digits each of the last two contests, shooting 68.8 percent from the floor. Staver was the only Milwaukee player in double digits against DePaul, cashing in for 13 points to go with two rebounds and three steals.
 
HELPING HAND
One game after dishing out a season-high 17 assists, the Panthers matched that number against DePaul. Milwaukee once again had 17 assists on 23 made field goals. Against the Blue Demons, all 12 players who entered the game for Milwaukee recorded at least one assist. McKaela Schmelzer led the way with three assists for the Panthers last game.
 
LOCKING DOWN THE ARC
Although DePaul knocked down 12 three-pointers, Milwaukee proved once again that its defense from deep can hold up with any. The Panthers held the Blue Demons to 32.4 percent after DePaul attempted 37 triples. Milwaukee has now held opponents under 33 percent in four straight contests. The Panthers currently rank second in the Horizon League in three-point defense.
 
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 23.5 turnovers per contest. The Panthers have at least 20 turnovers in five of six games this season.
 
MILWAUKEE RUNS DEEP
In six games this season, Head Coach Kyle Rechlicz has used four different starting lineups. Milwaukee has showed that depth with all 12 players earning minutes and each one contributing in the points column. In the six contests, the Panthers have piled up 170 bench points already. Milwaukee has 10 different players averaging at least 14 minutes per game.
 
KNOCKING DOWN THE FREE ONES
The Panthers connected on 13 free throw attempts, their third game with at least 10 made. Milwaukee is shooting 74.2 percent from the charity stripe which ranks second in the Horizon League and 67th in the nation.
 
WE'LL TAKE SOME MOORE
Alyssa Moore came in off the bench and finished 2-for-3 from the floor for four points. The redshirt sophomore added an assist, a rebound, and matched a career-high with three steals.
 
BATTLING ON THE BOARDS
Through six games, Milwaukee holds a positive rebounding margin of 5.7, ranking the Panthers second in the Horizon League and 91st in the nation. At DePaul, the Blue Demons held an edge, but Milwaukee pulled in 39 rebounds, its third most this season. The Panthers pulled in 13 offensive rebounds, turning that into nine second chance points.
 
BANKING ON BISPING
Brandi Bisping has been solid all year for Milwaukee and leads the team with 8.7 points per game while ranking second with 4.7 rebounds per contest. Bisping has also been nearly perfect from the line, hitting 21 of 23 attempts, ranking second in the Horizon League and 34th in the nation with a 91.3 free throw percentage.
 
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.
 
PANTHERS IN THE PROS
The Panthers have had a number of former players go on to play professionally after their time in the Black & Gold. Currently, Angela Rodriguez (Spain) and Steph Kostowicz (Greece) have taken their talents to the next level. Kostowicz is currently averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds for Sporting. Additionally, this summer, both Rodriguez and Kostowicz were members of the Wisconsin GLO, helping the team capture the 2019 Global Women's Basketball Association Championship after an undefeated season.
 
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 524 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.