MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team hits the road for the first time this season, taking on its first of three Big Ten opponents in Purdue University. The Panthers rallied in the second half on Wednesday to take down Parkside 84-77 in the 2019-20 season opener. After a Sunday afternoon bout against Purdue the Panthers will travel to Minnesota and Wisconsin before returning home on November 19 to face Arkansas Pine Bluff. 
 
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Sunday marks the season opener for Purdue. The Boilermakers have one exhibition under their belt, downing Southern Indiana 62-44 on November 3. After finishing 2018-19 with 19 wins, Purdue returns its entire starting lineup from last year including an All-Big Ten trio of Karissa McLaughlin, Dominique Oden, and Ae'Rianna Harris. The Boilermakers were predicted to finish fifth in the Big Ten coaches' poll.
 
Harris and McLaughlin were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten squads by the coaches and media. Harris also received a spot on the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee and Purdue have met twice all-time with the Boilermakers taking both games. The two played each other in 2002 and the following year in 2003.
 
In the last matchup, Purdue was ranked No. 8 in the country. Maria Viall stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists, but Purdue shot 64.3 percent from the field as it came away with an 88-60 victory.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Boilermakers hold a 2-0 all-time advantage over Milwaukee during the regular season with the last matchup coming on November 25, 2003.
 
The previous year, the two met in Milwaukee where No. 7 Purdue came away with a 82-59 victory.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers will remain in the Big Ten as they face Minnesota and Wisconsin over the next two contests.
 
Milwaukee will head to Minneapolis for a November 14 matchup with the Gophers before taking on the Badgers in Madison on Sunday, November 17.
 
LAST GAME
Jamie Reit poured in a career-high 31 points as Milwaukee outlasted Parkside 84-77 in the Panthers' season opener. MKE outscored the Rangers 14-7 in the extra period to open the season 1-0.
 
Trailing 72-71 early on in the overtime period, Brandi Bisping knocked down a bucket and Reit followed with a triple as Milwaukee built a four-point advantage.
 
Reit added two more free throws before another Bisping layup had the Panthers up by five. From there, Milwaukee took care of business from the line, going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
"I was really proud of how they stepped up," head coach Kyle Rechlicz commented. "We were resilient down the stretch."
 
The Panthers withstood the early barrage of three-pointers from Parkside as the Rangers connected for 12 triples in the first half. Following some halftime adjustments, Milwaukee held Parkside to just three from long range after the break.
 
Bisping also cashed in for a career-high, going 7-for-10 from the floor for 17 points. The junior added 10 rebounds as she recorded her second career double-double.
 
Joining the two in double digits was Staver with 11 points and Sydney Levy with 10.
 
As a team, Milwaukee finished 20-for-25 from the line while Parkside attempted just 10 free throws.
 
OUTSTANDING IN THE OPENER
Jamie Reit's career-high 31 is just another solid start for the Panthers in a season opener. Her performance marked the sixth consecutive season with a Milwaukee player scoring at least 20 points in the season-opener.
 
Last season, it was also Reit, as she netted 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting in a two-point loss at Indiana.
 
In Wednesday's opener, Reit finished 9-for-16 from the floor including hitting four triples in six attempts. Additionally, she was 9-for-10 at the line. Reit added seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the win.
 
The senior's performance marked her 29th game in double digits including her fourth with at least 20 points.
 
The most points in a season-opener for the Panthers is currently 36, scored by Ashley Green in Milwaukee's season-opening victory at North Dakota State to start the 2014-15 season. That eclipsed Traci Edward's 30-point game set in the opener of the 2007-08 season.
 
FOR STARTERS
With the victory over Parkside, Milwaukee improved its record to 11-19 in NCAA Division I season-openers (dating back to 1990-91).
 
Head Coach Kyle Rechlicz is now 5-3 in season openers. In her Milwaukee debut, the Panthers dominated Chicago State 82-58 in 2012-13.
 
Milwaukee has now won three consecutive season-openers at home, the previous two coming in 2016-17 (76-68 over Western Illinois) and 2015-16 (70-48 over UMKC).
 
BISPING BRINGING IT
Junior Brandi Bisping dominated the paint in the victory over Parkside, setting a new career-high with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Bisping finished 7-for-10 from the field and hit three of her four free throws. The double-double marked the second of her career, the first coming in her freshman campaign as she recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds on February 15, 2018.  Bisping played 33 minutes on Wednesday and led the team with a plus-minus of +19.
 
KNOCKING DOWN THE FREE ONES
Milwaukee took advantage of Parkside fouls and hit 20 free throws in 25 attempts in Wednesday's win. That marked the most made free throws for the Panthers since their third game of the season in 2018-19 when MKE knocked down 25 four shots.
 
Last season, the Panthers hit just 66.8 percent of their free throws, but are off to a strong start this season, after converting 80 percent in the opener.
 
YOU HEARD RIGHT
In the season opener, freshman Tadri Heard came in and played some big minutes at guard. In nearly 17 minutes, Heard provided stability and recorded six points while going 4-for-4 from the line. Tied late in the game at 68, Heard converted a reverse layup to put Milwaukee on top. Parkside responded to send it to overtime, but Heard's confidence late was what the Panthers needed.
 
LATE HEROICS
In regulation, Milwaukee shot just under 50 percent, but made their attempts count in the overtime period, going 3-for-4 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line. The Panthers also went 1-for-1 from downtown in the extra time.
 
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.
 
EXHIBITION REWIND
After an early back-and-forth with Viterbo, the Panthers cruised to a 106-43 victory, which would be the second most points in school history, were it a regular season contest. The most Milwaukee has ever scored in a game was 116 points in a 116-112 win over Bradley on December 4, 2012. The Panthers also scored 104 two times, most recently on November 16, 2016 against Northern Illinois.
 
In the win over Viterbo, Milwaukee connected on 64.5 percent of its shots including hitting 76.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The Panthers had 11 different players score with five reaching double digits.
 
Emma Wittmershaus put together a dominant performance, recording a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The redshirt freshman connected on 10 of her 11 attempts from the floor.
 
Milwaukee also took advantage of its chances at the line, hitting 19 of 21 free throws.
 
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.
 
SIZING UP THE BIG TEN
The Panthers have three Big Ten teams on the schedule this season and despite falling twice a year ago, they have found some success in recent years. In 2017-18, Milwaukee edged Wisconsin (67-64) and Northwestern (66-57). That marked the second straight win over the Badgers as Milwaukee took down their in-state rivals 80-63 in 2016-17.
 
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.
  
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.