MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Trailing by six at the half, the Milwaukee women's basketball team shot 68.2 percent after the break to take down IUPUI 74-66 on Friday night. The Panthers held the Jaguars to 4-for-16 from the floor in the final frame, outscoring IUPUI 46-32 in the second half.
 
With the win, the Panthers continue to extend the program's best start at 14-1 and the 11 consecutive victories is just one shy of another program record.
 
"I think the adjustment to how they play defense was a little difficult for us at first. They are very physical," head coach Kyle Rechlicz stated. "I knew we would get into a little rhythm especially in the second half after playing it for a while. Plus, I kept reminding our team this is the type of defense we go against every single day in practice."
 
Fueled by Brandi Bisping's 11 points, the Panthers (14-1, 11-0 Horizon League) scored 29 points in the third quarter on 9-for-12 shooting to pull MKE in front 57-54.
 
Megan Walstad opened the fourth with a layup to put the Panthers up by five, but back-to-back three-pointers allowed the Jaguars to regain the lead.
 
Down one with 5:56 left, Milwaukee rattled off an 11-0 run over the next 4:31 to take a 72-62 advantage and seal the deal.
 
The Panthers held IUPUI (8-2, 6-1 Horizon League) to just 2-for-14 from two-point range in the final frame to clinch the victory.  
 
Milwaukee capitalized on free throws, going 22-for-23 from the line including 13-for-13 in the second half.
 
"We are very confident in our free throw shooting," Rechlicz continued. "You put Brandi Bisping there and its automatically two points. At the end of the game, it was finding ways to get her touches. Those were big moments for us down the stretch for us to be that consistent from the free throw line and knock those down."
 
Early on, IUPUI couldn't miss the open the game running out to an 11-2 run behind a 4-for-4 start from the field. MKE began to chip away with four straight free throws and a jumper from Miquela Santoro but some inside work from the Jaguars had IUPUI up six after one.
 
Milwaukee found the range in the second quarter, going 3-for-6 from three-point range, helping the Panthers keep pace with the Jaguars, who scored 22 of their 34 first-half points in the paint.
 
IUPUI led 34-28 at the break before the Panthers flipped the switch in the second half.
 
Bisping led four in double digits with 17 points as she finished 11-for-11 at the line, her second game this year making at least 10 free throws in a game without a miss. The senior added a team-high nine rebounds in 36 minutes played.
 
Schmelzer chipped in all over the floor, totaling 10 points, three rebounds, and matching a season-high with eight assists.
 
Walstad and Sydney Staver also reached double digits, scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively. Walstad added eight rebounds while Staver went 3-for-5 from three-point range.
 
Milwaukee held two-time Horizon League Player of the Year Macee Williams to 2-for-16 from the floor for just six points.
 
"I'm so proud of all of them. Megan Walstad, Emma Wittmershaus, and Macy McGlone," Rechlicz said of the MKE defense. "From top to bottom, our post players really stepped up."
 
The Panthers will be back at The Jungle tomorrow night for game two of the series against IUPUI. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 pm with live coverage links available on MKEPanthers.com.