MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team dropped its home opener Tuesday night, falling to North Dakota State 69-58 Thursday evening in the Klotsche Center.
"We knew this game was going to be a really tough game," said head coach
Kyle Rechlicz. "North Dakota State is well coached and they have some very talented players that play really hard. We wanted to play a tough non-conference schedule to prepare us for league, so we're not really looking at the wins and losses but instead at improvements aspects. I don't think we won the toughness battle tonight, but I also really appreciate our fight."
Trailing by 19 midway through the third quarter, Milwaukee cut the deficit to single digits with a ten-point run. But the Bisons never let the Panthers get closer than seven in the final quarter, matching Milwaukee point-for-point down the stretch.
"I felt like we picked up our offensive pace down the stretch," Rechlicz said. "I think we picked up our defense as well. I thought
Jada Donaldson came in an gave us a huge lift of the bench from a defensive perspective. She really hounded the point guard on the other end of the court. And I thought
Lior Halevi gave us a lift off the bench as well."
Milwaukee led by one at the end of the first, but North Dakota State found their rhythm in the second, opening the quarter with a 12-point run to create a double-digit lead. The run spanned over six minutes before
Miquela Santoro knocked down a three to cut the deficit back to eight.
The Bisons started the second half strong with an 11-point run to extend the lead to 19.
The Panthers offense produced good results in the first couple minutes of the game, connecting on a trio of treys to take a quick 9-3 lead.
Kendall Nead sandwiched her first points of the game between a pair of
Megan Walstad threes as Milwaukee opened the game 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Walstad finished with 10 points in the first quarter for the Panthers, who led by as many as seven before North Dakota State cut the deficit down to one.
Santoro led four in double figures with 16 points and connected on three attempts from deep. Walstad added 14 points and team-high five rebounds while
McKaela Schmelzer (12) and
Sydney Staver (11) rounded out the Panthers in double figures.
For North Dakota State, Ryan Cobbins led the way with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting while pulling down seven boards. Heaven Hamling added 11 and Abby Schulte finished with 10 to pace the offensive attack for the Bisons.
Milwaukee travels to face Florida State on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tallahassee, Florida. Live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
