TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Milwaukee women's basketball team had a tough time getting anything going offensively and could not keep up with 16th-ranked Florida State on Sunday afternoon, falling 79-42.
 
"When you play teams as good as Florida State, you have to hit shots early to put the pressure on them," head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "Unfortunately, we were off today. I am not sure if that is a combination of playing three games in six days or the travel, but we fell short in the area. I was proud of our fight and how we never gave up."
 
Milwaukee (0-3) shot just 23.1 percent from the floor while Florida State (2-0) was on fire, finishing 34-for-58 (58.6 percent) from the floor.
 
"Now it is time to shift our focus to two very good Horizon League teams," Rechlicz commented. "We hope to learn from the losses we have had and apply to this coming Thursday."
 
Megan Walstad connected on a pair of field goals in the first quarter, but the Panthers finished the first frame shooting just 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) from the floor as team.
 
Milwaukee fought a drought of over four minutes to start the second quarter before Kendall Nead converted a basket to cut the deficit to 14. FSU responded to quickly build a lead over 20 and never looked back.
 
The 16th-ranked Seminoles (2-0) also controlled the rebounds at the half, 21-14, and outscored the Panthers in the paint 20-6 for a 37-15 halftime advantage.
 
MKE found some range in the third, with Walstad, Sydney Staver, and Jada Donaldson each hitting a three-pointer, but Florida State matched each time and doubled up the Panthers through three.
 
That trend continued in the fourth as Milwaukee hit four more triples, but the Seminoles converted nearly 65 percent of their shots and kept the distance to send the Panthers to defeat.
 
Staver and Walstad each reached double figures for Milwaukee with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Walstad added a team-high seven points to go with two assists.
 
McKaela Schmelzer dished out a season-best seven assists for the Panthers and added four rebounds and a bucket.
 
Milwaukee will next get into the Horizon League schedule as they host Wright State on Thursday at 7:00 pm.
 
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