MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Milwaukee opened the Horizon League with a victory over defending champions Wright State on Thursday and now shift focus to Northern Kentucky on Saturday. Due to the Milwaukee volleyball team hosting the Horizon League Tournament, tipoff moved from 2:00 pm to 10:30 am on Saturday from the Klotsche Center. Live audio will be available for the matchup with Matt Menzl on the call along with a link for live stats can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
The Milwaukee Athletic Department recently announced that fans will be allowed at all home events this year. In accordance with current Milwaukee Public Health and CDC recommendations, fans will be required to wear a face covering indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
 
SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky opened the Horizon League schedule with a 61-52 win over Green Bay on Thursday evening, holding the Phoenix to just 30.3 percent shooting from the floor.
 
Led by redshirt senior Lindsey Duvall, who is averaging 22.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, Northern Kentucky is out to a 2-1 overall record with wins over the Phoenix and Eastern Kentucky. Duvall has scored at least 19 points in all three contests including a season-high 27 in the opener against Kent State. 
 
NKU was predicted to place fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll, trailing IUPUI, Milwaukee, and Green Bay.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
The Panthers put up 22 points in the fourth quarter to erase a hefty deficit, but Northern Kentucky came away with a 68-61 victory at the Klotsche Center. Sydney Staver led three players in double figures with 17 points while Megan Walstad recorded a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Northern Kentucky has controlled the series in recent years, winning five in a row and seven of the last eight against Milwaukee for a 8-5 all-time series advantage. Three of the Panthers' five victories against NKU have come on their home floor.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Milwaukee returns to non-conference action for a pair of games, hosting Wisconsin on November 24 at 6:00 pm before heading to Northern Illinois for a 1:00 pm contest on Sunday, November 28.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Megan Walstad scored 12 of her 19 points in the second half to help Milwaukee fend off Wright State 58-47 at the Klotsche Center on Thursday night.
 
CAREER-NIGHT FOR SCHMELZER
McKaela Schmelzer got out to a hot start on Thursday night, totaling eight points and seven rebounds in the first quarter of the Panthers' win over Northern Kentucky. The graduate finished with a career-high 13 rebounds and added 10 points, recording her first career double-double. She also added a team-best five assists.
 
Schmelzer's previous career-best was nine rebounds on two different occasions.
 
The double-double also marked the first of the season for the Panthers.
 
DOMINANT DOWN LOW
After a relatively quiet first half, Megan Walstad took over after the break. The redshirt sophomore scored 12 of her team-high 19 points in the second half on 5-for-7 shooting.
 
Walstad added eight rebounds and a pair of blocks to help lead Milwaukee to a win over Wright State on Thursday.
 
STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Thursday's win over Wright State marked the third consecutive season that Milwaukee has started the Horizon League schedule with a win. Last year, the Panthers took down Green Bay 61-58 at the Kress Center.
 
It also marks the second time in three years that Milwaukee has sent Wright State home with a loss in the league opener.
 
CONTINUING THE TREND
Last year, Milwaukee was phenomenal from the line and set a new NCAA Division I record in free throw percentage with a mark of 83.8 percent. That number knocked off Idaho State's 83.2 percent clip in 2008 and also topped the men's record of 82.2 percent which was set by Harvard in 1984.
 
This year has been a similar story as the Panthers are currently 57-for-64 (89.1 percent) from the charity stripe through three games.
 
The Panthers' 57 made free throws are currently 19th in NCAA Division I while their percentage of 88.7 leads the league and ranks fourth in the nation.
 
DISPLAYING DISCIPLINE
In Thursday's win over Wright State, the Panthers committed just five fouls after averaging nearly 20 per game in the first three contests.
 
It marked the first time the Panthers had less than 10 fouls in a game since November 24, 2018 against UC Riverside. In fact, the Panthers had only eight fouls in two games that season.
 
The five fouls against Wright State are the fewest committed by the Panthers in the last 17 seasons.
 
The two free throws allowed are the fewest since December 21, 2014 when Chicago State finished 1-for-1 from the charity stripe in a 69-47 Panthers' victory.
 
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
With 12 offensive rebounds on Thursday, the Panthers have at least 10 in each of the first four contests this season. MKE is averaging 12.5 offensive rebounds per game this year and has totaled 41 second-chance points.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Milwaukee continues a stretch of three straight at the Klotsche Center, where they have had plenty of success through the years. The Panthers are 358-218 all-time at home and have had six straight winning seasons on their home floor.
 
MAKING IT COUNT
Milwaukee recorded just 15 baskets against Florida State but seven of those came off of a McKaela Schmelzer assist.
 
Against North Dakota State, Schmelzer was held without an assist but she responded in a big way, dishing out seven helpers, the most since she had seven in last year's postseason WNIT win over Drake.
 
Oddly enough, Schmelzer also had a similar sequence last season. On January 29, she was held without an assist against Northern Kentucky but responded with seven the next day against the Norse.
 
Schmelzer's career-high is eight assists, which she has reached on multiple occasions. 
 
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Following a 20-win season which led to a trip to the postseason WNIT, the Milwaukee women's basketball team was selected to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason Poll, announced by the league office. MKE totaled 125 poll points, trailing only IUPUI, who was tabbed as the preseason favorite with 11 of 12 first place votes and 139 total poll points.
 
PRESEASON HONORS FOR WALSTAD
Megan Walstad was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team following an impressive campaign in 2020-21. After being sidelined the year prior, Walstad returned to the floor and dominated down low as she collected a First Team All-League award last season. The redshirt sophomore led the team in scoring (12.0 points per game) field goal percentage (50.0) and blocks (50) while ranking second in rebounds (8.7 per game).
 
Additionally, Walstad was one of 25 players to be named to the 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
With the additional year of eligibility granted to winter athletes in NCAA, the Panthers will be on milestone watch this season.
 
McKaela Schmelzer and Sydney Staver are within reach of the games played record, which is held by Alyssa Fischer from 2015-20 (134). Schmelzer has played in 122 career games while Staver has 111 under her belt.
 
Schemlzer is also 14 games started away from the program record as well as 80 assists away from first place on the all-time list. The Loves Park, Ill. native has reached at least 95 assists in three of the past four seasons.
 
REWRITING RECORDS
Milwaukee saw its 2020-21 season into the program record book's top five on multiple occasions after the impressive 20-8 finish.

• 20 wins (4th)
• 12 consecutive wins (t-1st)
• .714 winning pct. (t-1st)
• .769 road winning pct. (2nd)
• +8.4 scoring margin (2nd)
• 83.8 free throw pct. (1st)
• +7.5 rebounding margin (3rd)
• 3.5 blocks per game (t-3rd)
• 494 turnovers (6th fewest)

MAGIC NUMBER
In college basketball, there is no perfect recipe for a win but for Milwaukee, field goal percentage has been a pretty good baseline. In the last five years, when the Panthers hit at least 40 percent of their shots from the floor, MKE is 70-20 (.778). Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and MKE is 52-9 (.852) over the last five seasons.
 
LOCK DOWN D
The Milwaukee defense was a big reason for the Panthers' success last season. MKE held opponents to just 35.2 percent shooting from the floor, a number that led the Horizon League and ranked 16th nationally. That number also set a new school record, topping five other sub-40 percent seasons.
 
1. 2020-21: 35.2% (545-1547)
2. 2018-19: 36.4% (615-1690)
3. 2017-18: 37.9% (736-1940)
4. 2015-16: 38.8% (749-1928)
5. 2008-09: 39.0% (758-1942)
6. 2009-10: 39.7% (740-1864)
 
The Panthers also ranked 29th nationally in three-point defense (27.1 percent) and 18th in scoring defense (55.7 ppg).
 
TAKING ON TOP TALENT
Milwaukee will face a tough non-conference schedule in 2021-22, taking on three teams that reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago. In fact, just one of the seven non-conference opponents for this season did not have a winning record in 2021-22.
 
POSTSEASON PANTHERS
Milwaukee reached the postseason WNIT for the third time in program history last season and added another postseason win to the resume. The Panthers reached the second round of the tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Overall, Milwaukee is 2-3 at the postseason WNIT.
 
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Thanks to ESPN+, Milwaukee basketball fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. All of Milwaukee's home games will be carried live online at ESPN+. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN+ platform.
 
ESPN+ offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content, and original programming not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) and cancel at any time.
 
For road games, visit MKEPanthers.com for live coverage links.
 
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.