MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball stretched its winning streak to three after taking down in-state rival, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night. The Panthers will look to carry that streak on the road on Sunday, as they head to DeKalb, Illinois for a 1:00 pm tipoff at Northern Illinois. Live audio will be available for the contest with Matt Menzl on the call along with a link for live stats can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois is off to a 2-1 start to the season with both wins at home, taking down Illinois State and most recently Bradley.
 
Chelby Koker leads three players averaging double digits with 19.3 points per contest on 52.6 percent shooting from the floor.
 
Northern Illinois is solid on the glass, owning a rebounding margin of plus 5.7 and averaging 41.7 boards per game. A'Jah Davis leads with 10.7 rebounds per game in addition to 13.3 points per contest through three games.
 
The defense has been strong for NIU, allowing just 59.5 points per game in the two wins. When holding the opposition to 60 points or less, the Huskies are 24-2 under seventh-year head coach Lisa Carlsen.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee got a career-high 27 points from Sydney Levy and the Panthers scored 29 points in the fourth quarter to take down Northern Illinois 78-65 on December 5, 2019. MKE closed the game on an 18-2 run to beat the Huskies.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has owned the all-time series as of late, winning nine of the last 11 matchups against Northern Illinois. Overall, the series is knotted at 10-10, dating back to 1991. MKE is 4-7 against NIU on the road.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Milwaukee gets back into Horizon League action as the Panthers have a road trip to Youngstown State and Robert Morris beginning on Thursday, December 2.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Behind a dominant showing from the starting five, the Milwaukee women's basketball team took down in-state rival Wisconsin 79-67 on Wednesday evening at the Klotsche Center. The win gave the Panthers their third over the Badgers in the last five meetings.
 
SHUT DOWN THE STATE
Milwaukee has taken care of business against in-state opponents, winning five straight contests.
 
The Panthers have beaten Green Bay in three straight games, topped Marquette last season, and took down Wisconsin on Wednesday.
 
Milwaukee has won three of the last five matchups with the Badgers.
 
DOMINANT DOWN LOW
The Milwaukee post duo of Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus was outstanding in Wednesday's win over Wisconsin, combining for 36 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks.
 
Walstad recorded a season-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting while Wittmershaus tallied the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
SIZZLIN' SANTORO
Miquela Santoro connected on her first five shots of the game against Wisconsin, scoring 14 points before the break on her way to a collegiate career-high of 19 points. The graduate finished 8-for-13 from the floor and added two rebounds and four assists.
 
Santoro now has two double-digit scoring performances this season through six games, matching last year's total of two through 28 games.
 
LIMIT THE MISTAKES
After averaging nearly 20 turnovers per game through the first five contests, Milwaukee limited the mistakes to just 10 in Wednesday's win over Wisconsin.
 
On the other side of the ball, the Panthers totaled 12 steals, the second most this season, and scored 23 points off of the Badgers' turnovers.
 
BALANCED SCORING
Milwaukee had four players reach double figures for the fourth time this season with Megan Walstad (21 points), Miquela Santoro (19), Emma Wittmershaus (15), and McKaela Schmelzer (13) all scoring at least 10 points in the win over Wisconsin.
 
The four games with four in double digits already surpasses last season's output just six games into the schedule.
 
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
With 12 more offensive rebounds on Wednesday, the Panthers have at least 10 in each of the first six contests this season. MKE is averaging 12.3 offensive rebounds per game this year and has totaled 76 second-chance points.
 
HOT START IN HORIZON LEAGUE
For the second consecutive year, the Panthers are off to a 2-0 start against the Horizon League. It is just the third time since 2006-07 that Milwaukee has won each of its first two Horizon League contests.
 
It also marks the first time since 2017-18 that Milwaukee recorded a win over Northern Kentucky and Wright State in the same season.
 
Megan Walstad put up some impressive numbers in the 2-0 start, averaging 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks. The redshirt sophomore shot 52 percent from the floor and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the two wins.
 
BENCH SPARK
Kendall Nead played nearly 20 minutes off the bench in the win over Northern Kentucky and provided a nice spark, finishing with 10 points, two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Nead cashed in twice from long range and finished 4-for-9 from the floor to record her first double-digit outing this season.
 
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 72-for-83 (86.7 percent) from the charity stripe through three games.
 
The Panthers' 72 made free throws are currently 45th in NCAA Division I while their percentage of 86.7 leads the league and ranks second in the nation.
 
DISPLAYING DISCIPLINE
In the 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.
 
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 123 career games while Staver has 112 under her belt.
 
Schemlzer is also 13 games started away from the program record as well as 77 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) 

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.