MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team returns to Horizon League action this week beginning with a road matchup on December 2 at Youngstown State. The Panthers are 2-0 in Horizon League play with wins over Wright State and Northern Kentucky. 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 PENGUINS
Behind the play of two experienced seniors, Youngstown State has opened the season 5-0 including Horizon League wins over Detroit Mercy and Oakland.
 
Lilly Ritz joined the Penguins this season after an impressive two years at NCAA Division II Wheeling and has dominated in the paint. Ritz is averaging 18.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 61 percent from the floor.
 
Chelsea Olson does it all for YSU and is averaging 11.8 points 7.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per contest. Malia Magestro (11.3 points) and Paige Shy (10.6) also provide a solid punch for head coach John Barnes' team.
 
Youngstown State has been impressive on both ends of the floor, ranking third in the league in field goal percentage (44.5) and second in field goal percentage defense (36.1). On the glass, the Penguins are second best in the league with a 4.8 rebounding margin.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
McKaela Schmelzer poured in a career-high 24 points to lead the Panthers to a 77-68 Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinal victory over Youngstown State on March 2. Chelsea Olson scored 22 points for the Penguins, shooting 6-for-7 from three-point range.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has won three straight contests over Youngstown State to improve to 31-17 against YSU in the all-time series. The edge is just four games on the road, however, as MKE is 14-10 against the Penguins at the Beeghly Center.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Milwaukee will next head to Moon Township, Pa. for the first time to battle Robert Morris. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 pm CT on Saturday, December 4.
 
LAST TIME OUT
First-half offensive struggles hurt Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon as the Panthers fell 69-50 to Northern Illinois in DeKalb.
 
PANTHERS IN THE POST
For the second straight game, the duo of Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus had a solid showing as they combined for 32 points and 13 rebounds.
 
In the last two games, Walstad and Wittmershaus have combined to averaged 34 points and 15.5 rebounds.
 
This season, Walstad is leading the team with 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Wittmershaus is up to 7.4 points and 4.8 boards per contest.
 
FINDING HER GROOVE
With 14 points on Sunday, Emma Wittmershaus recorded her second consecutive game in double figures.
 
It marks just the second time in her career that the redshirt sophomore has scored at least 10 points in back-to-back games, the first coming last season on February 12-13 against Oakland.
 
In the last two games, Wittmershaus is shooting 64.7 percent (11-17) from the field and 77.8 percent (7-9) from the line while averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.
 
MAKE IT THREE STRAIGHT
With Megan Walstad's 18-point, 11-rebound double-double against NIU on Sunday, the Panthers now have at least one double-double in three consecutive games.
 
Walstad began the streak with 13 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Northern Kentucky on November 20.
 
Emma Wittmershaus then totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Wisconsin before Walstad's second double-double of the season at NIU.
 
The last time Milwaukee had three straight games with a double-double was last season when Walstad and Brandi Bisping combined for six double-doubles in a four-game stretch from January 8 to January 16.
 
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.
 
In the two Horizon League contests, MKE is allowing just 48 points per game, holding the opposition to 17.9 percent from three-point range. Additionally, Milwaukee owns a positive rebounding margin of 12.5 and has forced 41 turnovers in the wins.
 
BENCH SPARK
Kendall Nead played 26 minutes off of the bench for Milwaukee on Sunday and finished with 10 points, three rebounds, and an assist.
 
The freshman hit both of the Panthers' three-point attempts.
 
Nead has proved to be a solid sixth man, averaging 7.5 points and 1.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game in four games off of the bench.
 
ROAD WOES
Milwaukee has been really solid at home in the Klotsche Center, shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and averaging 64.0 points with a 3-1 record.
 
The Panthers are still searching for their first win on the road, however, falling in all three contests away from the K. MKE is shooting just 31.2 percent from the floor and 19.4 percent from long range on the road, averaging 55.7 points per game while giving up 77.3.
 
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 last Wednesday.
 
Milwaukee has won three of the last five matchups with the Badgers.
 
BALANCED SCORING
In the win over Wisconsin, 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.
 
The four games with four in double digits already surpass last season's output just six games into the schedule.
 
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Milwaukee was held under 10 offensive rebounds for the first time this season on Sunday, but still managed to pull down nine and score 10 second-chance points.
 
This season, Milwaukee ranks second in the league with 83 offensive rebounds, averaging 11.9 per contest. The Panthers have turned those into 86 second-chance points.
 
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 76-for-88 (86.4 percent) from the charity stripe through three games.
 
The Panthers' free throws percentage of 86.4 currently leads the league and is second in NCAA Division I.
 
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 125 career games while Staver has 114 under her belt.
 
Schemlzer is also 11 games started away from the program record as well as 71 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 73-20 (.785). Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and MKE is 55-9 (.859) over the last five seasons.
 
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.