MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee women's basketball team wraps up non-conference play on Tuesday as the Panthers head to Evanston, Illinois to take on Northwestern. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm from Welsh-Ryan Arena with live video available on Big Ten Plus. 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 WILDCATS
After dropping two in a row to close out the Paradise Jam in November, Northwestern has won three straight games over Clemson, Wisconsin, and Delware.
The Wildcats are led by senior guard Veronica Burton, who is averaging 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. Burton is also averaging 3.8 steals per game and 1.2 blocks per contest, making her the only play in the country to clear those averages in her stat line.
Burton was named All-Big Ten Preseason Team as well as Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List, which recognizes the top point guards in the sport.
A season ago, Northwestern finished 16-9 overall and reached the NCAA Tournament. It marked head coach Joe McKeown's 19th NCAA Tournament appearance of his career, which was tied for sixth most among head coaches in last season's 64-team field. McKeown was named 2020 Big Ten Coach of the Year and has over 700 collegiate victories under his belt.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Behind a career-high 24 points from Bailey Farley and a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double from Steph Kostowicz, Milwaukee took down Northwestern 66-57 on December 3, 2017. Farley hit three triples and finished 8-for-11 from the floor. MKE went 19-for-26 at the charity stripe in the win.
SERIES HISTORY
It has been a relatively even all-time matchup between Milwaukee and Northwestern, with the Wildcats taking five of the nine contests. Milwaukee won the last matchup as well as four of the last six against NU.
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers return to Horizon League action with a pair of home contests against Oakland and Detroit Mercy on December 30 and January 1, respectively.
LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee pushed late and shot 53.3 percent in the fourth quarter outscoring Marquette 24-20 but came up just short, falling 59-51 on December 8.
D-FENSE... D-FENSE
Milwaukee put together a solid defensive performance on Wednesday, holding Marquette to just 59 points. The Panthers recorded a season-high 12 steals and forced 20 turnovers.
Milwaukee has forced at least 20 turnovers from the opponent on five occasions and rank second in the Horizon League with 172 opponent turnovers.
After allowing just over 77 points per game in the first three contests (0-3), the Panthers are holding the opposition to just 56.6 points per game in the last seven outings (4-3). That number would put them third in the Horizon League.
Additionally, Milwaukee held Marquette without a three-pointer, the first time the Panthers have held the opposition empty from distance in 258 games. The Golden Eagles attempted just three triples but misfired on each. Loyola was the last team without a three-pointer against Milwaukee which happened on March 13, 2013 when the Ramblers went 0-for-9.
SECOND HALF STAVER
After being held scoreless in the first half against Marquette,
Sydney Staver shouldered the load after the break, going 5-for-7 from the field including 2-for-4 from three-point range. The graduate student added four free throws as she totaled 16 points.
Staver now has five double-digit scoring games this season.
BENCH SPARK
On Wednesday against Marquette,
Kendall Nead chipped in six points, two assists, two steals, and a rebound in 16 minutes off of the bench.
She has been solid for the Panthers in reserve, averaging 7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in seven games off of the bench. The freshman is shooting 40 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from three-point range.
Nead is developing into one of the best three-point options for Milwaukee as she leads the team with 10 triples and a 37.0 three-point percentage.
RACKING UP THE REBOUNDS
Against Robert Morris,
Megan Walstad was held to under 10 points for the first time this season, but she impacted the game in other ways. The redshirt sophomore pulled in a career-high 15 rebounds, her third game this year with at least 10 boards. Walstad added three assists and a steal in the win over Robert Morris.
Walstad currently ranks seventh in the Horizon League in scoring (13.6 points per game) and is third with 8.8 rebounds per game.
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Milwaukee has recorded at least 10 offensive rebounds in eight of 10 contests this season.
The Panthers rank second in the league with 117 total offensive rebounds. Milwaukee has turned those rebounds into 106 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 109-for-132 (82.6 percent) from the charity stripe through nine games.
The Panthers' free throws percentage currently leads the league and ranks third in NCAA Division I as of December 12.
MAKE IT FOUR STRAIGHT
With
Megan Walstad's 18-point, 11-rebound double-double against Northern Illinois, the Panthers had at least one double-double in four consecutive games.
McKaela Schmelzer began the streak with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Wright State. Walstad followed with a 13-point, 12-rebound performance 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 four 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.
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.
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 128 career games while Staver has 117 under her belt.
Schemlzer is also eight games started away from the program record as well as 65 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.
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.
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.
RECORD DEFENSIVE DISPLAY
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
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.
