ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team fought the entire way, but the shots just did not fall as the Panthers fell to Saint Louis 61-44 in the second round of the postseason WNIT.
 
"I was surprised with how we came out tonight especially after how we started the last game," head coach Kyle Rechlicz stated. "We came out with great energy but just didn't have the details and the ball wasn't going in the basket for us unfortunately."
 
As they did one day ago, the Panthers got it going early, starting 4-for-5 from the floor but Saint Louis' Rachel Kent could not miss and the Panthers went cold. The SLU sophomore hit four first quarter triples, scoring 14 points to lead the Billikens to a 23-12 lead after one.
 
From there, the Panthers' offense had a hard time getting shots to fall, opening the second quarter 1-for-11. Milwaukee held Saint Louis to 10 points in the frame but scored just six on the offensive end and trailed by 15 at the break.
 
MKE looked for new life out of halftime but had multiple droughts that allowed SLU to build its lead. The Panthers finished 3-for-12 from the floor as the Billikens pushed its advantage to 47-27 after three.
 
Milwaukee started to knock down a few shots in the fourth as Brandi Bisping and McKaela Schmelzer scored, but early fouls had Saint Louis on the line often as the Billikens finished 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final period to seal the deal.
 
Milwaukee was led by seniors Sydney Staver and Schmelzer with nine points apiece. Staver paced the Panthers with seven in the first quarter while Schmelzer had seven in the fourth.
 
Bisping totaled eight points and 12 rebounds on Saturday night.
 
One night after their best three-pointer shooting performance of the season, Milwaukee finished just 4-for-20 from long range.
 
The Panthers had just five free throw attempts but hit four and closed the season 83.8 percent from the charity stripe, which will likely hold as a new NCAA Division I record.
 
"It doesn't take away from what we did this year," Rechlicz commented. "To have a 20-win season in a year where we didn't even know if we were going to play games was incredible. I loved our heart and our fight. We didn't quit one time even in this game.'
 
Milwaukee closed the season 20-8 overall, the program's 10th season with at least 20 victories.

The Panthers also finished 15-5 in Horizon League play and captured its third championship in program history.
 
Stay tuned on MKEPanthers.com for all women's basketball news throughout the offseason.