MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team knocked off Youngstown State in the Horizon League Quarterfinals on Tuesday, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2016-17. Milwaukee will face defending champion IUPUI for a chance to reach the Horizon League Championship. Live audio with Matt Menzl on the call along with a link for live stats can be found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
With no fans permitted across the league for the remainder of the season, fans can engage with the Panthers' Virtual Gameday Hub, a page on MKEPanthers.com that houses any and all links fans will need for that gameday experience.
 
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
Since dropping three straight games from January 22-29, including two to Milwaukee, IUPUI has won six in a row including a 86-64 victory over Oakland in the Horizon League Tournament.
 
The league announced postseason awards last week and the Jaguars' Macee Williams was named Horizon League Player of the Year for an unprecedented third straight season. Williams leads a high-powered offense with 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
 
Redshirt junior Rachel McLimore has also been a solid piece for head coach Austin Parkinson, as she was named to the All-League Second Team and All-Defensive Team. This season, McLimore is averaging 14.0 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
 
IUPUI leads the league in points per game (72.5), field goal percentage (46.5), and three-point percentage (38.2).
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Trailing by seven with 7:44 to play, Milwaukee fought to get to overtime and finished 8-for-10 from the free throw line in two extra frames to claim an 85-83 victory over IUPUI. The win was the Panthers' 12th straight, matching a program record. The Panthers were down by much as 11 late in the third quarter and seven in the fourth but showed no quit and continued to rally.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee earned a season sweep of IUPUI for the first time in the teams' series history. The Jaguars own a 5-3 advantage all-time over the Panthers. All three of Milwaukee's wins over IUPUI have come in the city of Indianapolis, where the two meet on Monday.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
The winner of Monday's game will fight for the right to hoist the Horizon League Championship and league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, March 9.
 
LAST TIME OUT
McKaela Schmelzer poured in a career-high 24 points to lead Milwaukee to a 77-68 Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinal victory over Youngstown State.
 
SENDING IT TO THE SEMIS
With the win over Youngstown State, Milwaukee heads to the Horizon League Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2016-17. The Panthers reached the semifinals for three straight years from 2014-17.
 
Milwaukee last reached the Horizon League Championship in 2015-16.
 
The Panther have two tournament titles in program history coming in 2000-01 and 2005-06.
 
SENSATIONAL SCHMELZER
Senior McKaela Schmelzer was unstoppable in Tuesday's win over Youngstown State, pouring in a career-high 24 points. Schmelzer finished 7-for-9 from the field, 3-for-5 from three-point range, and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line.
 
The Loves Park, Ill. native hit on here first six shot attempts, totaling 15 points in the first 21 minutes of action. She also added a team-high four assists and a rebound in the win.
 
Schmelzer has been efficient in her shooting recently, going 12-for-15 (80 percent) from the floor over the last three games. She has also knocked down 14 consecutive free throws dating back to January 22.
 
CERA IN THE CLUTCH
Bre Cera stepped up and scored eight straight points in the fourth quarter against Youngstown State to help seal the win.
 
The senior scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, hitting three triples. The eight-point spurt came 1:43 and put the Panthers up 68-60 with just 4:38 to play.
 
BENCH MOB
The Panthers got a big lift from their bench in Tuesday's win over Youngstown State and outscored the Penguins' bench 21-2. Miquela Santoro came in and knocked down four jump shots for nine points while Kendall Nead totaled eight points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
 
JAGS SEASON SWEEP
The Panthers won both matchups against IUPUI, largely due to the solid play of Megan Walstad, Emma Wittmershaus, and Brandi Bisping.
 
The big three combined for 43.5 points and 20.0 rebounds per game in the sweep. Walstad finished the weekend 15-for-21 from the floor and was named Horizon League Player of the Week on January 25 for her efforts.
 
COLLEGE INSIDER POLL
Milwaukee is receiving votes in this week's College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Fellow Horizon League members IUPUI (No. 10), Green Bay (No. 25), and Wright State (RV) are also receiving recognition in the poll.
 
MKE's only non-conference loss of the season was to Bowling Green, who checks in at No. 13 with a 18-4 record.
 
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
Milwaukee missed just one free throw in 14 attempts on Tuesday, keeping the potential for a new NCAA record alive. The Panthers top the nation with a free thow percentage of 83.6 percent (367-439).
 
The current NCAA record for free throw percentage in a season is held by Idaho State from 2008 when the Bengals shot 83.2 percent (540-for-649).
 
Milwaukee's 367 free throws are seventh-most in the country.
 
Milwaukee's program record for free throw percentage in a season is currently 79.0 percent, which was set in 2010-11.
 
THE CHAMPS ARE HERE
Thanks to a series sweep over UIC and some help around the league, the Panthers earned a share of the Horizon League regular season championship. It marks the third time in program history that Milwaukee shared the crown. MKE also grabbed a share of the Horizon League title in 2000-01 and 2005-06. The Panthers went on to win the Horizon League Tournament both of those seasons.
 
Milwaukee's 15 Horizon League victories set a new program record while the 19 total victories are the most since the Panthers finished 21-12 in 2017-18.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE HARDWARE
Megan Walstad and Brandi Bisping pulled in Horizon League honors, which were announced by the league office last week. Walstad earned a spot on the First Team and All-Defensive Team while Bisping was named Third Team. Bisping was also one of five named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team.
 
Walstad's First Team selection is the first for the Panthers since Steph Kostowicz in 2015-16 and the All-Defensive honor is the first since Ryaen Johnson earned the distinction in 2018-19.
 
PREVIEWING THE POSTSEASON
Milwaukee matched Wright State with a 15-5 record for the regular season title and earned the No. 2 seed for the tournament following the league's seeding formula.
 
That marks the highest seed for the Panthers in the Horizon League Tournament since 2015-16 when Milwaukee was also No. 2. That year, MKE reached the championship before falling to top-seeded Green Bay.
 
CAREER YEAR FOR BISPING
Brandi Bisping has put together a career-year for the Panthers. The senior is currently averaging career-highs in points per game (11.4), rebounds per game (8.6), and assists per game (2.1).
 
Earlier this year, she became the 27th player in program history to reach 500 career rebounds.
 
Additionally, Bisping is shooting 93.1 percent from the free throw line, her third straight season above 90 percent. Her mark is currently just ahead of Lindsay Laur's 2010-11 season of 92.8 percent for first in the Milwaukee record book.  With a career 89.1 free throw percentage, Bisping also ranks first all-time in program history.
 
SOMETHING TO PROVE
Milwaukee was predicted to finish seventh of 12 in the 2020-21 Horizon League Preseason Poll with 76 poll points. Defending champion IUPUI earned all 12 first place votes as the Jaguars were predicted to repeat.
 
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Although the Milwaukee Athletic Department announced it will not host spectators for any home men's or women's basketball games, 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+. Additional information for road game coverage can be found online.
 
Panther fans will also be able to listen to this year's games everywhere they go, as Matt Menzl calls all the action on the Black & Gold Network. Menzl will be calling the action for all regular season contests as well as all postseason action. The Black & Gold Network is streaming live online and can be accessed at MKEPanthers.com.
 
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 where fans can re-live Matt Menzl's broadcast in its entirety.