Milwaukee Breaks NCAA Free Throw Percentage Record

“I’m a big believer that free throws and defense wins championships.” 

It was the mindset of not only senior Brandi Bisping, but the rest of the Milwaukee women’s basketball team which helped propel the Panthers to their first Horizon League title in 15 years. 

The defense was great, as MKE finished the season in the nation’s top 20 in scoring (18th, 55.7 points per game) and field goal percentage (16th, 35.2 percent). But it was the free throw shooting that truly helped push the Panthers in 2020-21. 

Milwaukee was phenomenal from the line, setting a new NCAA Division I record in free throw percentage, hitting 83.8 percent of its attempts. That mark 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. 

“We’ve always put an emphasis on it as a team,” head coach Kyle Rechlicz commented. “But for the first time, I feel like they put an emphasis on it themselves. Not just the coaches driving, but it was coming from our players on the court. It was all leadership driven.”

An experienced-driven team, that leadership at the line came from Bisping, McKaela Schmelzer, and Sydney Staver. In fact, each of the Panthers’ five starters all shot better than 81 percent from the stripe.

Bisping led the way and capped her Milwaukee career as the best free throw shooter in Panthers’ history, recording her third straight season shooting better than 90 percent. The Morton, Ill. native owns two of the top three single-season free throw marks in school history and is tops in career percentage as well, finishing 278-for-311 in four seasons, a percentage of 89.4.

“It goes back to my dad like a lot with my basketball career,” Bisping commented. “He always told me in high school if you aren’t shooting over 80 percent you aren’t trying. He instilled it in me that free throw shooting is a mindset. I know I have the ability to hit that shot every time. It’s consistent and never changes. I’ve been doing the same routine since I was 15. It has looked the same since then. It’s all about practice, repetition, and mental toughness.”

With her performance of 101-for-108 (93.5 percent) in 2020-21, Bisping owned the top free throw percentage in the nation of anyone that played more than five games. Officially, she finished second, but the category leader only had 17 free throw attempts the entire year. 

The rest of the squad wasn’t too bad either, as seven different players shot better than 80 percent for the year. Schmelzer misfired just once, finishing 35-for-36 (97.2 percent) and Staver was 39-for-42 (92.9 percent). 

As a team, Milwaukee shot 80 percent or better from the line in 20 of 28 games and 90 percent or better in 10 contests. 

“Knowing your leadership team is at the forefront, they were the role models,” Rechlicz said. “Players mimic that and it really effects the entire group. We had a lot of younger players getting minutes and they had this great opportunity to follow the lead. Even after misses, they put in the work to get better. It was very leadership driven. We never want to lose because we couldn’t knock down easy points.”

The Panthers finished with a better free throw percentage than their opponents in 24 of 28 games and were perfect from the line on four different occasions. But it wasn’t always this easy. Milwaukee has improved each of the last three seasons after shooting 66.8 percent from the stripe in 2018-19. 

“It was a mindset change with our team,” Bisping commented. “We shoot a ton of free throws in practice and built our confidence. Every game, everyone believed in each other. I never had a feeling of 'oh no' – it was always ‘here’s two points.’ They put in the practice. It wasn’t just me by any means. My teammates bought into the mental side and work ethic.”

That mindset change and confidence at the line pushed Milwaukee to a 20-win season and a third WNIT trip in the last six years. The Panthers opened the season 15-1 overall and a perfect 12-0 in Horizon League action, both program bests. 

MKE knocked off cross-town rival Marquette in non-conference play, took down in-state rival Green Bay twice, and won a pair at IUPUI, the defending league champions. This success led to the Panthers receiving votes in the USA Today/AP Poll for the first time in program history. 

The impressive free throw shooting was contagious for the Panthers and continued throughout the year. 

“It was a very large part of our success,” Rechlicz stated. “When you hit free throws, it builds confidence. Even if we weren’t on, our goal was to find a way to get to the line and be more successful in other areas. It locked us in and helped us refocus.”

The Panthers claimed plenty of new program bests in 2020-21 but arguably the most impressive is that Milwaukee now owns the title as the best free throw shooting team in NCAA Division I history. 

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