MILWAUKEE, Wis. - After a weekend off due to COVID-19 postponements, Milwaukee returns to action on the road. The Panthers begin the second half of the Horizon League schedule at Northern Kentucky on Thursday at 6:00 pm CT. The game can be found on ESPN+ and will also feature live stats and live audio with Matt Menzl on the call on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE NORSE
After falling to Milwaukee on November 20, Northern Kentucky has been one of the hottest teams in the Horizon League, winning 11 of the last 12 games including nine straight.  The Norse sit at 7-2 in league trailing only Youngstown State in the standings.
 
Solid shooting and rebounding have been a recipe of success for Northern Kentucky, who rank in the league's top three in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and rebounds per game.
 
Lindsey Duvall and Ivy Turner have been a solid one-two punch for sixth-year head coach Camryn Whitaker's squad. Duvall leads the team and is second in the Horizon League averaging 18.8 points per game. Turner is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from three-point range with an averge of 14.9 points per contests and a team-best 3.8 assists per game.
 
Grayson Rose is an important piece down low for the Norse, leading the league with 10.4 rebounds per contest in addition to 6.2 points per game.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee capped a 2-0 opening Horizon League weekend with a 61-49 victory against Northern Kentucky on November 20. The Panthers scored 22 points in the third quarter, shooting 60 percent. Four players reached double figures with Sydney Staver and McKaela Schmelzer leading with 15 points.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers won the most recent matchup, but it has been Northern Kentucky in control as of late, winning the five battles prior to this season. NKU leads 8-6 all-time and is 4-2 against Milwaukee at BB&T Arena.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Milwaukee will face Wright State in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, January 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm CT. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Cleveland State shot 50 percent from three-point range in the second half and used a big fourth quarter run to top Milwaukee 66-57 on January 16.
 
A HELPING HAND
Milwaukee dished out a season-high 19 assists against Cleveland State, two more than its previous best of 17 on three separate occasions. The Panthers assisted on 86.3 percent of their field goals, the second-highest mark this season. Milwaukee's best assist-to-field goal percentage was against Florida State when the Panthers assisted on 13 of 15 field goals (86.7 percent).
 
MKE has recorded double-digit assists in four straight games, averaging 16.0 per game during that stretch, nearly three more than the Panthers' full season average.
 
Sunday's game also marked the third time in four contests that Milwaukee finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
The Panthers currently rank third in the Horizon League with 13.13 assists per game.
 
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.
 
The Panthers are 4-1 this season when hitting at least 40 percent of their shots from the floor. The only loss came at IUPUI on January 8.
 
In the last six seasons (including this year), Milwaukee is 77-21 (.786) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 59-9 (.868).
 
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 22-52 (.297).
 
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
Despite being outrebounded for the first time in league play, Milwaukee continues to put up numbers on the glass.
 
The Panthers are averaging 38.8 rebounds per game in league play which ranks second in the conference. Milwaukee has also dominated on the offensive end, pulling in a league-best 14.1 rebounds per game through nine contests. The next closest is Green Bay at 12.3 offensive rebounds per game.
 
Milwaukee has at least 11 offensive rebounds in all but two games this season.
 
CASHING IN AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Milwaukee continues to rank among the best free throw shooting teams in the nation, currently sitting third in NCAA Division I.
 
The Panthers are 176-for-218 at the charity stripe this season, a percentage of 80.7. MKE trails only Iowa (86.7 percent) and Iowa State (82.4 percent) in the national rankings.
 
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.
 
ANOTHER ONE
Megan Walstad tallied her fifth double-double of the season on Sunday, totaling 18 points and 10 rebounds against Cleveland State.
 
It marks her second double-double in the last three games and third of the Horizon League season. Walstad is tied for the league lead with five double-doubles this year.
 
Last year, Walstad tallied nine double-doubles.
 
Through 16 games this year, Walstad ranks eight in the league in scoring (13.8 ppg), third in rebounding (9.0 rpg), fourth in field goal percentage (44.8 percent), third in free throw percentage (87.0), and fifth in blocks (1.4 bpg).
 
SIZZLIN' SANTORO
Now in her second year with the Panthers, Miquela Santoro has reached another level this season and is on pace for a career year.
 
The graduate is averaging 8.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, nearly doubling her outputs from a season ago.
 
Santoro scored in double digits just twice last year and has already notched at least 10 points on seven different occasions this season.
 
She currently ranks second on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg), assists (38), and steals (20) while ranking third in three-pointers (15) and field goal percentage (38.5 percent).
 
RACKING UP THE REBOUNDS
With six boards on December 30 against Oakland, Megan Walstad eclipsed 500 for her career, becoming the 28th player in program history to reach that milestone.
 
It marks the third straight season a Panthers' player reached 500 with Brandi Bisping accomplishing the feat in 2020-21 and Lizzie Odegard hitting the mark in 2019-20. Bisping finished with 597 for her career while Odegard totaled 578 rebounds.
 
Walstad reached 500 in her 70th game and is averaging 7.2 per contest for her career, which would rank fourth all-time in MKE history.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
In addition to reaching 500 career rebounds, Megan Walstad is just 123 points away from becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Walstad is averaging 11.9 points per game in her three seasons so far.
 
By playing against Green Bay, McKaela Schmelzer will become the Panthers' all-time games played leader, having appeared in 135 contests. She currently is tied with Alyssa Fischer, who appeared in 134 games from 2015-20. Sydney Staver is also moving up on that list, having appeared in 123 career contests.
 
Schmelzer is also one game started away from matching Jenny Lindner's (2014-18) record of 124. With 48 more assists, Schmelzer could surpass Pam Bartnik (1990-94) for most career assists.
 
BALANCED SCORING
In the win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Milwaukee had four players reach double figures for the fifth time this season. McKaela Schmelzer (12 points), Sydney Staver (11), Megan Walstad (11), and Emma Wittmershaus (10) all scored at least 10 points for the Panthers.
 
The five games with at least four players in double figures already surpasses last season's output and is the most games with at least four in double digits since the Panthers accomplished the feat in nine games in 2017-18.
 
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.
 
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.