HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Milwaukee women's basketball team used a 10-2 run to begin the fourth quarter and cut a double-digit deficit to three, but came up just short against Northern Kentucky in a 61-53 setback on Thursday night.
 
The Panthers looked like a new team out of the half and after trailing by 11 in a lackluster 20 minutes, Milwaukee battled back.
 
"To be honest, that second half was some of the best basketball that we've played," head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "I told our team in the locker room that if we continue to play like that, we're going to be fighting some of the top teams in our league to make a push at this."
 
Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus shouldered the load after the break, finishing a combined 6-for-11 for 19 points and nine rebounds.
 
"I thought that second half, they were tremendous. They were burying their [NKU] post. Rose and Souder are good players, but I thought we were the aggressors against them in the second half on the offensive side.
 
MKE (7-11, 6-5 Horizon League) got 10 straight points from the two post players to cut the deficit to 51-48 with just 3:35 remaining but NKU bounced back from the drought.
 
The Norse (14-3, 8-2 Horizon League) got back-to-back scores from Lindsey Duvall to push the lead back to eight.
 
Still, the Panthers were not done as Walstad knocked down two free throws and Sydney Staver connected on a triple with 1:44 on the clock. Defense forced an empty NKU possession but a misfire from the Panthers put the ball back in the Norse's hands and the home team hit its free throws down the stretch.
 
Walstad finished with 18 points and seven rebounds while Wittmershaus totaled 11 points, six boards, and four assists.
 
Milwaukee's starters got in early foul trouble, but the Panthers got a nice spark off the bench from Jada Donaldson and Kendall Nead.
 
Donaldson had the tough task of holding down the NKU guards while Nead went 2-for-3 and added three rebounds and two assists.
 
"I thought Jada was incredible," Rechlicz said. "We couldn't take her out in the second half, and it was because of her defense and her post passing. Kendall really came in and gave us some great minutes. She had an incredible efficiency rating. I thought she played a great game off of the bench as well."
 
Staver knocked down three triples and finished with 13 points.
 
Milwaukee next heads to Dayton, Ohio to take on Wright State. Tipoff from the Nutter Center is set for 1:00 pm on Saturday, January 29.
 
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