MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee women's basketball team looks to continue its success in The Jungle where it has won two in a row and three of the last five matchups against IUPUI. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 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.
 
Fans will be allowed at IUPUI events this year and will be required to wear a face covering indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
 
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI battled back from a late deficit to top Green Bay 51-49 on a last-second jumper from Anna Mortag. With the win, the Jaguars improved to 7-5 overall and 4-3 in Horizon League action.
 
The Jaguars were forced to take a pair of losses due to COVID-19 protocols but have some impressive wins including an 18-point comeback victory over No. 15 Iowa on December 21.
 
IUPUI entered the season as Horizon League favorites, earning 11 of the 12 first-place votes. Head Coach Austin Parkinson returns an impressive core of experience including three-time Horizon League Player of the Year Macee Williams and redshirt senior Rachel McLimore. Williams leads the team and ranks in the league's top five in scoring (18.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.6 rpg). McLimore is averaging 11.1 points per contest, shooting 37.5 percent from long range.
 
The Jaguars also gained some firepower with sophomore transfer Rachel Kent, who is putting up 10.7 points per game and leading the team with 23 three-pointers.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee could not get anything going offensively and fell to IUPUI 56-46 in the Horizon League Tournament Semifinals on March 8. Emma Wittmershaus totaled 10 points and seven rebounds for Milwaukee while Macee Williams had 17 points and 15 rebounds and Rachel McLimore added 19 points.
 
SERIES HISTORY
IUPUI holds a 6-3 all-time advantage over Milwaukee including the most recent triumph in the Horizon League Tournament. Milwaukee did win a pair at The Jungle in 2020 but the Jaguars had won four straight over MKE prior to that.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
Milwaukee returns home to face Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State on January 14 and 16, respectively.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Behind a career-high 14 points from Angie Cera and timely baskets down the stretch, Milwaukee earned a 65-58 victory against UIC on Thursday evening.
 
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.
 
ARE YOU CERA-IOUS
Angie Cera came off of the bench to lead the Panthers with 14 points in a win on Thursday, a new career-high for the second-year player.
 
Cera finished 5-for-12 from the floor and added two three-pointers and a pair of free throws. She also totaled four rebounds, an assist, and a career-high three steals.
 
Cera was a major spark in the second quarter on Thursday, scoring nine straight MKE points including a three-pointer and a pair of and-one baskets.
 
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Milwaukee pulled in a season-high 22 offensive rebounds on Thursday, marking the most since recording 25 offensive boards at Northern Illinois on November 16, 2016.
 
It also marked the 11th time in 13 games that Milwaukee reached double figures on the offensive glass. The Panthers currently lead the Horizon League with 163 offensive rebounds.
MKE has turned those offensive rebounds into 134 second chance points.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
In addition to reaching 500 career rebounds, Megan Walstad is just 172 points away from becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Walstad is averaging 11.7 points per game in her three seasons so far.
 
McKaela Schmelzer and Sydney Staver are within reach of the games played record, which is held by Alyssa Fischer from 2015-20 (134). Schmelzer has played in 131 career games while Staver has 120 under her belt.
 
Schemlzer is also five games started away from the program record as well as 60 assists away from first place on the all-time list. The Loves Park, Ill. native has reached at least 95 assists in three of the past four seasons and is averaging 3.1 per game in her career.
 
D-FENSE... D-FENSE
Defense is picking up for the Panthers as Milwaukee ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring defense, allowing just 54.2 points per game in six league contests.
 
MKE is holding the opposition to 38.6 percent from the floor as well as a league-best 25.2 percent from three-point range.
 
The Panthers are also allowing just 28.5 rebounds per game which leads the league. The +10.2-rebounding margin is second among Horizon League opponents behind IUPUI (+10.8).
 
SCHMELZER TAKEOVER
Trailing by 14 at the half on December 30 against Oakland, McKaela Schmelzer turned it on after the break.
 
The graduate dominated the third quarter, pouring in 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting on her way to a 16-point second half. Schmelzer finished the game 7-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-6 from three-point range for a team-high 18 points. She added a team-best seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals against the Golden Grizzlies.
 
Schmelzer is averaging career-bests in points per game (8.5) and rebounds per game (4.9) this season while leading the team with 2.5 assists per game.
 
WALSTAD WORKIN'
Despite behind in early foul trouble, Megan Walstad battled back to record nine points and six rebounds on December 30 against Oakland.
 
She finished 3-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
 
Walstad has reached double figures in nine contests this year. She has been held to single digits in four contests with seven or fewer field goal attempts in three of those four.
 
The redshirt sophomore currently ranks ninth in the Horizon League in scoring (13.2 ppg), second in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and third in blocks (1.3).
 
CONTINUING THE TREND
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.
 
This year has been a similar story as the Panthers are currently 143-for-176 (81.2 percent) from the charity stripe through 13 games.
 
The Panthers' free throws percentage currently leads the league and ranks third in NCAA Division I behind only Iowa (85.2 percent) and Iowa State (81.6 percent).
 
A STRETCH OF FOUR STRAIGHT
With Megan Walstad's 18-point, 11-rebound double-double against Northern Illinois, the Panthers had at least one double-double in four consecutive games.
 
McKaela Schmelzer began the streak with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Wright State. Walstad followed with a 13-point, 12-rebound performance in a win over Northern Kentucky on November 20.
 
Emma Wittmershaus then totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Wisconsin before Walstad's second double-double of the season at NIU.
 
The last time Milwaukee had four straight games with a double-double was last season when Walstad and Brandi Bisping combined for six double-doubles in a four-game stretch from January 8 to January 16.
 
BENCH SPARK
Against Oakland, Kendall Nead came off the bench to score eight points including a pair of three-pointers. She added three rebounds in 25 minutes.
 
Nead has been solid for the Panthers in reserve, averaging 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in eight games off of the bench.
 
Nead is developing into one of the best three-point options for Milwaukee as she is second on the team with 12 triples and a 32.4 three-point percentage.
 
BALANCED SCORING
In the win over Wisconsin, Milwaukee had four players reach double figures for the fourth time this season with Megan Walstad (21 points), Miquela Santoro (19), Emma Wittmershaus (15), and McKaela Schmelzer (13) all scoring at least 10 points.
 
The four games with four in double digits already surpass last season's output.
 
CAREER-NIGHT FOR SCHMELZER
McKaela Schmelzer got out to a hot start against Wright State, totaling eight points and seven rebounds in the first quarter of the Panthers' win over Northern Kentucky. The graduate finished with a career-high 13 rebounds and added 10 points, recording her first career double-double. She also added a team-best five assists.
 
Schmelzer's previous career-best was nine rebounds on two different occasions.
 
The double-double also marked the first of the season for the Panthers.
 
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.
 
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. In the last five years, when the Panthers hit at least 40 percent of their shots from the floor, MKE is 73-20 (.785). Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and MKE is 55-9 (.859) over the last five seasons.
 
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.