MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team kicks off its 52nd season of competition on Tuesday, November 7, hosting in-state foe Wisconsin. It marks the earliest home game for the Panthers since 2019 when MKE hosted Parkside to open that campaign.
 
Head coach Kyle Rechlicz, entering her 11th season with Milwaukee, will need to rely on some new contributors after graduating three primary starters from a season ago. With those key pieces of Miquela Santoro, McKaela Schmelzer, and Sydney Staver gone, Rechlicz turns to returning bigs Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus to shoulder to load.
 
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Under first-year head coach Marisa Moseley, Wisconsin finished 8-21 overall. The Badgers picked up five Big Ten Conference wins, the most since the 2014-15 season and also set a Big Ten record by coming back from a 22-point deficit to beat Purdue on February 13. 
 
Wisconsin set 12 school records during the 2021-22 season including three-pointers made in a game individually and for the team.
 
Moseley will have a mix of upperclassmen and newcomers this year, with four seniors and a big class of seven true freshmen.
 
The Badgers return almost all of their starts from a year ago, losing only Katie Nelson to graduation.
 
Leading scorers Julie Pospisilova (14.1 ppg) and Sydney Hilliard (12.8) are back for their senior season and will be key contributors again this year.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee picked up its third win over the Badgers in five meetings, taking down Wisconsin 79-67 on November 24 at the Klotsche Center. MKE used a 19-9 third quarter to propel them to victory. Four of the Panthers' five starters reached double figures with Megan Walstad's 21 points leading the way.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Wisconsin owns the all-time advantage over Milwaukee 21-4, but the Panthers have been on top as of late. MKE earned wins over Wisconsin in 2016, 2017, and most recently, 2021. The two teams have met in Milwaukee nine times with the Badgers holding a 7-2 advantage.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers remain at the Klotsche Center to host Loyola Chicago on November 10 at 7:00 pm.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Milwaukee women's basketball team fell in the Keeps Horizon League Quarterfinals to No. 3 Green Bay to close the 2021-22 campaign last March. Milwaukee was held to a season-low 42 points and was outrebounded 37-29 in the loss.
 
PRESEASON HONORS FOR WALSTAD
Megan Walstad was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team following another impressive campaign in 2021-22. Walstad dominated down low, earning her second straight First Team All-League award last season. She led the team and was among the league's leaders in points per game (14.4), rebounds per game (9.1), field goal percentage (48.8), free throw percentage (88.9), and blocks per game (1.5). Walstad was also named to the All-Defensive Team for the second straight year.
 
Walstad joined a group of just three others in program history to earn All-League First Team honors on more than one occasion in the Panthers' Division I era and is just the second in MKE history to earn All-Defensive Team distinction multiple times.
 
Additionally, Walstad was one of 25 players to be named to the 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year preseason Watch List.
 
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Head Coach Kyle Rechlicz announced the addition of freshman Kamy Peppler and Jada Williams as well as transfer Jessi Giles for 2022-23.
 
Peppler graduated from Hortonville High School and was named 2022 Ms. Basketball by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association after averaging 13.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 3.3 steals per game to lead the Polar Bears to a 24-2 record.
 
Williams was a unanimous selection to the All-CIML First Team after a season in which she averaged 14.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for Mason City High School. A First-Team All-State selection by the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association, Williams also made the First-Team IBCA and First-Team Iowa Girls Coaches Association All-District squad after adding 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals per contest, shooting 40 percent from the floor and almost 70 percent from the free throw line.
 
Giles has one more year of eligibility after a standout career at Dakota State, a member of the NAIA. With the Trojans, Giles was named an NAIA All-American three seasons and was two-time North Star Athletic Association Player of the Year. Giles is the all-time scoring leader in Dakota State women's basketball program history, racking up a total of 1,955 points during her four-year career. Additionally, she ranks first all-time in free throws made (327), eighth in free throw percentage (75.0), third in three-pointers (234), second in three-point percentage (39.0), and seventh in steals (214).
 
MISS BASKETBALL IN THE HOUSE
Kamy Peppler was crowned 2022 Miss Basketball for Wisconsin but its not the first time Milwaukee has had a student-athlete with that title arrive on campus.
 
In fact, Megan Walstad earned that title in her home state of Minnesota after leading Eastview High School to a perfect 32-0 record as a senior.
 
Prior to that, just one other player in program history donned the title of Miss Basketball. Meredith Onson (2005-08) was a consensus Wisconsin Player of the year in 2002-03. Onson originally attended Boston University but transfered to Milwaukee for the 2004-05 season.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Megan Walstad's name is already all over the Milwaukee record books but she has the opportunity to etch her name in a few more times.
 
For her career, she has already cracked the program's top 10 in the following.

• Points per game (9th, 12.4)
• Rebounds per game (4th, 7.6)
• Field goal percentage (4th, 50.9)
• Free throw percentage (5th, 84.0)
• Total rebounds (9th, 669)
• Total blocks (4th, 124)
• Double-doubles (6th, 19)

Additionally, Walstad could reach the top 10 in total points (currently 18th) and offensive rebounds (currently 15 away from 10th).
 
FREE THROW PHENOMS
Milwaukee has been nearly automatic from the free throw line the last two years. In fact, statistically speaking, the Panthers have the second-best percentage from the charity stripe over the last two seasons combined. MKE has hit 82.1 (691-842) percent of its foul shots trailing only Iowa (878-1065).
 
MKE set the NCAA single-season record in 2020-21 with a mark of 83.8 percent, only to have the Hawkeyes top it last year with a percentage of 84.6.
 
Megan Walstad has been a big reason for MKE's success at the line as she has hit over 89 percent of her foul shots each of the last two seasons. Walstad is 140-for-157 (89.2 percent) combined over the last two years and is a career 84 percent free throw shooter.
 
FOR STARTERS
The Panthers hold a 12-20 record in season openers at the NCAA Division I level, dating back to 1990-91. Last season, MKE hung around with Ball State but was outlasted 84-75 in overtime. Megan Walstad led four players in double figures with 15 points. Head Coach Kyle Rechlicz is 6-4 in season openers at Milwaukee. The Panthers dominated Chicago State 82-58 in Rechlicz's Milwaukee coaching debut in 2012-13.
 
Rechlicz is also 6-4 in home openers since taking the reigns in 2012-13. The last time Milwaukee opened its home schedule with Wisconsin was in 2018-19. The Panthers suffered a 68-57 setback to the Badgers that season.
 
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 six seasons, Milwaukee is 83-24 (.775) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 64-12 (.840).
 
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 24-55 (.303).
 
LEANING ON THE POST
Milwaukee lost its three starting guards to graduation and will have to rely on experience in the post for 2022-23. Luckily for the Panthers, Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus provide an impressive one-two punch down low.
 
Walstad led the team most categories while Wittmershaus had flashes of brilliance as well, averaging 8.0 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor.
 
The two combined for 10 of Milwaukee's 11 double-doubles last season and will once again look to be a force in the paint.
 
NEW NAMES STEP UP
With the guard trio of Miquela Santoro, McKaela Schmelzer, and Sydney Staver graduating, Milwaukee will need new names to step up and fill in some spots.
 
Each of those three started at least 29 games last year and accounted for 40 percent of the Panthers' scoring, 23.7 percent of rebounding, and 50.3 percent of assists.
 
Kendall Nead, Angie Cera, and Jada Donaldson each played at least 22 games a season ago and will look to contribute as starters and major players off the bench this year.
 
A LOOK AT THE NON-CONFERENCE
Per usual, Milwaukee will be tested in its non-conference schedule in preparation of the Horizon League slate.
 
Milwaukee has nine non-conference games set for 2022-23 highlighted by Marquette, Nevada, Minnesota, and Maine, all of which reached the WNIT or WBI.
 
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.