MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Panthers four-game road trip continues in Chicago against familiar foe UIC, who is now a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm and can be viewed on ESPN+. The game will also feature live stats and live audio with Matt Menzl on the call. 
 
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Under first-year head coach Ashley Bracey, UIC off to a 2-0 start to the season with wins over IUPUI and Chicago State. It marks the first 2-0 start to the season for UIC since 2015-16. Bracey took over the Flames in March after spending the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Missouri.
 
All-League Second Team honoree Jaida McCloud anchors the returners for UIC while transfer Josie Filer has provided a new spark for the Flames.
 
Filer was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week after scoring a game-high 20 points over IUPUI in game one. She finished 9-for-14 from the field and added five rebounds to help UIC earn its first program win over the Jaguars.
 
McCloud is averaging 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor through two games this season.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee earned a 55-46 victory over UIC in the first round of the Horizon League Championships thanks to a strong shooting performance in the second half. Megan Walstad totaled 14 points and eight rebounds to lead MKE.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has won 15 straight contests against UIC to improve to 45-21 all-time against the Flames. UIC has found some success at home, however, winning 14 of those 21 games in Chicago. The last UIC victory over MKE came on February 25, 2015.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers have the weekend off before heading to Nevada over Thanksgiving break for a pair of contests. Milwaukee begins with Nevada on Friday, November 25 before taking on Boise State on Sunday, November 27.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Marquette capitalized on a big rebounding advantage to top the Milwaukee women's basketball team 73-47 on Sunday afternoon.
 
BENCH MOB
Milwaukee has been finding its depth early on this season with over 20 bench points in each of the first three contests.
 
Against Wisconsin, MKE starters were held down, but the bench sparked a rally in the second half and finished with 24 points.
 
The bench accounted for 28 points against Loyola Chicago, led by Grace Crowley's 13. On Sunday against Marquette, Crowley again paced the bench with eight points as the group accounted for 21 total.
 
GLASS WORK
Rebounding has been a strong suit of the Panthers in recent years and that continued to be the trend this season until Sunday.
 
Milwaukee outrebounded opponents by an average of 5.0 per contest across the first two games but on Sunday, Marquette ended that. The Golden Eagles piled up 58 rebounds compared to 26 for the Panthers. It marked the most rebounds for an opponent since the 2013-14 season when Oakland pulled in 59 rebounds against the Panthers.
 
BIG-TIME START
Grace Crowley is off to an impressive start for the Panthers after playing limited minutes last season.
 
The redshirt sophomore is leading the team with 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 63.6 percent from the floor and 88.2 percent from the free throw line.
 
Crowley has scored at least eight points in all three contests including a career-high 13 against Loyola Chicago. She's gotten to the free throw line 17 times, hitting 15 from the charity stripe, which ranks second in the Horizon League.
 
FREE THROW PHENOMS
Despite an uncharacteristic performance against Marquette, the Panthers have been solid once again from the free throw line.
 
MKE currently sits second in the Horizon League and 22nd nationally with a 79.7 free throw percentage. The 42 made free throws are good for second most in the league.
 
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.
 
POUR IT ON
The Panthers had four players reach double figures in the win over Loyola Chicago with Megan Walstad's 15 points leading the way. Grace Crowley and Kendall Nead each added 13 points while Emma Wittmershaus chipped in 11.
 
Last year, MKE was 6-2 when at least four players reached double figures.
 
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 84-24 (.778) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 65-12 (.844).
 
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 24-57 (.338).
 
PANTHER DEBUTS
A handful of Panthers made their career debuts for the black and gold with Kamy Peppler and Jessi Giles earning starts against Wisconsin.
 
Peppler finished with seven points in 20 minutes while Giles had five points and a rebounds in 23 minutes.
 
Anna Lutz, Hallie Majoros, and Justina Hernandez have also seen the floor for the first time after a redshirt year in 2021-22. Lutz has scored eight points on 4-for-7 shooting while Majoros has gone 1-for-3 from long range and Hernandez has dished out three assists in two appearances.
 
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.
 
MISS BASKETBALL IN THE HOUSE
Freshman Kamy Peppler was crowned 2022 Miss Basketball for Wisconsin but it's 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).
 
FOR STARTERS
The Panthers hold a 12-21 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 6-5 in season openers at Milwaukee. The Panthers dominated Chicago State 82-58 in Rechlicz's Milwaukee coaching debut in 2012-13.
 
Rechlicz is also 6-5 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.
 
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.
 
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.