RENO, Nev. – Nevada held the Milwaukee women's basketball team to 34.5 percent from the field and used a big second half to hand the Panthers a 64-47 setback on Friday evening.
"I'm proud of our team for the effort they gave out on the court," head coach
Kyle Rechlicz said. "It was nice to see our offense get going in the second half.
Angie Cera came up big and hit some threes. We've got to do a better job of hitting shots right out of the gate."
Nevada (2-2) owned a 34-24 rebounding advantage and scored 18 points off of 17 Milwaukee turnovers.
It was a slow start offensively for both teams as the Wolf Pack edged MKE 9-5 after 10 minutes of play.
After a first-quarter jumper was taken away following a review,
Megan Walstad got it going in the second with two layups in the first 2:28 to fuel an 8-0 run.
Anna Lutz connected for a pair of field goals and Walstad added another, but a Nevada three-pointer and two late free throws had the Pack in front 20-17 at the half.
After the break, Kammy Peppler cashed in for a layup to pull Milwaukee within one, but back-to-back triples had Nevada in control once again. From there, the Pack upped their lead to 10 with 10 minutes to play.
In the fourth, Nevada continued to hit from deep, going 3-for-3 in the quarter to deflate any attempt at a Panthers' comeback.
MKE got to the free throw line five times but hit just one and closed the game 2-for-7 from the charity stripe.
"We had too many turnovers that led to points. We lost some rebounding opportunities that we needed. We're going to continue to fight and I'm excited for when this bounce back occurs because I know it's going to happen soon," Rechlicz said.
The Panthers were held to 24 total rebounds, the lowest total this season.
Angie Cera led the Panthers with 11 points, going 3-for-6 from three-point range.
Kendall Nead finished with seven points and six rebounds while Walstad added eight points, three rebounds, and four assists.
The Panthers will take on Boise State on Sunday in their final game of the Nugget Classic in Reno. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 pm CT.
Follow along this season with the Panthers on
Twitter,
Facebook, and
Instagram.
