MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee women's basketball team dominated the paint on Saturday and shut down Oakland in a 65-49 victory at the Klotsche Center.
 
Milwaukee (5-7, 3-1 Horizon League) held the Golden Grizzlies (6-7, 1-3 Horizon League) to 25.8 percent shooting and owned a 32-12 advantage inside.
 
"Today was a great win against a very competitive team in Oakland. It was a hard-fought battle," head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "So proud of our defense – we stuck to it. That transitioned from Thursday's game to Saturday's game and the defense was spectacular again.  I thought our post players also really stepped up."
 
Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus did most of the damage down low, totaling 29 points and 13 rebounds. Walstad finished a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor while Wittmershaus went 7-for-9.
 
Wittmershaus knocked down a jumper at the first quarter buzzer to put Milwaukee in front 16-15 and the Panthers never trailed the rest of the way.
 
After an Oakland free throw to open the second quarter, Kendall Nead got to work and scored five points in an 8-0 run to put MKE on top 24-16.
 
Nead hit another triple and then Walstad scored the final six points of the quarter to match Oakland and give the Panthers a 33-27 advantage at the half.
 
MKE continued to pound the ball inside with Wittmershaus doing the damage in the third, going 3-for-3 with six points. The defense did its part, holding Oakland to just four field goals as the Panthers extended their lead to double digits.
 
Any chance of an Oakland comeback was quickly extinguished in the fourth as Milwaukee held the Golden Grizzlies to just 2-for-18 shooting in the final 10 minutes.
 
The lead stayed double digits the rest of the way as the Panthers capped the weekend with their second straight victory.
 

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Nead joined Walstad and Wittmershaus in double digits as she finished with 14 points, going 4-for-6 from three-point range.
 
Jada Donaldson added four points and a career-high five assists while Kamy Peppler totaled five points, four rebounds, and three assists. Jessi Giles also found some rhythm with five points, three boards, and two assists.
 
Next up, the Panthers hit the road for a four-game stretch beginning with Northern Kentucky on Thursday, January 5.
 
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