MILWAUKEE, Wis. - With momentum from a big win on Thursday, Milwaukee heads to Rochester, Michigan on Saturday looking to avenge its loss to Oakland from earlier this season. MKE has won two of the last three matchups at the Athletics O'Rena. 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.
 
Per Oakland University guidelines, masking is mandatory indoors for all campus community members and guests regardless of vaccination status or a previous COVID-19 illness and presence of virus antibodies in one's system.
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland closed the gap on Thursday against Green Bay but ultimately fell 61-57 and sits in sixth place in the Horizon League standings. 
 
Kahlaijah Dean is the leader of the Oakland offense, averaging 15.8 points per game to go with 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists. The senior has hit 30 three-pointers this year and has reached double figures in all but three games she has played in this season.
 
Breanne Beatty and Kayla Luchenbach are a solid tandem in the Golden Grizzlies lineup as well, each averaging at least 8.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Beatty has hit 29 three-pointers while Lunchenbach is shooting 47.9 percent from the floor. 
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
McKaela Schmelzer scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the third quarter to help Milwaukee rally from a double-digit deficit, but the Panthers ran out of steam in the fourth and fell to Oakland 66-53 earlier this season. The Golden Grizzlies were led by 19 points from Kahlaijah Dean.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers own a 12-9 all-time advantage against Oakland, but the Golden Grizzlies have been triumphant in two of the last three contests. MKE is 4-4 against Oakland in Rochester.
 
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers return to the Klotsche Center to take on IUPUI on Thursday, February 17. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Four players reached double figures led by Megan Walstad's 18 points as Milwaukee earned a 71-55 victory over Detroit Mercy at Calihan Hall.
 
BREAKOUT GAME
Macy McGlone had a coming out party in Detroit, matching a career-high with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
 
The freshman also pulled in a career-high eight rebounds and set another high in steals with four.
 
McGlone did all of that in just 16 minutes of action, finishing with a plus/minus of +5 in the win.
 
BACK ON TRACK
After an uncharacteristic three-game stretch of shooting 58.3 percent, the Panthers bounced back at the charity stripe on Thursday.
 
Milwaukee finished 13-for-14 (92.9 percent) from the line, improving the season percentage to 79.4 (224-for-282).
 
That number pushes the Panthers up to second in the Horizon League and sixth in the nation.
 
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.
 
DOMINANT DOWN LOW
Milwaukee put together one of its best performances in the paint on Thursday, outscoring Detroit Mercy 38-26 down low.
 
The 38 points are the most since MKE also had 38 points in the paint in the season opener on November 8 against Ball State.
 
Milwaukee finished 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) in the restricted area.
 
The Panthers also outrebounded the Titans 36-23, recording their best rebounding margin since +18 in the win over Wright State on January 29. The +13 is the fifth-best rebounding margin this season for Milwaukee.
 
WALSTAD WORKIN'
Megan Walstad was on fire early against Detroit Mercy, scoring 12 points in the first quarter. The redshirt sophomore finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting.
 
Walstad added four rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal in the win.
 
She's been on fire as of late, reaching double figures in nine straight games. Walstad has put together another impressive season for the Panthers and is among the league leaders in multiple categories.

• 14.5 points per game (7th)
• 8.8 rebounds per game (4th)
• 49.2 field goal percentage (3rd)
• 1.5 blocks per game (3rd)

BALANCED SCORING
Milwaukee had four players reach double figures for the seventh time this season in the win over Detroit Mercy. Megan Walstad (18 points), McKaela Schmelzer (13), Sydney Staver (12), and Macy McGlone (10) all scored at least 10 points.
 
The seven games with at least four players in double figures already surpasses last season's output and is the most games with at least four in double digits since the Panthers accomplished the feat in nine games in 2017-18.
 
SOLID FROM THE FLOOR
McKaela Schmelzer has been efficient in her shot choice the last five games, going 65.5 percent from the field.
 
The graduate student started the stretch with a 7-for-8 performance against Wright State, hitting three triples. She knocked down all three attempts against Robert Morris and then was 2-for-5 against Youngstown State and 3-for-6 at Green Bay. She then went 4-for-7 in a win at Detroit Mercy.
 
During the last five games, Schmelzer has hit 10 three-pointers, going 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) from deep.
 
She is currently averaging 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, both career highs.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
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.
 
In addition to reaching 500 career rebounds, Walstad is just 26 points away from becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Walstad is averaging 11.9 points per game in her three seasons so far.
 
McKaela Schmelzer now holds the program record for games played with 140, surpassing Alyssa Fischer, who appeared in 134 games from 2015-20. Sydney Staver is also moving up on that list, having appeared in 129 career contests.
 
Schmelzer also became the program's all-time leader for games started with 129, surpassing Jenny Lindner (2014-18). With 31 more assists, Schmelzer could surpass Pam Bartnik (1990-94) for most career assists in Panthers' history.
 
BETTER BUT WORSE
From February 5-7, Milwaukee shot better from the field than the opponent but lost both times.
 
Against Youngstown State, MKE was 42.3 percent from the floor compared to 40.8 percent for the Penguins.
 
Against Green Bay, the Panthers hit 46.8 percent of their shots while the Phoenix converted 39.6 percent.
 
It marks the first time since the 2008-09 season that Milwaukee has shot better than the opponent in back-to-back games but lost both contests.
 
On February 28 (vs. Valparaiso) and March 7 (vs. Green Bay), MKE finished with a better shooting percentage but lost both games.
 
Monday's game at Green Bay also marked the first time the Panthers lost since shooting over 43 percent since February 12, 2021.
 
CATCHING FIRE
Milwaukee could not miss against Robert Morris, hitting 65.9 percent of its shots which sits as the second-best mark in program history.
 
The Panthers were 13-for-20 (65 percent) in the first half and 16-for-24 (66.7 percent) after the break in the win over the Colonials.
 
The Panthers set the school record 111 games ago, knocking down 69.4 percent of their shots in a WNIT win over Northern Iowa on March 15, 2018.
 
LEAVING NO DOUBT
With the huge win over Robert Morris, the Panthers recorded back-to-back victories of at least 20 points.
 
MKE topped Wright State by 25 points before taking down RMU by 20 on Thursday.
 
It marks the first time since January of 2021 that the Panthers have won consecutive games by at least 20 points. That stretch reached four games for MKE, who opened the New Year with wins over Detroit Mercy and Purdue Fort Wayne by an average of 27.8 points per game. The Panthers totaled seven victories by at least 20 points a season ago.
 
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.
 
The Panthers are 7-3 this season when hitting at least 40 percent of their shots from the floor.
 
In the last six seasons (including this year), Milwaukee is 80-23 (.777) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 62-11 (.849).
 
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 22-53 (.293).
 
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.
 
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.