MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee women's basketball team continues its road trip in Michigan looking to bounce back after Monday's setback. The Panthers face Detroit Mercy on Thursday at 6:00 pm CT. MKE has won nine straight games over the Titans including a forfeit victory from earlier this season. 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.
The Detroit Mercy Athletic Department announced on January 31 that surgical masks or higher-grade face masks must be worn on all campuses. The policy applies to all students, employees, and visitors. Additionally, the lower bowl of Dick Vitale Court will be closed off to fans.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Detroit Mercy has struggled on both ends of the court and is still searching for its first victory of 2021-22.
Interim Head Coach LaTanya Collins has had to work with a brand-new roster built of five graduate students, one senior, two juniors, two sophomores, and four freshmen.
Through 12 games, Sydney Searcy was leading the team with 10.5 points per game but has not played since January 8 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Graduate Brandi Washington has been a mainstay in the Titans' lineup, starting 15 of 18 games and averaging 9.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. She has hit 31 three-pointers for Detroit Mercy, a team high.
As a team, the Titans are in the league's bottom three in nearly every category but rank sixth in blocked shots led by Emma Trawally Porta's 17.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Milwaukee was granted a win on January 1 over the Titans via forfeit due. Prior to that, the Panthers earned a 77-38 victory at Detroit behind an impressive performance on both ends of the court. Milwaukee shot 56.3 percent from the floor and held the Titans to 24.0 percent.
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee owns a 34-28 all-time record against Detroit Mercy and has won nine straight over the Titans dating back to the 2017-18 season.
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers wrap up their three-game road trip on Saturday with a revenge game against Oakland. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm CT.
LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee battled to 10 ties and 12 lead changes with Green Bay, but seven fourth-quarter turnovers haunted the Panthers down the stretch as they fell 65-56 on the road.
DOMINANT DOWN LOW
Emma Wittmershaus recorded one of her best games in the post on Monday, finishing 7-for-10 and matching a career-high with 16 points.
The redshirt sophomore added four rebounds and four steals to finish with a team-best plus/minus of +6.
Wittmershaus sparked the Panthers in the second half, scoring 10 of those points on 5-for-6 shooting.
The 16 points matched her previous career-best which was set last season against IUPUI when she finished 6-for-10 from the floor including three triples.
UNCHARACTERISTIC STRETCH
From a wide view, the Panthers have yet again put together another impressive season at the charity stripe, ranking ninth in the nation with a mark of 78.7. MKE is 211-for-268 from the free throw line this year.
Milwaukee has been uncharacteristic as of late, however, hitting less than 70 percent of its attempts in the last three contests and four of the last six.
The last three games, MKE is just 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) from the free throw line. That played a big factor in the losses to Youngstown State (5-for-8) and Green Bay (7-for-12).
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.
BETTER BUT WORSE
Each of the last two games, Milwaukee has 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.
WALSTAD WORKIN'
Against Green Bay,
Megan Walstad tallied her seventh double-double of the season including second in the last three outings.
The redshirt sophomore finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in addition to four assists and a block.
Walstad has been on fire as of late, reaching double figures in eight straight games. She's put together another impressive season for the Panthers and is among the league leaders in multiple categories.
- 14.3 points per game (8th)
- 9.0 rebounds per game (4th)
- 48.4 field goal percentage (3rd)
- 1.5 blocks per game (3rd)
SOLID FROM THE FLOOR
McKaela Schmelzer has been efficient in her shot choice the last four games, going 68.2 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.
During the last four games, Schmelzer has hit nine three-pointers, going 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from deep.
She is currently averaging 8.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, both career highs.
BENCH SPARK
Jada Donaldson was impressive off the bench for the Panthers against Youngstown State, going 3-for-5 from the floor with a career-high eight points in 17 minutes.
Donaldson hit two three-pointers and added two rebounds and an assist.
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 44 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 139, surpassing
Alyssa Fischer, who appeared in 134 games from 2015-20.
Sydney Staver is also moving up on that list, having appeared in 128 career contests.
Schmelzer also became the program's all-time leader for games started with 128, surpassing Jenny Lindner (2014-18). With 32 more assists, Schmelzer could surpass Pam Bartnik (1990-94) for most career assists in Panthers' history.
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.
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 6-3 this season when hitting at least 40 percent of their shots from the floor.
In the last six seasons (including this year), Milwaukee is 79-23 (.775) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 61-11 (.847).
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.
POSTSEASON PANTHERS
Milwaukee reached the postseason WNIT for the third time in program history last season and added another postseason win to the resume. The Panthers reached the second round of the tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Overall, Milwaukee is 2-3 at the postseason WNIT.
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.
