MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Following a victory on Tuesday, Milwaukee advances to the quarterfinals of the Keeps Horizon League Championships to take on third-seeded Green Bay. It marks the third matchup with the Phoenix since February 7. The two split the season series with each winning on its home court.
 
Tipoff for the postseason matchup is scheduled for 7:00 pm with a trip to Indianapolis on the line. The winner of Thursday's game advances to the Keeps Horizon League Basketball Semifinals at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on March 7. 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.
 
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Green Bay swept the final weekend of Horizon League play with wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State to clinch the No. 3 seed for the Keeps Horizon League Championships and a first-round bye. 
 
Head Coach Kevin Borseth has a very young roster with a redshirt senior, two juniors and the rest underclassmen.
 
Green Bay boasts the best defense in the league, allowing just 55.1 points per game. The Phoenix are holding opponents to 34.9 percent from the field which leads the league and ranks 10th in the nation.
 
Hailey Oskey is the only Phoenix player averaging double figures as she is putting up 13.1 points per contest. She was named First Team All-Horizon League.
 
Bailey Butler has made a major impact in her first season as she was named Horizon League Freshman of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year. She's averaging 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists for the Phoenix.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus combined for 28 points in the second half to help Milwaukee erase a double-digit halftime deficit and top Green Bay 50-48 February 21. The Panthers outscored the Phoenix 17-7 in the fourth quarter and scored the final nine points in the comeback victory.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has won four of the last five matchups with Green Bay, two of which have been at the Kress Center. The Phoenix do hold the all-time advantage 53-16 and are 33-6 against MKE at home.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Behind a strong shooting performance in the second half, Milwaukee pushed past UIC 55-46 on Tuesday night to advance to the Keeps Horizon League Women's Basketball Quarterfinals.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE HARDWARE
For the second consecutive season, Megan Walstad collected All-Horizon League First Team and All-Defensive Team honors.
 
It marks the second year in a row that Walstad earned both recognitions. She joins a group of just three others in program history to earn All-League First Team on more than one occasion in the Panthers' Division I era. Traci Edwards (2005-08) earned First Team honors all four years, Maria Viall (2001-04) collected three honors, and Nichole Drummond (2004-05) was on First Team twice. 
 
She is just the second Panther in program history to earn All-Defensive Team distinction multiple times. Nichole Luchsinger (1999-01) was named to the All-Defensive Team twice.
 
Earlier this year, Walstad was also one of five named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team. There were 29 individuals nominated for the honor.
 
She holds a 3.94 GPA in her double major of marketing and psychology.
 
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
With a win on Thursday, Milwaukee would advance to the Keeps Horizon League Championships Semifinals for the second consecutive season.
 
A year ago, the Panthers topped Youngstown State in the quarterfinals but fell to IUPUI in the semifinals.
 
The Panthers and Phoenix have had plenty of run-ins in the league tournament, meeting eight times. GB has won seven of those contests. 
 
The last time Milwaukee and Green Bay faced off in the postseason was 2016-17 when the Phoenix won 66-59 in the semifinals.
 
The only time MKE beat GB in the postseason was the 2000-01 season when the Panthers took the title 77-62 over the Phoenix.
 
SECOND HALF MAGIC
Milwaukee was trailing 18-17 at half against UIC but responded in a big way, going 5-for-7 from three-point range and 13-for-16 from the free throw line after the break.
 
Sydney Staver and McKaela Schmelzer each hit a pair of triples in the second half to fuel the Panthers.
 
The Panthers now have three victories this season after trailing at halftime, two of which have come in the last four games.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
After starting every game this season, McKaela Schmelzer now holds the program record for games played with 147 and games started with 135.
 
Additionally, Schmelzer is just 12 assists from becoming the Panthers' all-time leader. Pam Bartnik (1990-94) holds the current Milwaukee record with 469 assists.
 
BACK ON TRACK
After an uncharacteristic three-game stretch of shooting 58.3 percent from February 3-7, the Panthers have bounced back at the charity stripe.
 
Milwaukee is 84-for-100 (84.0 percent) from the line the last six games, improving the season percentage to 80.2 (295-for-368).
 
That number pushes the Panthers to second in the Horizon League and sixth in the nation. The league has three of the top eight free throw shooting teams in the nation in Purdue Fort Wayne (81.9), Milwaukee (80.0), and Green Bay (78.9).
 
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.
 
FINDING HER STROKE
Kendall Nead put together an impressive weekend in the final two regular season games of the season, averaging 12.0 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 69.2 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from three-point range.
 
Against Cleveland State, Nead was the team's leading scorer. She finished 3-for-5 from long range and 5-for-8 overall for a career-high 15 points.
 
In Saturday's win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Nead went 4-for-5 from the floor, scoring nine points in 14 minutes of action. She added five rebounds in the win.
 
This season, Nead is fourth on the team with 19 three-pointers and second with a 31.7 shooting percentage from deep.
 
RACKING UP THE REBOUNDS
Megan Walstad was all over the boards last weekend, hauling in 32 rebounds including a career-high 19 against Cleveland State.
 
 The 19 rebounds mark the most in a game for the Panthers since Steph Kostowicz pulled in 20 on December 3, 2015.
 
It is tied for the eighth-most rebounds in a game in program history and the 12 offensive boards is the most by a Panther ever.
 
WITTMERSHAUS DOWN LOW
Emma Wittmershaus has imposed her size in the paint this season, ranking second on the team with 5.3 rebounds per game. The redshirt sophomore has at least seven rebounds in three of the last five games and four of the last seven contests.
 
Wittmershaus also added three more blocks to her total on Saturday and has eight swats in the last five games.
 
WALSTAD WORKIN'
Megan Walstad added another double-double to her total this past weekend, pushing her total to nine this season which matches her season total from a year ago.
 
Walstad has put together another impressive season for the Panthers and is among the league leaders in multiple categories.

• 14.7 points per game (7th)
• 9.2 rebounds per game (4th)
• 49.0 field goal percentage (3rd)
• 88.9 free throw percentage (3rd)
• 1.6 blocks per game (3rd)

SECOND HALF SURGE
Milwaukee had one of its best comebacks in program history against Green Bay, erasing a 16-point deficit.
 
It matched the fifth-largest deficit overcome for the Panthers, also recovering from 16-point deficits on January 20, 1992 against UMKC and on December 18, 2011 against Toledo.
 
The Panthers' 13-point halftime deficit matched the third largest overcome in school history, also recovering from that margin in a win at UIC on March 1, 2007.  
 
TWIN TOWERS
Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus were unstoppable in the second half of Monday's win over Green Bay. The two combined for 28 points to fuel the come-from-behind victory.
 
Walstad ended the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds, marking her eighth double-double of the season.
 
Wittmershaus finished the game 7-for-12 with a career-high 20 points. The 6-3 forward matched her career-high with three triples, going 3-for-3 from downtown.
 
1K CLUB COMPLETE
With a season-high 26 points against Oakland, Megan Walstad became the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 for her career.
 
The redshirt sophomore did it in just 81 games which sits as the ninth-fastest of those to reach the milestone.
 
It marks Milwaukee's first 1,000-point scorer since Steph Kostowicz (2014-18) who accomplished the feat in 2017.
 
Earlier this season, Walstad also became the 28th player in program history to reach 500 career rebounds.
 
She is just the 13th player in program history to record at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for her career.
 
BALANCED SCORING
Milwaukee had four players reach double figures for the eighth time this season in the win over UIC on February 19. Megan Walstad (18 points), Sydney Staver (12), Miquela Santoro (12), and Emma Wittmershaus (11) all scored at least 10 points.
 
MKE is 6-2 when at least four players score in double figures.
 
The eight 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. 
 
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 8-4 this season when hitting at least 40 percent of their shots from the floor.
 
In the last six seasons (including this year), Milwaukee is 83-24 (.775) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 64-12 (.840).
 
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 24-54 (.302).
 
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.