MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Panthers women's basketball team returns home on Saturday afternoon to close out the month of January, as they welcome in the IUPUI Jaguars for a 1 p.m. start inside the Klotsche Center.
Saturday will be Alumni Day, as Milwaukee welcomes back players and coaches from years past of Milwaukee's rich women's basketball history. In addition to Alumni Day, the team will also be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day, celebrating the successes of women in sports in advance of the annual February 1 date that the day is celebrated.
The game can be viewed on ESPN+; while live stats and live audio withÂ
Matt Menzl on the call are also be available on MKEPanthers.com.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI enters the second half of Horizon League play at 7-3 thus far, while boasting an 11-8 overall record. The Jaguars had a bye on Thursday evening and play today coming off of three-straight wins.
Last time out against Oakland, the Jaguars used a 28-point second quarter to propel to a 45-34 halftime lead before finishing off the game for an 85-69 win. Rachel Kent led the way with 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting and also led the team with eight rebounds. Jazmyn Turner had 15 points (5-of-6) and corralled eight rebounds. Natalie Anderson and Destiny Perkins also had 13 points apiece.
IUPUI tends to get off to slow starts in comparison to their strong finishes, as it has scored 627 first-half points versus 704 second-half points through 19 games.
On the year, Turner leads the team in scoring at 270 points for an average of 15.0 per game; Perkins is second at 13.7 per game, while Kent is also in double figures at 12.3 per game. Kent also leads IUPUI in rebounds at 6.0 per contest, with Turner right behind at 5.7. Perkins leads with 81 assists and 25 steals, while Kent is the team's blocks leader at 14.
LAST TIME THEY MET
When the two sides met in Indianapolis on December 5, the Panthers fell by a score of 64-55. Milwaukee outscored its host by four points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough as IUPUI had built a 50-37 lead after three quarters.
Kendall Nead led Milwaukee in scoring with 13 points, while
Emma Wittmershaus had 11 points and
Angie Cera scored 10.
Megan Walstad led all rebounders with eight as she and
Anna Lutz each had a block. Cera also had a season-high three steals against the Jaguars.
SERIES HISTORY
Since joining the league prior to the 2017-18 season, IUPUI has won nine of 12 all-time meetings, including the last four.
Milwaukee's last win in the series was an 85-83 double-overtime victory on January 23, 2021, in Indianapolis. Walstad had 23 points and 11 rebounds that game, while
Emma Wittmershaus had 16 points and six rebounds. The Panthers also got 13 points from
Bre Cera and 10 from
McKaela Schmelzer in the win.
WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers are back on the road next weekend as Milwaukee makes its way to the Motor City to take on Oakland on Friday, February 3, followed by a matchup against Detroit Mercy on Sunday, February 5.
LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee fell on the road on Thursday evening against the Green Bay Phoenix by the score of 58-40 at the Kress Center.
Turnovers proved to be the major difference in the game for the Panthers as Milwaukee (7-12, 5-6 Horizon League) committed a season-high 27 on the night, while Green Bay capitalized with 25 points off turnovers.
Emma Wittmershaus led Milwaukee in scoring with 10 points including two three-pointers while she also collected five rebounds and led the team with two steals.
Kendall Nead had six points with five boards, while
Angie Cera had five points and a team-best five assists.
Megan Walstad led both sides with a game-high nine rebounds as she finished the game with five points.
Kamy Peppler had eight points on a pair of three-pointers and chipped in with three assists and two rebounds.
Anna Lutz had six points on 3-of-3 shooting and added three rebounds.
After falling behind by a 9-2 score early, Wittmershaus connected on a layup from Cera to spark a 13-2 run spanning into the second quarter. Lutz had a layup, while Walstad and Wittmershaus drilled back-to-back threes during the run. Cera capped off the rally with a three-pointer early in the second as Milwaukee took a 15-11 lead.
The Phoenix tied the game at 19 and eventually regained the lead by outscoring the Panthers 6-2 late in the opening half to take the 25-22 halftime lead.
Green Bay scored the opening basket of the second half, but Milwaukee had the next five to get back within one at 28-27 after Nead had a basket and Peppler drilled her second three-pointer of the night.
Milwaukee got back within one again at 32-31, but a 6-0 run by Green Bay made it a seven-point game, Peppler made a free throw and Cera connected a on a layup to once again get the Panthers back within two possessions at 38-34.
Green Bay had a 16-4 run to open the fourth quarter and took an 18-point lead at 56-38 before closing out the game for the 58-40 win.
SECOND HALF STRUGGLES
The Milwaukee defense has been strong this year, but recently, the Panthers have been running out of steam in the second half.
Over the last seven games, Milwaukee has given up an average of 40.1 points in the second half. Opponents are shooting 50.0 percent (97-of-194) from the floor and 47.8 percent (33-for-69) from three-point range over the final 20 minutes
In comparison, the Panthers have allowed 37.7 percent (405-of-1073) from the field overall in games this season, and 31.6 percent (112-of-354) of three-pointers overall this year.
FOLLOWING THE LEADER
Six different members of the Panther roster have led the team in scoring this season throughout the team's 17 games thus far.
Kendall Nead is leading the way as she has led the team in scoring on six occasions this year, while both
Megan Walstad and
Emma Wittmershaus are tied having led the team on five occasions apiece.
Angie Cera,
Grace Crowley, and
Anna Lutz have all lead at least once this season.
FINDING THE RANGE
Milwaukee has been finding its shooting range from three-point land following the holiday break.
The Panthers had shot under 31 percent in each of its first 10 games but have turned it on since playing Detroit Mercy on December 29, having connected on at least 31 percent in six of their last nine contests.
Over the last eight games,
Kamy Peppler is 14-for-36 (38.9 percent) from long range and has hit at least two triples in seven contests.
RETURN TO FORM
Preseason First Team All-League honoree
Megan Walstad has been heating up over the last eight games, dating back to the team's win over Oakland on New Year's Eve.
In that span, Walstad is averaging 11.9 points and 9.4 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and 84.6 percent from the free throw line. The senior has accounted for season-highs in both points (21 at Purdue Fort Wayne) and rebounds (16 vs. Robert Morris) over the last four contests. She has also chipped in with 15 assists, eight blocks and four steals over the last eight games, averaging over 32 minutes per game.
OFFENSIVE BOARDS TURNING INTO POINTS
The Panthers have recorded double-digit offensive rebounds in six of their last seven contests and have made the most of their chances. In that span, Milwaukee has totaled 79 second-chance points, including 19 second-chance points in the team's win over Robert Morris on January 20, and 16 on the road at Green Bay on January 26.
COMING ALIVE IN LEAGUE PLAY
Kendall Nead added four more double-digit scoring performances to her ledger against Northern Kentucky (Jan. 5), Wright State (Jan. 7), Robert Morris (Jan. 20), and Youngstown State (Jan. 22) and has scored at least 10 points in 10 of the last 14 games.
In 11 Horizon League contests, Nead is averaging a team-high 13.1 points to go with 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. In league play, Nead is shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from three.
PEPPLER PULLS IN HONOR
In the first two games to ring in the New Year,
Kamy Peppler averaged 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and 50 percent from deep.
That line earned her Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors for the first time this season.
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.
In the last seven seasons, Milwaukee is 89-25 (.781) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 69-12 (.852).
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 25-67 (.272). The Panthers have been held under 40 percent in 12 games this year, going 1-11 in those contests.
STRONG ON THE GLASS
The Panthers owned the rebounding battle at Wright State, on January 7, 39-19 to record their best margin of the season at plus-20. It marks the highest rebounding margin since Milwaukee was plus-22 on the glass in a 58-35 win over UIC on February 19, 2021.
DEFENSE LEADING THE WAY
The Panthers' defense continues to be a factor this season as Milwaukee ranks in the top four of the Horizon League in points allowed and field goal percentage defense.
Milwaukee is allowing just 59.4 points per game through 11 league contests and holding the opposition to 37.9 percent shooting overall.
RECORD-SETTING WIN
Defense was the story in a win over Detroit Mercy on December 29, setting multiple program bests.
The Panthers held the Titans to 29 points, the lowest for an opponent in NCAA Division I history surpassing Valparaiso's 31 from February 25, 2012.
Detroit also converted just 17.5 percent of its field goals, the lowest field goal percentage for an opponent since MKE held Youngstown State to 19.4 percent on March 6, 2010.
The seven made field goals for Detroit were also an opponent program-low for the Panthers, four fewer than the previous mark.
SERVING UP A 'W'
Milwaukee was finding the open player against Detroit Mercy and making it count, totaling a season-high 22 assists.
It is the most assists for the Panthers since MKE had 24 in a win over Northern Iowa on March 15, 2018. That year, MKE eclipsed 20 assists on five different occasions.
The Panthers had those 22 assists on 25 made field goals, the highest assist percentage (88.0) since dishing out 16 assists on 18 field goals (88.8) in a win over Chicago State on March 3, 2016.
ALL OF THE DOUBLE DIGITS
In the win over Detroit Mercy, Milwaukee had five players reach double figures.
Grace Crowley led the way with 13 points while
Kendall Nead (12),
Anna Lutz (11),
Kamy Peppler (10), and
Emma Wittmershaus (10) all joined in double digits.
It marks the first time Milwaukee had at least five players with at least 10 points since February 8, 2020. That game, Jamie Reit's 13 points led the way while Bre Cera added 12,
McKaela Schmelzer and
Sydney Staver each had 11, and Lizzie Odegard finished with 10 in a 65-60 win over Green Bay.
Milwaukee is now 3-0 this year when at least four players reach double figures. The Panthers are 17-4 over the last five years when four or more players reach at least 10 points.
MISS BASKETBALL IN THE HOUSE
Freshman
Kamy Peppler was crowned 2022 Miss Basketball for Wisconsin but it's not the first time Milwaukee has had a student-athlete with that title arrive on campus.
In fact,
Megan Walstad earned that title in her home state of Minnesota after leading Eastview High School to a perfect 32-0 record as a senior.
Prior to that, just one other player in program history donned the title of Miss Basketball. Meredith Onson (2005-08) was a consensus Wisconsin Player of the year in 2002-03. Onson originally attended Boston University but transferred to Milwaukee for the 2004-05 season.
PRESEASON HONORS FOR WALSTAD
Megan Walstad was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team following another impressive campaign in 2021-22. Walstad dominated down low, earning her second straight First Team All-League award last season. She led the team and was among the league's leaders in points per game (14.4), rebounds per game (9.1), field goal percentage (48.8), free throw percentage (88.9), and blocks per game (1.5). Walstad was also named to the All-Defensive Team for the second straight year.
Walstad joined a group of just three others in program history to earn All-League First Team honors on more than one occasion in the Panthers' Division I era and is just the second in MKE history to earn All-Defensive Team distinction multiple times.
Additionally, Walstad was one of 25 players to be named to the 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year preseason Watch List.
MILESTONE WATCH
Megan Walstad's name is already all over the Milwaukee record books but she has the opportunity to etch her name in a few more times.
For her career, she has already cracked the program's top 10 in the following for NCAA Division I.
