MILWAUKEE – Sophomore Kamy Peppler recorded a career-best 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting during the Milwaukee basketball team's home opener, but it was ultimately the UIC Flames to escape with the 73-70 win.

Peppler ended the game shooting 9-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, both career-best marks in makes. Angie Cera added a season-best 17 points, which included a career-high seven free throws as she went 7-for-7 from the stripe. Kendall Nead was the third Panther in double figures with 16 points on seven field goals including a pair from beyond the arc.
 
As a team, Milwaukee converted on 11 three-point field goals, which is the most for a Panther team since February of last season when MKE converted 14 three-pointers at Youngstown State. With 11 makes, it marks the 40th occurrence under head coach Kyle Rechlicz that a Milwaukee squad has made at least 11 three-pointers in a game.
 
"We did a lot of things right in today's game, and if we continue to play like this and clean up our turnovers and the rebounding battle, we're going to win a lot of games this year," said Rechlicz following the game. "We had a point range where we wanted to keep UIC per quarter, we accomplished that in three out of four quarters, but we needed a little more defense in the third, if we were able to accomplish that it would have been a game changer for us."
 
Milwaukee trailed by four at 32-28 at halftime, before UIC took a 57-50 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play. The Panthers closed the margin to three at 59-56 on a Jorey Buwalda layup before a clutch three-pointer by Nead with 12 seconds left got Milwaukee back within one at 71-70. The Flames connected on a pair of free throws in the final seconds to hang on for the win.
 
Buwalda finished the game with six points and six rebounds, while Anna Lutz led the Panthers with 10 rebounds and had five points. Peppler led the Panthers with six assists and three steals, while Jada Donaldson recorded five assists and had a pair of steals. Vanessa Jurewicz also had two steals on the game.
 
The closely contested matchup saw 11 lead changes and six ties most notably in the first quarter with nine lead changes and four ties as the Panthers and Flames were even at 18 after the opening 10 minutes.
 
Cera scored the first basket of the second quarter and connected on the ensuing free throw to give Milwaukee a three-point lead but UIC responded with 11-straight points to put the Flames ahead 29-21.
 
Peppler drained her second three-pointer of the game to put an end to the run before the Flames scored the next three to regain the eight-point advantage. Cera and Buwalda had layups late in the half for the Panthers as Milwaukee trailed 32-28 at the break.
 
Midway through the third quarter, Milwaukee trailed 41-36 before Nead connected on a three-pointer and Peppler got a defensive rebound and found Cera for a three ball as the Panthers regained the lead at 42-41. A late surge by UIC in the third gave the Flames a 57-50 advantage heading into the final ten minutes.
 
The two sides exchanged layups to open the fourth before Peppler and Buwalda had layups for Milwaukee to make it a one possession game at 59-56 with 6:27 to go. After back-to-back baskets by the Flames, Peppler knocked down another three on a pass from Donaldson. UIC recoiled and took its largest lead of the game at nine with 2:45 left.
 
Donaldson found Peppler for another three-pointer to make it a two-score game before a defensive rebound by Cera was followed by a converted jump shot by Nead on another Donaldson feed. The Flames made two free throws ahead of another made shot by Nead as the score was 71-67 with 52 seconds left.
 
Buwalda picked up a key defensive board before Milwaukee advanced the ball with a timeout. Nead caught another feed from Donaldson and knocked down another clutch shot with just seconds to go as the Panthers trailed by one at 71-70. UIC scored the final two on free throws as Milwaukee was unable to get a game-tying shot off as the Flames escaped with the 73-70 win.
 
Milwaukee heads to Lake Charles, Louisiana for its next three games, beginning with Louisiana Monroe on Thursday, November 16 for a 4:00 p.m. start. Coverage of the games in Louisiana will only be available on the Black & Gold Network found at the links on MKEPanthers.com.