MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee women's basketball picked up their third-straight win on Tuesday evening, taking down the Edgewood Eagles by the score of 70-50 at the Klotsche Center.
 
The 20-point difference for the Panthers was the team's second 20+ point win of the season, following Friday's 21-point win over McNeese. The Panthers shot right around their season average as MKE connected on 40.6 percent from the field including a game-high 50.0 percent in the second quarter on 8-of-16 shooting.
 
Milwaukee also crashed the glass well with 41 rebounds, reaching their season high for the fourth time this season. The Panthers also held the Eagles to just 25 rebounds, with only one on the offensive glass.
 
With its elongated offensive possessions, including 17 offensive rebounds MKE had 13 second-chance points, while also scoring 42 of their 70 points in the paint with 16 of 22 first quarter points coming in the lane. The Panthers also pressured the Eagles into 24 turnovers on the game.
 
"I love how we came out with a ton of energy, and we were able to force a lot of turnovers early in the game," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. "We dominated the boards and only had 15 turnovers…but we didn't shoot well but that comes down to tired legs with four games in six days."
 
Kendall Nead led the Panthers in scoring with a game-high 20 points on 9-of-20 from the field as she also led the team with a +27 on the matchup. Nead also finished the game with five rebounds and had one assist and one steal.
 
Jorey Buwalda was 5-of-6 from the floor with 12 points and six rebounds, while Kamy Peppler also had a dozen points on the night making two of Milwaukee's three three-pointers. Jada Donaldson had eight points with six assists and two steals, while Angie Cera rounded out Milwaukee's starting lineup with 11 points on the game.
 
It was the first time Milwaukee had four player score double figures in a game since last season's home matchup against Northern Kentucky on February 12, when Grace Crowley (19), Megan Walstad (17), Anna Lutz (16), and Cera (11) all reached double digits on the scoresheet.
 
Lutz also returned to Milwaukee's lineup on Tuesday with a game-high seven rebounds, while also picking up four points. Jada Williams had three points and five rebounds, while Kalvina Eubanks added two boards, and Vanessa Jurewicz had one rebound.
 
Edgewood won the tip and got off to the early lead on a layup, but that proved to be the only time that the Eagles led the game as Milwaukee scored the next 11 points as the Panthers got buckets from Cera, Nead, Buwalda, and Peppler along the way. The two teams exchanged three-pointers, including one from Peppler as the 6:54 mark to put Milwaukee back up by nine.
 
The Panthers led by five at 22-17 through the first 10 minutes, ahead of MKE getting their first double-digit lead of the game on a Donaldson jumper to make the score 27-17. The Panthers led by as many as 15 on three occasions through the second quarter and took a 12-point lead into the halftime break as Cera connected on a buzzer-beating shot to give the Panthers a 43-31 advantage.
 
Milwaukee led by 16 after makes by Nead and Buwalda to open the second half, but Edgewood was pesky and trimmed their deficit to 10 with 3:21 to go in the third. Nead knocked down a three pointer to get Milwaukee back up by four scores, with the Panthers ahead by 13 heading into the final period.
 
Nead opened the fourth quarter with a basket plus an and-one free throw to take a 16-point advantage just 13 seconds in. A brief five-point burst by Edgewood was ended by a Peppler layup, which sparked a nine-point Panther rally to close out the scoring as the Milwaukee defense held the Eagles scoreless through the final 7:25 of the game to emerge with the 20-point win at 70-50.
 
Milwaukee gets back on the court on Saturday morning with an 11:00 a.m. start against Central Michigan, as the Chippewas pay a visit to the Klotsche Center for the first time since 2008.