MILWAUKEE – The curtain raises on the 2023-24 Milwaukee women's basketball season as the Panthers pay a visit to in-state foe Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. at the Kohl Center in the state capital. Head coach Kyle Rechlicz enters year 12 as the head coach of the Panther squad that welcomes in a class of five newcomers to the team's 11 returning players from the 2022-23 season.

The season opener will be available on the Black & Gold Network, as Matt Menzl returns for his eighth season with the program, while live stats and live video options on B1G+ will also be available at the links on MKEPanthers.com.

THE MATCHUP
Tuesday, November 7 | Milwaukee at Wisconsin | Kohl Center | Madison, Wis. | 6:30 pm

QUICK LINKS
Live Stats: mkepanthers.com/coverage
Black & Gold Network: mkepanthers.com/coverage
B1G+: mkepanthers.com/coverage
Follow Along (On X): @MKE_WBB
Tickets: Wisconsin Tickets

FAST FACTS
» Milwaukee opens the 2023-24 season against the Wisconsin Badgers for the sixth time in its Division I history, with this being their first meeting in Madison to begin the year since the 1998-99 season.
» The two sides have been evenly split over their last six meetings dating back to the 2016-17 season, which includes a 1-1 record for the Panthers at the Kohl Center. Milwaukee and Wisconsin have had 26 all-time meetings.
» Last season MKE finished the year with a postseason appearance in the quarterfinal round in the Horizon League Tournament. It was the 12th consecutive season the Panthers have at least reached the quarterfinal round, which includes one trip to the championship and another two appearances in the semifinals.
» The Panthers were projected to finish sixth as voted on by the Horizon League head coaches in the preseason poll. Kendall Nead was named Horizon League All-Preseason Second Team
» All Panther games will feature live stats and live audio with Matt Menzl on the Black & Gold Network, while fans can also tune into ESPN+ for a majority of this season's contests, including all home contests. Game coverage and gameday programs for home games can all be found on MKEPanthers.com.

SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin opens the season against the Panthers on Tuesday after a year that saw the Badgers finish 11-20 overall with a 6-12 mark in the Big Ten. Under the direction of third-year head coach Marisa Moseley, the Badgers have improved from an eight-win team in 2021-22, to its 11 wins a year ago.

The team won by 20 points over Division III power Whitewater on Sunday in a preseason exhibition that saw Serah Williams score 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting, while Ronnie Porter added 18 points and had a team-best eight assists and four steals. Williams is the team's top returner having started in all but one contest a year ago as she averaged 12.7 points per game in 2022-23. Porter came off the bench for Wisconsin last season with one start in 27 appearances but is expected to see an increase in minutes for the Badgers this season.

Playing in the ever-competitive Big Ten Conference, which placed three teams in last season's Elite Eight including national runner up Iowa, the Badgers have their work cut out for them. Last season Wisconsin finished in 10th place in the 14-team league and will look to continue its growth under Moseley's watch.

LAST MEETING
Milwaukee and Wisconsin met a season ago to open the season at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, with the Badgers coming away with the nine-point win, 58-49. The Panthers won the second half, outscoring their guest by a 37-31 margin, but it was not enough to overcome the first-half deficit.

Angie Cera led Milwaukee with 11 points off the bench on 4-of-10 shooting including one three-pointer. Grace Crowley had eight points, while Kamy Peppler added seven in her collegiate debut, as the pair both had two field goals and combined to go 6-of-7 from the line.

Offensive rebounding and second-chance points was an advantage for the Panthers in the November 7 meeting a season ago, with the Panthers collecting 11 points in comparison to six by the Badgers.

SERIES HISTORY
In 26 all-time meetings, Milwaukee has been able to record wins in four matchups including three of the last six. The Panthers have two wins apiece in both Milwaukee as well as in Madison, with the team's last win in Madison coming back on December 14, 2017.

SEASON OPENERS
In season openers since joining NCAA Division I, the Panthers are 12-21 in 33 seasons. In the team's most recent 11 years under head coach Kyle Rechlicz, the Panthers have won six of their season openers.

This year, the Panthers will open the season with Wisconsin for the sixth time in program history, and for the second consecutive season. Milwaukee is 0-5 against the Badgers in season openers, with the first occurrence coming back in 1996-97.

Wisconsin is Milwaukee's most common opponent in season openers (six), the Panthers also have multiple season openers against Ball State, Chicago State, Northwestern, and Oklahoma, with meetings against those opponents occurring twice each in Division I history.

WELCOME BACK CREW
Milwaukee welcomes back 10 players that were on last year's roster, including nine that saw minutes. Leading the way back in terms of minutes played is Kendall Nead with 866 as the junior is also the team's leading returner in scoring 334 pts/11.1 ppg.

Angie Cera averaged 28 minutes per game a year ago while averaging 8.3 points per game, with Kamy Peppler seeing action in all 30 of the team's games and averaged just over 23 minutes per contest. Jada Donaldson was a starter in 22 of 29 games and averaged 25.7 minutes per game.

Grace Crowley played in 498 minutes in 2022-23, while Anna Lutz saw time in 28 games for 332 minutes as the duo will likely see an increase this year with Milwaukee graduating both Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus.

Hallie Majoros, Lior Halevi, Justina Hernandez, and Kalvina Eubanks all saw time a year ago, while Jada Williams sat out the season, and looks to make an impact during her first season on the court with the team.

NEW FACES IN MILWAUKEE
This offseason, the Panthers welcomed five newcomers to the roster for the 2023-24 season. Vanessa Jurewicz transferred to Milwaukee following a two-year stay at McCook Community College in Nebraska, where she was a two-year starter.

Four true freshmen join the Panther program this season: Jorey Buwalda, Izzy Pugh, Sophia Rampulla, and Payton Rechlicz.

Buwalda joins the Badgers from a 20-win Randolph squad from a season ago, after winning a Wisconsin State Title as a junior in 2021-22. She was a three-time All-State honoree during her high school career.

Pugh hails from Auckland, New Zealand, and was a four-year member of the Westlake Girls High School Team, while she was also named to the New Zealand U-18 reserve team. She was a part of the Westlake's national championship team in 2022.

Rampulla was a part of four conference championship teams at Union Grove High School and helped the team to regional championship as both a junior and senior. She was also a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Ms. Basketball finalist as a senior.

Rechlicz played four seasons of basketball at Menomonee Falls, where she was a two-time All-Conference Selection in the competitive Greater Metro Conference. During her appearances in the WIAA Postseason, she led the team in scoring in each of her appearances.

SHELTON JOINS THE STAFF
The Panthers welcomed Courtney Shelton to the staff this summer in the role of Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. No stranger to the area, Shelton grew up in Illinois and played collegiately at Northern Illinois in DeKalb.

Shelton has spent a majority of her coaching career at Central Michigan, notably from 2017-23, while there Shelton was an assistant coach for five seasons before being promoted to associate head coach this past season. Shelton spent the spring term as interim head coach of the Chippewas before coming to Milwaukee this summer.

The remainder of Milwaukee's staff remained intact from last year's squad as Stacy Cantley (Associate Head Coach) is back for her sixth season with the Panthers, while Anna DeForge (Assistant Coach) is back for her second year. Turea Moore returns for her second season as Director of Operations, with Maiah Domask in her second term as the team's graduate assistant.

JUREWICZ MILESTONE ON HORIZON
While Vanessa Jurewicz is new to Milwaukee, the junior is on the brink of a career milestone. Before spending the past two seasons at McCook Community College, where she amassed 919 points, Jurewicz was at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, where she had 79 career points.

With her two-school total, Jurewicz is currently at 998 career points, and her two points with the Panthers will be the 1,000th career collegiate point for the Stockholm, Sweden native.

Jurewicz has played in 77 career games before entering her first season with the Panthers this year. She has 352 career baskets, including 105 from beyond the arc. She also brings 210 career rebounds, 171 assists, 14 blocks, and 93 steals to the Black and Gold this season.

AND YOU ARE…?
Milwaukee's non-conference slate will feature 11 total contests including five at home, as well as six first-time opponents.

Milwaukee will play three new faces at the McNeese State Tournament, including Louisiana Monroe (Nov. 16), host McNeese State (Nov. 17), and Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 18). The team will also take on Edgewood at home on November 21.

In December, the Panthers will welcome two new opponents to the Klotsche Center as St. Thomas (Minn.) pays a visit on December 7, while Viterbo will close out non-conference play on December 20.

SPANNING THE REGION…AND THE GLOBE
This season Milwaukee has eight student-athletes from the state of Wisconsin, while the team has two players from both Illinois and Iowa, with one student-athlete hailing from Ohio.

In addition to the 13 Panthers from the United States, Milwaukee will be represented by three international students as returner Lior Halevi (Israel) is joined by Vanessa Jurewicz (Sweden), and Izzy Pugh (New Zealand).

This will be the first time in Milwaukee Division I history, that the Panthers have more than one international student-athletes on its roster for any season.

PRESEASON POLL
Milwaukee was selected to finish sixth in the 2023-24 preseason poll as announced by the Horizon League in mid-October. The Panthers received 59 points and were just four points out of the top-five.

In addition to the team being selected in sixth, Kendall Nead was named to the Preseason All-League Second Team. Nead finished last year as Milwaukee's returning scorer as she averaged 11.1 points per game with a team-best 334 points in 2022-23. Nead also connected on 41.4 percent from the floor, while adding 26 three-pointers of her team-best 138 field goals made.

Nead added 133 rebounds, 46 assists, 17 steals, and seven blocks as she was one of just two Panthers to start in all 30 games of the season for MKE.

100 ASSIST CLUB
Entering 2023-24 with exactly 100 assists each, junior Jada Donaldson and sophomore Kamy Peppler are the team's leaders in assist entering as the team's active career leaders.

The two are also among the team's active career leaders in steals with Donaldson (39) and Peppler (28), trailing just Kendall Nead (53) in that category entering the season.

DEFENSE LED THE WAY
The Panther defense was a major factor in the team's success last season as the team ranked in the top half of the Horizon League in both points allowed and field goal percentage defense.

Milwaukee allowed 60.8 points per game through 20 league contests and holding the opposition to 38.4 percent shooting overall. In comparison, the Panthers have connected on 41.2 percent from the field over that span.

KEEPING THE FOULS DOWN
Last season, when Milwaukee committed 11 fouls or fewer, the Panthers were 5-1, including the team's Horizon League First Round win over Robert Morris when the team had up a season-best nine. On the contrary, the Panthers were 2-9 when they committed 18 or more fouls.

OFFENSIVE BOARDS TURNING INTO POINTS
The Panthers recorded double-digit offensive rebounds in nine of their last 18 contests in 2022-23 and made the most of their chances.

In that span, Milwaukee has totaled 161 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. The team had 10 second chance points off of 10 offensive rebounds most recently in the team's win over Detroit Mercy on February 5.

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 93-31 (.750) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 81-16 (.835).

When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 25-68 (.269). The Panthers were held under 40 percent in 13 games last year, going 1-12 in those contests.

ALL-FRESHMAN HONORS
Last season, Kamy Peppler put together a season that warranted All-Freshman Team accolades by the Horizon League last season.

Peppler's freshman campaign saw her play in all 30 of the team's games and connect on 32.5 percent from the field including 25.6 percent from three. She had connected on 64 field goals with 30 of those coming from beyond the arc. She had the third-most assists for a rookie with 100 and was just 25 shy of tying the Milwaukee freshman record.

WHAT'S ON TAP?
After the quick visit to Madison on Tuesday, the Panthers will return home for their season opener on Sunday, November 12 for a 2 p.m. start against UIC. The Panthers will be looking to extend its home winning streak against the Flames to nine dating back to January of 2015.

CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Matt Menzl returns for his eighth year as the play-by-play voice of the Panthers on the Black and Gold Network. Links for audio along with any TV coverage can be found on MKEPanthers.com. The Milwaukee women's basketball X account (@MKE_WBB) will also have live updates throughout the game.

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 $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) and cancel at any time.