MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Panthers women's basketball team takes on the Cleveland State Vikings at 1:00 p.m. inside the Klotsche Center as the Panther close out the regular season.

Saturday will also be 'Senior Day' for the Panthers as Milwaukee will honor the three members that will be competing in their final collegiate regular season games. Among those to be recognized on Saturday will be Jessi Giles, Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus. 

The game can be viewed on ESPN+; while live stats and live audio on the Black & Gold Network with Matt Menzl on the call are also be available on MKEPanthers.com.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State makes its way to Milwaukee off a rare loss as the Vikings are 26-4 on the season heading into the regular season finale.

The Vikings fell to Green Bay on Thursday evening in a juggernaut battle for the top spot in the Horizon League by a 64-49 score. Destiny Leo led the starting five for Cleveland State with 10 points, while Jordana Reisma led the Vikings overall with 11 points. Amele Ngwafang was a tick over her season average pulling down a team-best nine rebounds.

Cleveland State held a two-point lead at the halftime break, but Green Bay took a two-point lead after three quarters. After the score was tied at 45, the Phoenix went on an 11-0 run to take a 56-45 advantage with just 3:25 to go. Green Bay closed out the game going 7-of-8 from the line in the final 41 seconds.

The Vikings boast the top offense in the Horizon League as the team has averaged 75.6 percent from the field, while defensively are second in the league allowing just 57.5. The team is tops in the conference in field goal percent (43.3) and rebounding at 42.6 per game with a league-leading +8.0 on the glass.

LAST MEETING
During Milwaukee's trip to Ohio, the Panthers dropped a 31-point decision to the Vikings by an 81-50 score. Megan Walstad and Anna Lutz led the way with 10 points apiece, while Lutz also led the team on the glass with seven boards. Kamy Peppler had seven assists in the loss.

Three players for the Vikings scored double-figures with Amele Ngwafang leading the way with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Carmen Villalobos had 13 and Deja Williams has 12 off the bench. Villalobos led the team with five assists, with Williams recording a team-best four steals.

SERIES HISTORY
In 63 all-time meetings, Cleveland State holds a 36-27 advantage in the meetings between the Vikings and Panthers including wins in three-straight dating back to January 16, 2022.

However, over the last 16 meetings it has been the Panthers to lead the series going 12-4 in that stretch.

WHATS ON TAP?
The Panthers will be at home on Tuesday, February 28 in the First Round of the Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championship.

Milwaukee will serve as either the sixth or seventh seed, and can host either Robert Morris, Wright State or Detroit Mercy.

FOLLOW THE PANTHERS LIVE
Matt Menzl returns for his seventh 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 twitter account (@MKE_WBB) will also have live updates throughout the game.

LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee led wire-to-wire on Thursday evening and cruised to a 30-point victory over the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons inside the Klotsche Center, winning the game by the score of 64-34.

The Panthers scored the first 13 points of the game and did not turn back, holding the Mastodons to a program-best 11 points in the opening half with a 33-11 lead at the break. The 11 points in one half is the best defensive effort in the all-time history of Panther basketball in the Division I era, eclipsing the mark of 12 most recently set back in early December 2020 against Marquette.
  
Megan Walstad led the way for the Panthers with her 24th career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while also tying her season-best with three blocks on the night. Walstad finished the game going 7-for-10 from the field as the Panthers hit on 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the floor as a unit.

The Panthers once again had a strong passing game with 19 assists on 24 made field goals, reaching at least 19 assists on seven occasions this season including five of the team's last eight contests.

Tied for the game-high with 10 rebounds was Grace Crowley, who ended the night with nine points and 10 boards. Kamy Peppler had eight points and led MKE with six assists and three steals on the night, while Kendall Nead returned to double-figure scoring with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

With the early 13-0 lead, the Panthers continued to pressure the Mastodons defensively and closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 21-2 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

The surge continued as Walstad made back-to-back shots followed by a shot from Jessi Giles to put the Panthers ahead by 25 with 7:33 left in the half. Purdue Fort Wayne got back within 20 at 29-9 before Nead made a jumper off a feed by Crowley. The Panthers led by 22 at the break, holding Purdue Fort Wayne to just 4-of-28 (14.3 percent) in the opening half.

Walstad got the ball rolling in the second half with a layup off a feed by Angie Cera, while Nead responded to a Mastodon layup with a three-pointer. The teams exchanged baskets before Anna Lutz got in on the scoring action with 1:24 left in the third with a layup and-one. Jessi Giles put the icing on the quarter with a layup to put the Panthers up 47-17 for the largest lead of the game to that point.

Purdue Fort Wayne fought to within 23 points with 5:43 to go in the game, trimming the Milwaukee advantage to 55-32. Walstad connected on her only three-pointer of the night before Nead added a layup. Justina Hernandez and Lior Halevi got in late on the action with fastbreak layups off steals by Peppler and Hallie Majoros.

Cera ended the game with five points to go along with two assists and two steals, while Giles finished the game with four points and three boards. Emma Wittmershaus returned to the Panther lineup and scored a pair from the line while also picking up seven rebounds.

Milwaukee will wrap-up the regular season on Saturday, when the team plays host to the Cleveland State Vikings beginning at 1:00 p.m. from the Klotsche Center.

LOWS AND HIGHS
In Thursday's win over Purdue Fort Wayne, the Panther held the Mastodons to just 11 points in the opening half, including just two points in the opening period.

The 11 points is a new Panther record for points allowed in a half, eclipsing the mark of 12 most recently set in December of 2020 at Marquette.

During the game against PFW, the Panthers also had a pair of season high marks, collecting a season-high 11 steals for the third time this season (Nov. 25 at Nevada; Dec. 29 vs. Detroit Mercy).

The team also tied its season-high mark with six blocks in the win, tying the team's six blocks on the road at Marquette in mid-November.

DOUBLE VISION
For the first time in 48 games, Milwaukee had two players record at least 10 rebounds in a game as both Grace Crowley and Megan Walstad ended Thursday's game with 10 apiece.

For Crowley, 10 rebounds is a new career-best mark, while Walstad is no stranger to 10-rebound games with six this season and 31 for her career.

DEFENSE GETTING LOW
In Thursday's win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Milwaukee kept the Mastodons to just two points on the scoreboard in the opening quarter.

Allowing just two points, eclipsed the season-best mark of three in the fourth quarter against Green Bay on December 1.

The Panthers have also held two teams to just four points in a given quarter this season; allowing four in the third quarter to Youngstown State (Feb. 17), and four in the third quarter at home against Detroit Mercy (Dec. 29).

A WIDE MARGIN
After a pair of +12 quarters coming against Youngstown State (Feb. 18), and Green Bay (Dec. 1), Milwaukee had its best quarter of the season at +19 in the opening period against Purdue Fort Wayne on February 23.

HORIZON ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
On Thursday, the Horizon League announced its All-Academic Team with Milwaukee forward Megan Walstad earning recognition for the second consecutive season.
  
It was Walstad's second-consecutive selection to the All-Academic Team as she is double-majoring in marketing and psychology, with a 3.96 GPA. Walstad is the program's eighth overall selection dating back to the 2010-11 season, and just third in program history to have two selections all-time, joining Sami Tucker from 2012 and 2013, and Steph Kostowicz from 2016 and 2017.

Walstad's selection this year is Milwaukee's fourth consecutive year with at least one representative on the All-Academic team, with Walstad earning in 2022, Brandi Bisping in 2021, and Alyssa Fischer in 2020.

ACADEMIC HONORS
On Tuesday the College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) announced its Academic All-District Teams.

Milwaukee had four honorees by the organization as Angie Cera, Grace Crowley, Jada Donaldson and Megan Walstad all were recognized.

The four led a group of 23 from the Horizon League that are now eligible to be named Academic All Americans. That select group will be revealed on March 15.

BIGS WITH RANGE
After missing her first seven three-pointers of the season, Anna Lutz has picked her spots and been more consistent with her long-range shots having connected on her last two, including one in two of the team's last three games, while also connecting on four of her last seven attempts (57.1 percent).

Megan Walstad has also been knocking down her three-pointers of late, including six consecutive between the team's home game againt Northern Kentucky and first three at Youngstown State. Over her last six games, Walstad has made 8-of-14 from beyond the arc (57.1 percent).

WHAT A LETDOWN
After connecting on 14 three-pointers on Friday at Youngstown State, the Panthers followed that up with just two made three-pointers on Sunday at Robert Morris.

Milwaukee has been unable to connect on at least five three-pointers in games following double-digit three performances since February of 2020, when the Panthers connected on 12 three-pointers against Detroit Mercy and followed that up with five against IUPUI.

The last time MKE had back-to-back performances with at least 10 three-point baskets made came in early February 2020, when the Panthers had 11 at Wright State followed by another 11 three-pointers at home against Green Bay.

THREE TIMES AS NICE
With 14 three-pointers on the road against Youngstown State on February 17, Milwaukee set a new season-high nearly doubling the previous season-best mark of eight.

It was the first time Milwaukee had connected on at least 10 three-pointers since March 19, 2021, against Drake; while it was also the first time the Panthers had at least 14 three-pointers since the 2016-17 season at home against Cleveland State.

Under the watch of head coach Kyle Rechlicz, the performance was the 60th occasion in which the Panthers had at least 10 three-pointers in a game, just over 18 percent of the games that Rechlicz has coached in.

LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS? NO PROBLEM
While the three-point shot tends to be the lowest percentage shot to take at any level of competitive basketball, Milwaukee's Angie Cera scoffed at that notion by connecting on six of seven from beyond the arc in the road win at Youngstown State on February 17.

At 85.7 percent from three, Cera tied the sixth-highest percentage from three in a single game in Milwaukee history, tying Anne Breland from December 19, 2010, and Aubri Rote from November 9, 2007; who both went 6-for-7 in their respective games.

Only three players have ever been perfect from three, with a minimum of five attempts, as Jalessa Armstrong on January 7, 2015, at Detroit, and Jenny Lindner on February 20, 2017 vs. Valparaiso, each went 5-for-5. Daryl Sheffeld accomplished the 5-for-5 effort twice in the 1996-97 season vs. Northern Illinois, and 1998-99 season vs. UIC.

PASSING THE ROCK
For the seventh time this season this season, the Panthers had at least 19 assists in a single game with 19 in Thursday's matchup at Purdue Fort Wayne.

It was the third time in the last four, and fifth time in the last eight games for MKE that the team has had at least 19 assists.

The 21 assists on the road versus Oakland came on 31 made field goals, which is the first time Milwaukee registered 30 field goals since January 29, 2022, in the team's road win at Wright State. The last occurrence that the Panthers had more than 30 made field goals came on January 18, 2019, also at Oakland, when Milwaukee was 32-for-64.

Against Detroit Mercy in December, the Panthers had 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.

HIGH FIVE!
Over the team's five-game stretch from January 28 through February 12, the Panthers have had five players reach career-highs in games as Emma Wittmershaus got the run started with a 25-point effort against IUPUI on January 28.

Kendall Nead had 24 points in the following game against Oakland, while Jada Donaldson wrapped up the weekend trip to the Detroit Metro area with a career-best 16 against the Titans of Detroit Mercy.

Milwaukee was held without a career-best scoring effort against Wright State, but Grace Crowley with 19 and Anna Lutz with 16 points both had new career-highs in points against Northern Kentucky on February 12.

MEGAN'S MILESTONES
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.

• Points (10th, 1,351)
• Rebounds (4th, 878)
• Rebounding Average (4th, 7.6)
• Offensive Rebounds (t-7th, 242)
• Defensive Rebounds (2nd, 636)
• Field Goals Made (6th, 536)
• Field Goals Attempted (10th, 1,075)
• Field Goal Percent (5th, 49.8)
• Free Throw Percent (4th, 85.1)
• Blocks (4th, 156)
• Minutes (9th, 3,364)
• Minutes/Game (9th, 29.3)
• Double-Doubles (5th, 24)
• Games Started (t-5th, 111)
• Double-Digit Rebounds (4th, 31)

WALSTAD'S HELPING HAND
Playing the inside-out game, Megan Walstad had a career-high nine assists in the team's home game against IUPUI in late January. Her previous career-high was five on several occasions in her career, most recently in the team's win at home against Detroit Mercy on December 29.

The last time a player listed on Milwaukee's roster as a center or forward and had more than five assists in one game was Steph Kostowicz, who had a dozen in the team's March 15, 2018 win over Northern Iowa. Kostowicz accomplished the feat six times during her senior season in 2017-18, and seven times in her career.

SECOND HALF STRUGGLES
The Milwaukee defense has been strong this year, however, the Panthers have been running out of steam in the second half.

Over the last 16 games, Milwaukee has given up an average of 35.2 points in the second half. Opponents are shooting 46.6 percent (201-of-431) from the floor and 42.1 percent (64-for-152) from three-point range over the final 20 minutes.

FINDING THE RANGE
Milwaukee has been finding its shooting range from three-point, as 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 30 percent in nine of their last 17 contests.

Over the last 17 games, Angie Cera is 17-for-46 from three (38.7 percent), Megan Walstad is 12-for-31 (38.7 percent), Kamy Peppler is 24-for-66 (36.4 percent), while Emma Wittmershaus is also at 40.5 percent having connected on 6-of-16 from deep.

OFFENSIVE BOARDS TURNING INTO POINTS
The Panthers have recorded double-digit offensive rebounds in eight of their last 15 contests and have made the most of their chances.

In that span, Milwaukee has totaled 144 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 92-30 (.754) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 71-16 (.816).

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 half of the Horizon League in points allowed and field goal percentage defense.

Milwaukee is allowing 60.8 points per game through 19 league contests and holding the opposition to 38.9 percent shooting overall. In comparison, the Panthers have connected on 44.1 percent from the field over that span.

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.