MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team tied a program record on Saturday afternoon with 11 blocks in the team's contest against Cleveland State. Despite the record, the Panthers were unable to overcome an 11-points halftime deficit and fell by a 63-56 score on Senior Day.
 
The loss locked Milwaukee (10-18, 8-12 Horizon) into the seventh seed as the Panthers will host 10th seed Robert Morris in the opening round of the Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship beginning at 7 p.m. on February 28.
 
After trailing by 11 at the break and by as many as 13 in the second half, Milwaukee was able to close the deficit to four with 4:53 left in the third quarter. Milwaukee continued its run into the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and tied the score at 49 with 7:34 left in the game, but a 10-point rally by the Vikings thwarted the Panther comeback attempt at taking the lead.
 
"It's tough because we had multiple times where we went on a run," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz on the four turnovers that spurred the 10-point Viking run. "It wasn't our competitiveness; it was our mistakes along with missing free throws that could have made it a one-possession game towards the end."
 
The 11 blocks tied the program record from December 3, 1996, when the Panthers had the same number against Marquette. Leading the way and tying a career-high five blocks was Megan Walstad, while Emma Wittmershaus also tied a career-high with four. Angie Cera jumped in on the block party with two of her own to also tie her career high.
 
Cera and Jessi Giles led the team on offense with 13 points apiece, for Giles a new Panther-high. Kendall Nead also reached double figures with 11 points, as Wittmershaus added eight points and six rebounds.
 
Nead opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but Cleveland State answered before the game was tied at nine with 2:26 to go in the period. A seven-point Viking run gave the Cleveland State a 16-9 lead before Anna Lutz converted on a jumper to pull MKE within two scores heading into the second quarter.
 
Cleveland State could never get more that a two-score lead in the second quarter until the final minute of the half as a 6-0 run put the Vikings up by a 34-23 margin at the break.
 
The Vikings led by 13 in the early stages of the second half, before Wittmershaus scored at the 7:13 point of the third quarter to spark a six-point rally as Walstad and Nead scored to get the Panthers within seven at 40-33. Cera knocked down a three to get Milwaukee within four at the 4:53 mark, but Cleveland State led by six going to the fourth.
 
Giles opened the fourth period with a three-pointer to get the Panthers within one score at 47-44, and after another layup by the Vikings, it was Giles again to knock down a three-pointer to make it a two-point game at 49-47. After a failed possession by the Vikings, Milwaukee came back down and converted a quick layup by Giles to knot the score at 49.
 
Four-straight Panther turnovers were costly as the Vikings responded with 10-straight points. Wittmershaus put an end to the run with a jumper, while Nead sank a free throw and Cera converted her third three-pointer of the day to get the Panthers within four at 59-55.
 
Milwaukee was unable to get any closer as Cleveland State closed out the game on a 4-1 run to record the 63-56 win.
 
Walstad led the team with 11 rebounds and added four points, while Grace Crowley added five points. Cera led Milwaukee with three steals, while Kamy Peppler had a team-best seven assists with Jada Donaldson adding four assists.