MILWAUKEE – Behind career nights from Anna Lutz and Kamy Peppler, the Milwaukee women's basketball team upended the Oakland Golden Grizzlies by a 67-51 score at the OU Credit Union O'Rena on Thursday evening. The win extends Milwaukee's win streak to four consecutive games, while it also gives the Panthers a 5-3 record in road games this season.
 
Lutz recorded a career-best 24 points including two of Milwaukee's four three-point baskets on the night, as the Marshall, Wisconsin-native finished the game going 11-of-12 from the field. Her 91.6 percent from the field was the second highest in the program's Division I history, with just the 13-of-14 performance from Steph Kostowicz on March 3, 2016, edging out Lutz' mark, Kostowicz also had her program-best mark against Oakland on the road.
 
Milwaukee connected on 29 field goals as a team and had 21 assists, both marks were the fourth-best on the season. Leading the way on assists was Peppler, who shattered her previous career mark of nine with 14 assists on the game, in the process she also tied the program's Division I single-game record of 14 assists, set by Pam Bartnik against Marquette on January 17, 1994. It was the first time a Panther had at least 10 assists in a single game in 182 tries, last accomplished by Kostowicz with 12 assists in the WNIT First Round matchup at Northern Iowa on March 15, 2018.
 
"I was so proud of our effort and the intensity that we played with throughout the game," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz postgame. "Kamy [Peppler] did a great job of finding Anna [Lutz] ... the shots kept falling for Anna, so we had to keep getting the ball to her."
 
The Panthers finished the game shooting 51.8 percent from the field, improving to 8-2 on the year when shooting 42.0 percent or better. Milwaukee also committed just 10 fouls, to move to 4-0 when committing 10 fouls or fewer in 2023-24. MKE also won the rebounding battle with 45 boards, including a season-best 32 defensive rebounds.
 
Milwaukee did surrender 23 offensive rebounds to the Golden Grizzlies, a season-low, but were able to hold Oakland to just seven second-chance points. "[Oakland] was very successful on the boards against us, but we stayed with it," added Rechlicz. "They weren't able to score on the offensive boards and get putback points, because we stayed competitive and fought throughout the game."
 
Jorey Buwalda was a point shy of a double-double as she ended the game with 11 rebounds to lead the Panthers. Buwalda was tied with Angie Cera and Kendall Nead, who also had nine points, while the duo also had four rebounds apiece. Nead chipped in with three assists on offense, while Cera led the Panthers with two steals on defense.
 
Peppler finished the game with six points and six rebounds, while Grace Crowley and Jada Williams each had four points on the night. Jada Donaldson had one make from the floor and three rebounds.
 
It was a big first half for the Panthers in the paint, scoring 24 of its 36 points in the paint during the first 20 minutes led by Lutz with 11 points and Buwalda with nine. Milwaukee also got seven rebounds apiece from Lutz and Buwalda, while Peppler had seven assists for MKE in the opening half.
 
Milwaukee had doubled-up Oakland by halftime at 36-18, but the Golden Grizzlies fought back and turned a 20-point third-quarter deficit into a 12-point margin heading into the fourth. MKE led by as many as 24 points in the fourth before Oakland scored the final eight points of the game.
 
Lutz got Milwaukee started with a layup under the basket to give the Panthers their first lead, but Oakland kept it close through the opening four minutes and trailed by one at 8-7. Lutz connected on a three-pointer to extend Milwaukee's lead to two scores at 11-7 midway through the first.
 
The Panthers scored seven of the final nine points of the opening quarter to take an 18-10 advantage into the second period.
 
Milwaukee extended its lead with the first eight points of the second quarter for a 10-0 scoring run, which was capped off with a layup from Williams. After a Golden Grizzlies layup ended the MKE run, the Panthers scored another eight points consecutively on field goals by Crowley and Cera, followed by four from the line by the same duo.
 
Ahead by a 34-12 score, Oakland scored six of the final eight points of the opening half but trailed the Panthers by a 36-18 score through the opening half of the game.
 
Cera and Lutz got Milwaukee started in the second half with makes from the field, before the Golden Grizzlies scored six of the next eight points. Lutz got another layup off of a Peppler assist, before Oakland scored again, Peppler connected on a layup to give Milwaukee a 20-point lead at 46-26 with 6:33 left in the third.
 
In the waning minutes of the third quarter, Oakland trimmed Milwaukee's lead to 12 with the Panthers heading into the final quarter with a 48-36 advantage.
 
MKE shot out of the fourth quarter with a bang as Peppler found Lutz for a three-pointer resulting in Peppler's 10th assist of the night. Nead dropped a three ball after a defensive board before Donaldson scored a bucket to help the Panthers regain a 20-point advantage.
 
Lutz scored her career-best 24th point of the night on a layup with 3:26 left in the game, as Milwaukee took its largest lead of the night at 67-43. Oakland scored the final eight points of the game to cap off the scoring as Milwaukee came out on top with the 16-point victory for its fifth largest margin of victory of the season.
 
Milwaukee will be back on the floor on Saturday afternoon, when the Panthers visit Calihan Hall in Detroit to take on the Titans of Detroit Mercy. The game tips at 12:00 p.m. (CT).