DAYTON, Ohio – The Milwaukee women's basketball team had four players reach double figures in scoring, while Anna Lutz recorded her third double-double in the last four games, but it was the Wright State Raiders to come out on top by a 77-70 margin at the Nutter Center on Friday evening.
 
The Panthers outscored Wright State 55-49 in the final three quarters, but it was the first quarter that ultimately cost Milwaukee as the Raiders opened the game with a 28-15 lead.
 
"We can't start like that," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz after the slow start. "We need to be hungrier at the start of the games ... other than the first quarter, I love how we battled as a team."
 
Milwaukee shot 38.8 percent from the field, including 26.3 percent from three, however the defense was not able to hold down the Raider offense as Wright State shot 46.8 percent overall and 48.0 percent from three-point range.
 
The Panthers outrebounded the Raiders by a considerable margin at a 48-29 clip, including 19 offensive boards for MKE which converted into 15 second-chance points.
 
"We were monsters on the board, and that's a credit to our heart and competitiveness," added Rechlicz.
 
While Lutz had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Jorey Buwalda led Milwaukee in scoring with 15 points and had eight rebounds. Kendall Nead added a dozen points with six boards, while Angie Cera tacked on 10 points in the effort.
 
Also scoring for the Panthers were Jada Donaldson with nine points and five rebounds, Kamy Peppler had eight points while Grace Crowley chipped in with four points and seven rebounds.
 
Nead and Donaldson had a team-best three assists each, while Lutz and Donaldson led the Panthers with two steals. Buwalda and Lutz had one block each on the night.
 
Milwaukee trailed 9-8 after tying the score on its first three offensive makes, but the Panther offense got stuck in neutral as the Raiders built up a 25-12 before Buwalda stepped back for a three-pointer to get MKE back within 10. Wright State scored a final three pointer with time expiring to take a 28-15 lead into the second quarter.
 
Lutz opened the second period with a layup, but the Raiders scored the next six and took its largest lead of the opening half at 18 with a 37-19 advantage midway through the second. The two sides split the next six points with WSU ahead 40-22 with 4:18 left in the half.
 
Cera got the Panther offense kickstarted with a nine-point run as she knocked down a corner three-pointer before dropping a layup. Buwalda took a pass from Crowley for a layup, followed by a Nead layup from Donaldson with MKE trimming the deficit to nine at 40-31. Wright State knocked down back-to-back threes ahead of two Milwaukee free throws as the Raiders led at the break, 46-33.
 
Peppler got Milwaukee within 10 after sinking a three-pointer to open the second half, before the Panthers got the deficit down to nine on a Cera layup with 6:51 to go in the third. A 12-4 run by the Raiders propelled WSU to a 17-point advantage, with time expiring Nead knocked down a mid-range shot and made it a 65-50 game heading into the fourth quarter.
 
To open the final 10 minutes, Milwaukee scored the first three points with a layup by Peppler and free throw from Cera. The Raiders responded and built back another 17-point lead before Buwalda sparked a run with a three-point play with 2:25 left in the game. After a steal by Nead, Peppler drilled a three-ball followed by a Donaldson layup with 64 seconds left after a defensive board by Buwalda.
 
Cera knocked down a pair from the line with 39 seconds left to make it a seven-point game, but it was not enough as Wright State made two from the line. The Panthers had a three-point look and had offensive chances, with Lutz scoring on the final attempt of the game to cap off the scoring at 77-70.
 
Milwaukee will turn around and play Northern Kentucky on Sunday afternoon at Truist Arena in Highland Heights. The game will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CT).