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WBB Recap 1-7-2024
75
Winner Milwaukee MKE 8-9,2-4 Horizon
67
Northern Ky. NKU 2-12,0-5 Horizon
Winner
Milwaukee MKE
8-9,2-4 Horizon
75
Final
67
Northern Ky. NKU
2-12,0-5 Horizon
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Milwaukee MKE 13 19 22 21 75
Northern Ky. NKU 15 16 22 14 67

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Sean Engel, Director of Athletic Communications

Strong Effort Sends Milwaukee Past Northern Kentucky, 75-67

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Milwaukee women's basketball tallied its first win of the 2024 calendar year on Sunday, knocking off the Northern Kentucky Norse by a 75-67 margin at Truist Arena in suburban Cincinnati.
 
After a back-and-forth first half, the Panthers held the slimmest of leads at 32-31 through the opening 20 minutes. The third quarter was a scoring explosion for both teams went off as a game-high 22 points aside capped off by a buzzer-beating shot at the conclusion of the period by Kamy Peppler.
 
NKU took a two-point lead after leading the fourth quarter off with a three-pointer, before Milwaukee tied the game at 56 with a pair from the line. Jada Williams gave Milwaukee a two-point advantage with 8:33 to go as the Panthers never gave back the lead. The Norse kept Milwaukee within two scores until Angie Cera knocked down a three from the elbow to make it a 66-59 score with four minutes to go.

MKE led by as many as 12 and eventually won the game by the eight-point difference.
 
"It was a true team effort," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. "We came out and found a way to win on the road, even when we were missing some of the shots that we normally make, says a lot about our character, and I'm really proud of this team."
 
The Panthers had 28 points in the paint and 24 points off Norse turnovers, making the most of their opportunities as NKU turned the ball over 18 times. Milwaukee also had 10 second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds and won the rebounding battle 39-35. MKE shot 46.3 percent from the field, the team's best mark in six conference contests this season.
 
"We were aggressive and in attack mode … we were putting ourselves in a position to draw contact", Rechlicz commented on the Panthers attempting a season-high 32 free throw attempts. Milwaukee also attempted 15 three-pointers and made six on the game. "We had been taking a lot of quick threes, but we want to put the ball on the floor and attack, and we scored better because of it."
 
All eight players for the Panthers that played recorded points on the scoresheet including a team-best 24 points from Peppler, who finished the game connecting on eight field goals, including four from beyond the arc. Peppler also finished the game with team bests in assists and steals with three of each.
 
Jorey Buwalda continued her strong road trip with a double-double performance of 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Buwalda got to the free throw line 11 times on the game and converted on eight. The Panthers tied their season-best with 19 made free throws on the afternoon.
 
Anna Lutz had nine points and five rebounds with a pair of steals, while Kendall Nead scored seven points with three boards. Grace Crowley had six points, while Cera ended the game with five points. Williams had four points and three rebounds, while Jada Donaldson added two points to round out the scoring summary for the Panthers.
 
The first half had six lead changes with Milwaukee ending up on top by a 32-31 score with Peppler leading all first-half scorers with a dozen points on 4-of-8 shooting, and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
 
Nead got Milwaukee started with a jumper in the paint before Northern Kentucky took back the lead with seven unanswered. Peppler knocked down the first of her three pointers to get MKE going on a nine-point run of their own capped off by a pair at the free throw line from Peppler. Northern Kentucky closed out the period on an 8-2 run to take a 15-13 lead into the second quarter.
 
The second quarter was just as evenly matched as the two sides wrestled the lead between one another, including lead changes on each of the final make for both teams with Milwaukee getting the final leg up on a make by Peppler to put the Panthers ahead by a 32-31 score at the break.
 
Lutz scored the first five points of the second half on a layup and a three-pointer to extend Milwaukee's lead to six. Northern Kentucky tied the game at 39 and led by as many as eight in the waning minutes of the third. After a made three by Peppler, the Norse scored one at the line before MKE scored another four at the stripe by Crowley and Williams.
 
Northern Kentucky looked to extend its two-point lead late in the quarter but coughed the ball away. Milwaukee took advantage as Peppler dribbled across midcourt and to the right wing, where she pulled up from beyond the arc and knocked down a pivotal three-pointer at the buzzer to put Milwaukee back up by one heading to the final quarter.  
 
Despite giving up the lead in the final second of the third, NKU took back the lead to open the fourth before Milwaukee leveled the score at 56. Williams gave the Panthers their final lead of the game, which continued to grow on points by Nead, Lutz, and Buwalda. MKE led by four in the closing minutes before Cera made it a three-score game with a three-pointer to increase the Panther lead to seven at 66-59.
 
Buwalda extended Milwaukee's lead to 10 with free throws, before Donaldson gave the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 12 with a pair from the stripe to make it 74-62. NKU scored the next five before Buwalda sank a free throw to wrap-up the win for Milwaukee at 75-67.
 
Milwaukee returns home on Thursday morning to play host to the Robert Morris Colonials at the Klotsche Center for its annual 'School Day' game presented by Educator's Credit Union. The game is slated to tip at 11:00 a.m.
 
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