MILWAUKEE – The 2024-25 women's basketball season gets underway on Monday as the Milwaukee Panthers visit the St. Thomas Tommies at Schoenecker Arena on Nov. 4 at 5:00 p.m.

The game will be available on the Summit League Network, with live stats also available at the links found on MKEPanthers.com. Milwaukee's audio stream available and All New Black & Gold Network, as Matt Menzl returns for his ninth season with the program, fans can also find the audio stream on the 'Varsity Network' App (available in the App Store & Google Play).

THE MATCHUP
Monday, Nov. 4 – Milwaukee at St. Thomas | Schoenecker Arena | St. Paul, Minn. | 5:00 pm
 
QUICK LINKS
Watch on Summit League Network: mkepanthers.com/coverage
Listen on Black & Gold Network: mkepanthers.com/coverage
Listen on Varsity Network: App Store & Google Play
Live Stats: mkepanthers.com/coverage
Follow Along (On X): @MKE_WBB
 
FAST FACTS
» Milwaukee opens year 13 of the Kyle Rechlicz Era on Monday as the Panthers will open the season against St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. This will be the second-ever meeting between the Panthers and Tommies, with the first meeting coming a season ago at the Klotsche Center on Dec. 7.
» The Panthers finished 2023-24 with a 16-16 overall record and a 10-10 mark in the Horizon League, Milwaukee was the fifth seed in the Horizon League Tournament and fell to fourth-seeded Wright State in the quarterfinal round.
» This season, Milwaukee was projected to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll with 85 points, trailing just Cleveland State, Green Bay, and Purdue Fort Wayne. Kamy Peppler was named a Preseason All-League Honoree entering play this season.
» The Black & Gold are comprised of 15 student-athletes, including 10 returners and five newcomers. Three starters are back from a season ago including Jada Donaldson, Anna Lutz, and Kamy Peppler. 2023-24 All-Freshman selection Jorey Buwalda is also back for her sophomore season, along with Jada Williams and Justina Hernandez, who logged minutes for the Panthers a year ago.
» All Milwaukee home games, and all Horizon League matchups will be available on ESPN+, with 30 of 31 games this season available on the All New Black & Gold Network with Matt Menzl returning for his ninth season with the program. Audio coverage will also be available on the Varsity Network app and searching 'Milwaukee' in the search bar, The Varsity Network app is available in both the Apple Store & Google Play.

SCOUTING ST. THOMAS
St. Thomas begins year four as a Division I program and opens their season at home for the first time since joining the ranks after beginning the previous three seasons at Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, and Drake. Ruth Sinn enters year 20 as the head coach of the Tommies and has led the program to 390 wins, which included 11 consecutive seasons of 20+ wins from 2009-10 through 2019-20.

The Tommies were selected fifth in this year's Summit League preseason poll, while Jade Hill and Amber Scalia were named Preseason All-League selections, becoming the first in program history to do so. Scalia and Hill combined for 36 of the team's 67 points in last year's 67-65 win over the Panthers at the Klotsche Center on Dec. 7 last season.

St. Thomas has 16 on their roster entering the 2024-25 season including six Wisconsinites. Freshman Mikayla Werner played at Hortonville High School with current Panthers Kamy Peppler and Kallie Peppler.

The team finished last season with a 15-16 overall record with a 7-9 mark in the Summit League and finished fifth in the league standings, falling to fourth-seeded South Dakota, 70-57.

UP NEXT
Following the team's season-opening trip to St. Thomas, the Panthers will make their home debut on Nov. 6 in a matchup against the Caroll Pioneers. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Klotsche Center with coverage of the game available on ESPN+ and the Black & Gold Network with Matt Menzl.

SEASON OPENERS
The Panthers are 2-3 over their last five season openers and are 6-6 under Kyle Rechlicz in openers since taking over in 2012-13. Since joining the Division I level, Milwaukee is 12-22 in lid lifters.

This is the first time that Milwaukee is opening the season against a team from the Summit League since the 2016-17 season, when MKE began the year at home against Western Illinois, who was then a member of the league. The Panthers also began the 2014-15 season against North Dakota State, and Northern Iowa to open the 1990-91 season, when the league was then known as the Mid-Continent Conference.

This will be the first time that Milwaukee opens the season west of the Mississippi River since visiting Drake to begin the 2017-18 season. The team also opened the season again Southeast Missouri State in 1997-98 and Northern Iowa in 1990-91.

The last time Milwaukee opened the season against a team from the state of Minnesota pre-dates Milwaukee's run in Division I, when the team hosted St. Mary's (Minn.) to begin the 1988-89, while the Panthers have never opened the season in the North Star State.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
This season, Milwaukee's roster will feature 15 student-athletes representing five different states as well as New Zealand. The Panthers return 10 players from last year's team, while bringing in five newcomers including three true freshmen, and a pair of transfers.

Three of the 10 returners are starters from a season ago, including Jada Donaldson, Anna Lutz, and Kamy Peppler. Three other Panthers saw time off the bench last season including Jorey Buwalda, Jada Williams, and Justina Hernandez. The remaining four returners did not see any action as Hallie Majoros recovered from injury, while Izzy Pugh, Sophia Rampulla, and Payton Rechlicz took a redshirt season.

Milwaukee's trio of freshmen include Kendall Barnes of Minneapolis, Cece McNair of Prior Lake, Minnesota, and Kallie Peppler of Hortonville, Wis.

The pair of transfers include Kacee Baumhower, who comes to Milwaukee via Wright State, while Grace Lomen joins Milwaukee after two seasons at Parkside.

SCHEDULE SUMMARY
Milwaukee will have 11 non-conference games this season which includes the season opener against St. Thomas on Nov. 4. The team will have its home opener against the first of three first-time opponents with Carroll on Nov. 6.

The Panthers will play former Horizon foes Butler (Nov. 9) and Valparaiso (Nov. 14) at home before traveling to Wisconsin for their 28th all-time meeting against the Badgers. The toughest opponent on the slate will be Kansas State, ranked 13th in the WBCA Preseason Coaches Poll, on Nov. 20, before a home matchup against Northern Illinois on Nov. 24.

A pair in Puerto Rico will follow with first-time opponent American on Nov. 27, before the Panthers will take on Air Force a day later, looking to stay unblemished (2-0) against the Falcons. After a year hiatus, Milwaukee will visit Marquette on Dec. 15 at the Al McGuire Center, before wrapping up the out-of-league slate at Central Michigan on Dec. 22.

Horizon League play will begin at Youngstown State on Dec. 4, with the first home league game coming against Green Bay on Dec. 11. The annual 'School Day' game will come against Oakland on Jan. 16, while the team will celebrate 'Senior Day' against YSU on Feb. 8. The regular season comes to a close at home against Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 27.

YEAR 13 FOR RECHLICZ
Milwaukee is led by Kyle Rechlicz, who enters year 13 as the head coach of the Panthers. The 2016 Horizon League Coach of the Year has coached 11 All-Horizon League selections during her time at the helm, while also coaching four All-Defensive Team honorees and five All-Freshman Team selections.

Rechlicz became the Horizon League's most veteran coach with the retirement of Green Bay's Kevin Borseth earlier this summer. Jeff Tungate of Oakland is second in the league, having started in 2013-14, while Cleveland State's Chris Kielsmeier began his tenure in 2018-19. There will be four new coaches in the Horizon League this season including Jeff Hans (Northern Kentucky), Melissa Jackson (Cleveland State), Kayla Karius (Green Bay), and Chandler McCabe (Robert Morris).

THE COACHING STAFF
Returning for year seven with the Panthers will be Associate Head Coach Stacy Cantley, who was promoted to that role in June 2021 after three seasons as an assistant coach.

Four new faces join the Milwaukee staff including Cassie Lastivka (previously an assistant coach at Ohio Northern), Fletcher Brown (previously the head coach at Chandler Gilbert CC in Arizona), Malika Glover (formerly an assistant coach at Youngstown State), and Anthony Houston (most recently the head men's basketball coach at Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee).

RETURNING HONOREE
Milwaukee returns one student-athlete that received postseason honors by the Horizon League in 2023-24 as sophomore Jorey Buwalda was named to the All-Freshman team as a rookie. Buwalda appeared in all 32 games for Milwaukee as a freshman, including seven starts, and was just shy of 600 minutes played.

Statistically, Buwalda averaged 7.7 points per game, while connecting on 48.2 percent from the floor, and had an impressive 82.6 percent from the free throw line. She also averaged 5.5 rebounds per game and was second on the team with 11 blocks a year ago, while also contributing to the defensive effort with 24 steals.

SHE LIT IT UP, BURNED IT DOWN, AND EARNED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Last season, the Panthers closed the regular season with an upset of the then-top-seeded Green Bay by a 65-61 score at the Kress Center on March 2, led by a career-best 25 points from Kamy Peppler.

The loss prevented Green Bay from clinching a regular season title and was the first time that Green Bay lost their last home game of the regular season since the 1997-98 season, when Milwaukee knocked off the Phoenix 58-41 on Feb. 21 of that season.

Following her 25-point effort, Peppler was named Horizon League Player of the Week for the first time in her career, following a pair of Freshman of the Week Awards and a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2022-23.

MISSED IT BY ONE
In 2023-24, Milwaukee finished the season with 516 assists, one shy of tying the Division I record set back in 2005-06, when that year's team finished with 517 assists. The team's all-time mark is 520 assists set during the 1988-89 campaign, when the team at the NAIA level.

The Panthers had a season-best 27 assists in the team's win over McNeese on Nov. 17, 2023, which was the most in a single game since the program had 31 in a double overtime game against Bradley in Dec. 2012. The last time Milwaukee had at least 27 assists in a regulation game came back in 2000, when the Panthers had 28 against Central Michigan in December of that year.

NINTH IN THE NATION
Milwaukee finished the 2023-24 season ninth in all of Division I in free throw percentage of the 349 programs at the NCAA's highest level. The Panthers finished the season 78.8 percent from the line, which includes returners Jada Donaldson (88.5), Anna Lutz (82.9), and Jorey Buwalda (82.6) all boosting the team average. The Panthers also brought in Kacee Baumhower, who led the Horizon League in free throw percentage in 2023-24 at 83.5 percent among those that qualified.

DONALDSON'S ATR
Last season, Jada Donaldson finished the season with a 2.50 assist/turnover ratio, which was second in the Horizon League and tied for 17th in all of Division I with Paige Bueckers of UConn. That number was well above her career average of 2.07 assists to turnovers, with 195 assists and 94 turnovers in 102 career games.

Milwaukee as a team ended the year with a 0.97 assist/turnover ratio (516 assists/533 turnovers), which was third-best in the Horizon League and 94th in the nation. Green Bay led the nation with a 1.74 assist/turnover ratio.

KEEP IT CLASSY
Kamy Peppler set a pair of records for Panther sophomores as she tied Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner for most starts as a sophomore with 31. She also set the sophomore record for assists with 153, which was second-most on the overall single-season record, trailing Angela Rodriguez, who had 168 in 2013-14.

Peppler also became the first player to record at least 100 assists in back-to-back seasons since Rodriguez had 168 in 2013-14, following her 114 assists in 2012-13.

Jorey Buwalda finished second on the freshman list with 32 games played, third with 176 rebounds, fourth with 5.5 rebounds per game, fifth in field goal percentage at .482, and third in free throw percentage connecting on 82.6 percent from the line.

BUWALDA BOARDS LEADS TO WINS
The Panthers finished the 2023-24 season with an 8-2 record in games when Jorey Buwalda was Milwaukee's leader in rebounding. She recorded double-digits in rebounds in four games this past season with the Panthers scoring wins in all four of those matchups.

TOPS IN MINUTES
Last season, Milwaukee had four players finish the season in the top-25 in minutes played, including Jada Donaldson (32.9) and Kamy Peppler (32.4), who finished fifth and seventh respectively. Despite graduating both Kendall Nead (13th, 31.0) and Angie Cera (24th, 28.9), the Panthers added another top minutes-getter in the Horizon League last season as Kacee Baumhower finished sixth in the league at 32.5 per game.

FINDING WINS IN THE PAINT
Last season, when Milwaukee scored more than 25 points in the paint the Panthers had a 12-6 record, while the team was 4-10 when scoring fewer than 25 points in the paint.

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. Since 2016-17, Milwaukee is 108-37 (.745) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 92-20 (.821).

When shooting under 40 percent, Milwaukee is 26-77 (.252). The Panthers are 1-9 in contests this season, when shooting under 40 percent.

KEEPING THE FOULS DOWN
Since 2022-23, when Milwaukee has committed 11 fouls or fewer, the Panthers are 11-1. On the contrary, the Panthers are 7-19 when they have committed 18 or more fouls in a contest.

OFFENSIVE BOARDS TURNING INTO POINTS
The Panthers recorded double-digit offensive rebounds in nine of their last 18 contests in 2022-23 and made the most of their chances. In that span during 2022-23 Milwaukee totaled 161 second-chance points.

The Panthers registered double-digit offensive boards in 16 of their 32 games during the regular season including a season-best 20 against Viterbo on December 20. Milwaukee scored 311 second chance points in 2023-24, including a season-high 22 second-chance points against Viterbo. Milwaukee has earned more second-chance points than their opponents in 15 of their 32 games last season.

CLOSING IN ON 500
Milwaukee enters the 2024-25 season with 487 wins at the Division I level, dating back to its inaugural DI season in 1990-91. MA Kelling led the team with 57 wins over the first five year, while Jenny Sell won four games in 1995-96. Sandy Botham had 245 wins, while current head coach Kyle Rechlicz has added 181 to the all-time total.

CHECK THAT DIAL
This season, Milwaukee has made the move to one of the leading audio providers in all of college sports with their audio-only streams now available online directly through the team's home website MKEPanthers.com, as well as on The Varsity Network. Fans can download 'Varsity Network' in the App Store on iOS devices and Google Play and search "Milwaukee" to find the live audio stream of Panther games.