MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team recorded a 90-79 non-conference win over Valparaiso on Thursday evening behind a career-high 28-point effort from Kacee Baumhower.
 
Baumhower finished the game with eight field goal makes including five from beyond the arc and a 7-for-7 effort from the free throw line. Jorey Buwalda had a season-best 17 points off the bench, while Anna Lutz recorded her second double-double of the season with an 11-point, 10-rebound effort.
 
As a team, the Panthers made 25 from the floor and for the second time this season had at least 10 three-point makes, finishing the game with 11. The Panthers also got to the free throw line 37 times and converted on 29.
 
"I like our confidence on offense right now," commented head coach Kyle Rechlicz postgame. "The ball is really moving well from one side of the court to the other. It was also nice to see a positive assist to turnover ratio against a tough defense."
 
The Panthers finished the game with 17 assists to 14 turnovers on the game, including a team-best eight from Kamy Peppler. Milwaukee also held the rebounding advantage with 39 boards to the 28 by Valpo. Valparaiso was successful in the paint, however, with 40 points to the 26 by Milwaukee.
 
"Credit to Valpo, they were aggressive and found ways to score," Rechlicz added. "We have to pick up our defensive end to keep that from happening as we move forward this season."
 
Valparaiso pushed the Panthers throughout the game, but Milwaukee was able to answer on each occasion and never looked back after trailing 2-0, leading from the 7:39 mark of the first quarter onward.
 
"We learned from our first two overtime games and used it as motivation to make sure we play a complete game," noted Rechlicz.
 
The Panthers doubled up the Beacons after the opening 10 minutes with an impressive 26-13 start, as Milwaukee shot 8-of-16 overall and made a game-best five three-pointers in the opening stanza.
 
Milwaukee led by as many as 15 in the final seconds of the opening quarter, before Valparaiso sliced the lead down to six midway through the second. The Panthers rebuilt their lead back to 11 on a last-second layup by Lutz to take a 47-36 halftime lead.
 
In the third, MKE got its lead back to 15 at 55-40 following a three-point make from Payton Rechlicz. The Beacons got as close as nine in the third and had an early threat in the fourth quarter with three-point makes to close the gap to eight.
 
Milwaukee was able to finish off the 11-point win, getting points from Baumhower, Buwalda, and Lutz to seal the victory in the final five minutes.

Jada Donaldson finished the game with nine points and three rebounds, while Peppler had eight points to go along with her eight assists. Rechlicz finished the game with six, Kallie Peppler had five, Jada Williams tallied four and Izzy Pugh chipped in with two points.
 
All five of Milwaukee's starters played at least 28 minutes in the game, leaving limited opportunity for a skillful Panther bench. "We've had players that have had great weeks of practice and are fantastic players," Rechlicz noted on the team's depth. "We've got players on our bench that should be playing, but it is challenging in situations when our starters have been playing as well as they have … as we move through the season, I believe we can find time for our bench to contribute, as they're completely capable of getting the job done."
 
Milwaukee will return to play on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., as the Panthers will visit the Kohl Center to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The game will be available on the Black & Gold Network, as well as streaming on the Varsity Network App.