FAST FACTS
» After a season-opening overtime loss at St. Thomas, Milwaukee returns to the Cream City for its home opener on Wednesday, taking on Carroll for the first time since the Panthers joined the Division I level.
» In the team's season opener,
Kacee Baumhower led the Panthers with 26 points, while three others in the Panther starting lineup all reached double digits in points. The 26 points was not only a Milwaukee-high for Baumhower, making her Panther debut, but also a career-best mark.
» Milwaukee outrebounded the Tommies by a 50-36 margin on Monday, scoring 21 second-chance points. The difference in the game was turnovers, with Milwaukee giving the ball away 21 times to the 15 by St. Thomas.
» Five players made their Panther debuts on Monday, including three that made their collegiate debuts.
Kacee Baumhower and
Grace Lomen saw time after transferring into Milwaukee this past offseason, while
Izzy Pugh,
Sophia Rampulla, and
Payton Rechlicz all made their collegiate debuts.
» Wednesday's contest for Carroll will be an exhibition for the Pioneers. They will open their 2024-25 season on Friday at nearby Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Pioneers are ranked No. 21 in the D3hoops.com Division III poll and are receiving votes in the WBCA Coaches Poll.
» Milwaukee and Carroll have met 17 times prior to Milwaukee joining Division I, with the Panthers owning a 12-5 record against the Pioneers in their pre-1990 matchups.
» 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.
LOOKING AT THE PIONEERS
Last season, the Pioneers finished with a 23-5 record, with a 14-2 mark in the CCIW, and fell in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship to Puget Sound, 74-65. They were projected to finish second in the preseason poll with 58 points, narrowly finishing behind league-favorite Illinois Wesleyan with 63 points.
The Pioneers outscored their opponents by a 17.1 average margin last season, putting up 79.9 points offensive while allowing just 62.7 points a game in 2023-24. The team returns its top-three scorers from a season ago including preseason All-American Oliva Rangel of Franklin, Wisconsin, who averaged 18.5 points per game a year ago. Germantown's Emilie Wizner (14.1 PPG), and Natalie Gricius (16.3 PPG) of Oconomowoc are also back for Carroll.
Carroll is coached by Lindsay Schultz (nee Bronson), who played at nearby Cardinal Stritch and was a member of the Milwaukee women's basketball staff for five seasons, serving as video coordinator in 2006-07, before shifting over to an assistant coaching role from 2007-10.
Coaching is in Schultz' bloodline as her mother, Jody, won 437 matches as the head women's tennis coach at Marquette over 35 seasons. Her father, Walter, was a tennis professional in the greater Milwaukee area. Her brother Tanner is currently on the men's basketball coaching staff at South Carolina, while her sister Corey, is a state championship-winning head coach at Nicolet and coached several Division I players at Homestead High School including recent Milwaukee graduate,
Grace Crowley.
UP NEXT
Milwaukee continues its three-game homestand and will welcome the Butler Bulldogs to the Klotsche Center for a 1 p.m. start. The matchup against the Bulldogs will only be available on ESPN+ and will not be available on the Black & Gold Network.
HOME OPENERS
Milwaukee will open the home season at the Klotsche Center on Nov. 6 against Carroll at 6:00 p.m. It will be the team's first time playing the Pioneers since Milwaukee joined the Division I level.
The last time the two sides met came back during the 1985-86 season, when the Panthers lost 60-58 at home. The Panthers are 12-5 against Carroll in all-time meetings, which dates to the team's first recorded meeting on February 26, 1973, a 38-32 loss for MKE.
The opener against Carroll will be just the second time that the Panthers open a home slate against a non-Division I opponent with the previous occurrence coming against Parkside in 2019-20. It will also be the ninth time that the Panthers will open the home schedule against a team from the state of Wisconsin, including five home openers against Wisconsin, two against Marquette, and the one Parkside matchup.
The Panthers have posted records of .500 or better in each of the past 10 seasons, and 28 of 34 seasons in home games at the Division I level.
KACEE'S SEASON-OPENER
Making her Milwaukee Panther debut,
Kacee Baumhower scored 26 points against St. Thomas, including 19 of those points after halftime. The 26 points were the most in a season opener for a Panther since Jamie Reit had 31 points at the Klotsche Center against Parkside to open the 2019-20 season. Baumhower's previous career high was 23, as a member of Wright State against Detroit Mercy on Jan. 13, 2023.
SEASON-OPENING PERFORMANCES
Four Panthers scored in double figures during the season opener on Nov. 4 at St. Thomas, including
Kacee Baumhower (26),
Anna Lutz (15),
Kamy Peppler (14), and
Payton Rechlicz (13). It was the first time that at least four Panthers reached at least 10 points each in a season opener since 2021, when Milwaukee had Megan Walstad (15), Sydney Staver (14), McKaela Schmelzer (12), and Macy McGlone (10) pick up big point totals in overtime at Ball State.
The three three-pointers for Peppler were most in a season opener since
Angie Cera had four at home against Wisconsin on Nov. 7, 2022. While Lutz' double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds was the first in a season opener since Brandi Bisping had 17 points and 10 rebounds against Parkside on Nov. 6, 2019.
50 BOARDS
After coming within five rebounds on three occasions in 2023-24, including a season-best 49 against Wright State in overtime at the Klotsche Center on Jan. 26, the team posted 50 rebounds in the 2024-25 season opener against St. Thomas. It was the first time Milwaukee had 50 rebounds in a game since the team had 56 in a neutral site matchup against Boise State on Nov. 27, 2022.
IN OVERTIME
With the team's overtime loss to St. Thomas in the season opener on Nov. 4, Milwaukee is now 21-24 in all-time overtime games since joining the Division I level prior to the 1990-91 season. The Panthers have gone to overtime on three occasions in season openers, winning 84-77 over Parkside in 2019-20, and falling to Ball State by an 84-75 score to begin the 2021-22 campaign.
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 on the men's basketball staff at Bryant & Stratton College).
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 2.09 assists to turnovers, with 196 assists and 94 turnovers in 103 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.
This year, the Panthers scored 44 points in their season-opening loss to St. Thomas on Nov. 4.
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 108-38 (.740) 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).
KEEPING THE FOULS DOWN
Since the 2022-23 season, when Milwaukee has committed 11 fouls or fewer, the Panthers are 11-1. On the contrary, the Panthers are 7-20 when they have committed 18 or more fouls in a contest.
OFFENSIVE BOARDS TURNING INTO POINTS
Dating back to the 2022-23 season, the Panthers have pulled down double-digits in offensive rebounds in 26 of their last 51 games and scored 493 second-chance points. Last season, the Panthers had a season-best 20 against Viterbo and eclipsed that mark with 21 in the team's Nov. 4 matchup to open the 2024-25 season at St. Thomas.
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.
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