MILWAUKEE – In a game of runs that saw both teams hold double-figure leads, it was ultimately Northern Kentucky to narrowly edge the Milwaukee women's basketball team by a 67-66 margin with a three-pointer in the final minute to pick up the win.
 
Northern Kentucky controlled the opening portion of the game and led by 11 points late in the first quarter before the Panthers (14-12, 8-7 Horizon) tied the game at 29 late in the opening half. A burst by Milwaukee opened the fourth quarter, as the Panthers took an 11-point lead of their own. Ultimately the Norse closed out the game on a 14-2 run for the one-point win.
 
"The first two minutes of the game and the last two minutes of the game were the exact same," commented head coach Kyle Rechlicz after the game. "We had no intensity and no energy on the defensive side of the ball."
 
Milwaukee was led by Anna Lutz with 17 points on six makes including three from beyond the arc. The Panthers also had double-figure efforts by Jorey Buwalda with 11, while Grace Crowley was a rebound short of a double-double as she scored 12 points.
 
The Panthers connected on 24-of-61 from the field (39.3 percent), their lowest shooting percentage since January 20 against Detroit Mercy.
 
"We got tight on the offensive side as well," Rechlicz added. "We didn't have any balance today."
 
Despite the shooting numbers, the Panthers had 20 assists on their 24 makes, including a game-high seven from Kamy Peppler, while Crowley tied her career-high with five assists. Milwaukee also controlled the rebounding battle at 38-28, led by Crowley's nine, including 17 offensive boards but it wasn't enough.
 
"[Offensive rebounding] was a big emphasis for us but we didn't turn them into points as much as we needed to," Rechlicz concluded. "Northern Kentucky got eight offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points, we get 17 and scored 10 points."
 
Northern Kentucky's leading rebounder with 10 was Carter McCray, who finished the game with a double-double as she scored 11 points. Noelle Hubert led the Norse with six three-pointers for a career-high 18 points.
 
NKU led by nine with the first four makes of the game and led by the same margin after the first quarter. Milwaukee sliced the lead back down to one at 27-26 on a Jada Donaldson jump shot, followed by a make by the Norse. Peppler tied the game at 29 with a late three-pointer, before Northern Kentucky responded with a three of their own to take a 32-29 lead into the break.
 
The Panthers kept the game close through the third quarter including game-tying threes by both Lutz and Buwalda. Kendall Nead gave Milwaukee its first lead of the game at 45-44, with the one-point lead holding until the fourth.
 
Milwaukee scored nine of the first 10 points of the fourth period and led 60-51 following a Donaldson three. Buwalda extended the lead to 11 on a layup, but the 14-2 run by the Norse ultimately cost Milwaukee the game as the Panthers went 1-for-6 over that span including a turnover.
 
Milwaukee heads back on the road for its final out-of-state road trip of the regular season as MKE heads to Purdue Fort Wayne at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Thursday, February 15.