FAST FACTS
» After a two-game road trip, Milwaukee returns home for its final pair of home games during the 2023-24 regular season beginning with the Detroit Mercy Titans on Thursday evening with the game slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.
» Milwaukee fell in its most recent game to the Cleveland State Vikings, 64-51, as the Panthers were unable to overcome an early deficit despite outscoring the Vikings 30-19 in the closing stretch of the game.
Kamy Peppler led Milwaukee with 11 points, while
Angie Cera,
Kendall Nead, and
Anna Lutz each scored eight points in the effort.
» Detroit Mercy has been reeling of late with losses in four of their last five efforts. Most recently, the Titans fell to Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday by a 10-point margin at 77-67. Amaya Burch led the Titans with 16 points, while Emma Trawally Porta scored a dozen points in the loss.
» All Panther games will feature live stats and live audio with
Matt Menzl on the Black & Gold Network, while fans can also tune into ESPN+ for a majority of this season's contests, including all home contests. Game coverage and gameday programs for home games can all be found on MKEPanthers.com.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Detroit Mercy has an 8-8 record through its first 16 Horizon League contests with just four more to go including its weekend trip to Wisconsin, earlier this season the Titans knocked off the Panthers on a last-second shot for their first win over Milwaukee since February 2, 2017. In the game against the Panthers on January 20, Imani McNeal led the Titans with 13 points, while both Emma Trawally Porta and Paris Gilmore each scored a dozen.
Trawally Porta along with Irene Murua have been a 1-2 punch for the Detroit Mercy offense, as Murua is averaging a team-best 11.1 points per game, while Trawally Porta is adding 9.7 points per game. The duo has been in a back-and-forth battle to lead the team in rebounding with Trawally Porta holding a slim advantage entering play on Thursday with a 213 (7.9/game) to 204 (7.6/game) advantage. Trawally Porta has been a force on the defensive side with 41 blocks this season, and last year had five blocks in a game against the Panthers at Calihan Hall.
Head coach Kate Achter has turned around a struggling Titans team in just two seasons, Detroit Mercy was 1-29 in 2021-22 before Achter arrived. In her first season, the team went 5-25, while they have already tripled the team's win total in year two at 15-12 overall this season. The team is winning on defense and toughness, allowing just 63.2 points per game, good enough for fifth best in the conference and just behind Milwaukee's 62.6 points allowed per game this season. The Titans have held opponents to a league-best 37.8 percent from the field and are also tops in the league in rebounding at 38.8 per contest.
On the flip side, the Titans can certainly improve upon their last place turnover margin, and league-worst assist-turnover ratio, as Detroit Mercy has a -5.26 turnover margin and have 290 assists to 512 turnovers through 27 games.
SERIES HISTORY / LAST MEETING
In 66 all-time meetings, Milwaukee leads the Titans with a 37-29 mark including wins in 35 of 58 all-time conference meetings. At home the Panthers have been successful with a 20-12 mark including last year's record-setting performance that saw the Panthers hold the Titans to just 29 points and a program record 17.5 percent from the field. Detroit scored just seven field goals on 40 attempts in their most recent game at the Klotsche Center on December 29, 2022.
The Titans are looking for their first season series sweep of the Panthers since the 2015-16 season, which saw Detroit Mercy win by 10 points in Milwaukee (89-79), before picking up the home win by an 80-76 score. The last time that Detroit took a season series from the Panthers in which the second leg was in Milwaukee came in the 2011-12 season.
TOPS AT THE MID-MAJOR LEVEL
Among the Division I mid-major programs, Milwaukee is 11th in the nation in free throw percentage at 77.7 percent, which is 21st best out of all Division I programs.
The Panthers are also 11th in the nation, among mid-major programs, in assists per game at 16.5 assists per game with a total of 462 assists this season.
THE RACE TO 100
On Saturday,
Angie Cera became the first of three Panthers to close in on the milestone of 100 made three-point baskets during their collegiate careers. Cera is now 100-for-319 for her career. Also closing in on the century mark are
Kendall Nead, who has 96 in her career, while
Kamy Peppler has 88 career makes from three in just 58 career games.
SOPHOMORE ASSIST RECORD…AND MORE
Against Northern Kentucky on February 10,
Kamy Peppler reached 136 assists on the season to break the record for assists in a season by a sophomore, the previous record was 135 assists, which was set by Pam Bartnik during her sophomore season in 1991-92.
Earlier in the year on January 18 vs. Oakland, Peppler finished the game with a new career high of 14 assists, which tied the program record for assists in a game that had stood since January 17, 1994, when Bartnik also had 14 assists against Marquette during the team's fourth Division I season.
Peppler's total this season leads all Horizon League players and already passes her freshman year mark of 100 set a season ago. With her freshman year total, she became the first player with more than 100 assists in a season since McKaela Schmelzer had 114 in 2018-19. She also became the first player to record at least 100 assists in back-to-back seasons since Angela Rodriguez had 168 in 2013-14, following her 114 assists in 2012-13.
SINGLE-SEASON ASSISTS
1. Angela Rodriguez (2013-14): 168
2. Pam Bartnik (1993-94): 153
3. Jodie McClain (2009-10): 150
4.
Kamy Peppler (2023-24): 142
5. Pam Bartnik (1991-92): 135
AT THE LINE FOR MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee is third in the Horizon League and 21st in NCAA Division I this season in free throw percentage, connecting on 77.7 percent from the charity stripe.
The Panthers are led by
Angie Cera, who is 50-for-54 (92.6 percent) on the season, while
Jada Donaldson is 22-for-25,
Grace Crowley is 33-for-40 and
Anna Lutz is 25-for-31.Â
Jorey Buwalda has connected on a team-best 65 free throws on 79 attempts on the year and is also above the team average.
UNBLEMISHED AT THE LINE
During the team's game at Youngstown State on February 3, the Panthers went 9-for-9 from the free throw line. It was the first time a Panther team had that many made free throws in a game without a miss since January 15, 2021, against Cleveland State. Milwaukee also had an 8-for-8 performance at Purdue Fort Wayne on February 15.
CERA'S SHOT IS GETTING HOT
Since January 18,
Angie Cera returned to form making just under half of her shot attempts at 30-for-67, while leading the team with 17 three-pointers on 40 attempts for a 42.5 percent clip. She is second on the team over that span with 10.3 points per game.
During her hot stretch, Cera had a 5-for-7 performance (71.4 percent) against Detroit Mercy on January 20, and tied her season-best mark with four three pointers on six attempts at home against Wright State on January 26.
LUTZ TURNING IT UP
During her 14-game stretch from December 30 through February 10,
Anna Lutz averaged 11.6 point-per-game total to go along with 7.1 rebounds per game. On January 18 at Oakland, she scored a career-high 24 points while converting on 11-of-12 from the floor. Her 91.7 shooting percentage at the time was the second-best mark for a Panther in a single game, trailing just Steph Kostowicz, who finished a game 13-for-14 in a game at Oakland on March 3, 2016.
Grace Crowley since broke that record with a 10-for-10 performance at Youngstown State on February 3.
During the same stretch, Lutz has connected on 52.9 percent from the floor, on 64-of-121 shooting, while connecting on 13-of-39 of her three-point attempts. At the line she has also made 21-of-26 attempts, and has 22 assists, seven blocks, and 11 steals over her strong stretch.
JOREY JOINING IN ON THE FUN
Jorey Buwalda continues to perform at a high level during her freshman season, including back-to-back selections as Horizon League Freshman of the Week on January 8 and 15, as she has been recognized on three occasions during her rookie campaign.
In just over 220 minutes from January 5 through February 15, Buwalda has been among the team leaders with 37 makes from the field including five from long range. She has shot 52.9 percent from the floor and has gotten to the line 45 times and converted 36 attempts from the stripe (80 percent).
FINDING WINS IN THE PAINT
In the team's win over Robert Morris on January 11, the Panthers got a lot of production from their forwards, with the quartet combining for 31 of Milwaukee's 73 points. As a team, the Panthers scored 44 points in the paint against RMU, their second-highest total this season with 64 against Viterbo being its highest mark.
When Milwaukee scores more than 25 points in the paint, the Panthers have a 11-6 record, while the team is 3-8 when scoring fewer than 25 points in the paint. Milwaukee's three wins when scoring fewer than 25 points in the paint came against Eastern Illinois on December 15, Youngstown State on January 13, and Robert Morris on January 31, the team's season low came back in the season opener against Wisconsin with just 16 points in the paint.
DONALDSON'S ATR
With one assist and two turnovers against Cleveland State,
Jada Donaldson now has a 2.38 assist/turnover ratio this season and is second in the Horizon League. That number is well above her career average of 2.01 assists to turnovers, with 181 assists and 90 turnovers in 99 career games.
Donaldson is 35th in all of Division I with her 2.38 assist/turnover ratio, as the national leader is Kiara Jackson at UNLV with a 3.33 (120 assists/36 turnovers).
Milwaukee as a team has a 0.99 assist/turnover ratio (462 assists/466 turnovers), which is third-best in the Horizon League and 88th in the nation. Green Bay leads the conference and the nation with a 1.68 assist/turnover ratio.
TOPS IN MINUTES
Milwaukee has been able to rely heavily on its veteran leaders to help lead the way with four players averaging 28-plus minutes per game.
Jada Donaldson leads the team at 32.8 minutes per game, followed by
Kamy Peppler at 32.3 minutes per contest.
Kendall Nead is third on the team at 30.7 minutes per contest, while
Angie Cera averages 28.8 minutes per game. All four Panthers are in the top-25 in the Horizon League in minutes per game.
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 have registered double-digit offensive boards in 15 of their 28 games including a season-best 20 against Viterbo on December 20. Milwaukee has scored 292 second chance points this year, including a season-high 22 second-chance points against Viterbo, the Panthers also had 21 second-chance points at Youngstown State on February 3.
Milwaukee has earned more second-chance points than their opponents in 15 of their 28 matchups during the 2023-24 season.
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.
In the last eight seasons, Milwaukee is 106-36 (.747) when hitting at least 40 percent from the field. Bump that field goal percentage to 43 percent and the Panthers are 91-19 (.827).
When shooting under 40 percent since 2016-17, Milwaukee is just 26-76 (.255). The Panthers are 1-8 in contests this season, when shooting under 40 percent.
KEEPING THE FOULS DOWN
Over the past two seasons, when Milwaukee has committed 11 fouls or fewer, the Panthers are 10-1. On the contrary, the Panthers are 6-17 when they have committed 18 or more fouls in a contest.
UNDER PRESSURE
While close games are fun and exciting for fans, such games have not been as favorable for the Panthers this season as Milwaukee is now 0-5 in games decided by five points or fewer. The Panthers had their closest game of the season on February 10 versus Northern Kentucky, a 67-66 loss to the Norse at home. MKE also lost games to Detroit Mercy (Jan. 20; 54-52), St. Thomas (Dec. 7; 67-65), UIC (Nov. 12; 73-70), and Cleveland State (Jan. 1; 65-59).
By comparison the Panthers are 14-9 when games are decided by six or more points, including their 1-0 mark in overtime with a 93-87 win over Wright State on January 26.
PEPPLER FOR THREE
Kamy Peppler is second in the Horizon League with an average of 2.1 three-point field goals per game. Peppler has had two performances with six three-pointers including the team's home opener against UIC, where she also set a new career high in points with 25, while she also had six three-point baskets against McNeese for 22 points. Peppler is 17th in the Horizon League in scoring as she is averaging 11.1 points per game this year.
FOR THE FIRST TIME AT HOME
With Milwaukee's win over IUPUI on Thursday evening, it was the first time that the Panthers defeated the Jaguars at the Klotsche Center in Division I program history. MKE was previously 0-5 in matchups at home against IUPUI since their first meeting at the K in January 2018.
ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT
For the first time in program history a Panther finished a game with a 100.0 percent shooting percent, with a minimum of 10 shots taken as
Grace Crowley went 10-for-10 during the team's game at Youngstown State on February 3.
The previous record for field goal percentage in a game came back on March 3, 2016, when Steph Kostowicz finished 13-for-14 from the floor for a 92.9 percent. Earlier this season,
Anna Lutz made a push for the record as well and finished 11-for-12 at Oakland on January 18. Lutz finished the game with a 91.7 percent from the floor, which now places her third behind Crowley and Kostowicz.
DEFENDING THE THREE OF RMU
In its game at Robert Morris on January 31, the Milwaukee defense held Robert Morris without a three-point make through the Colonials' first 18 attempts. RMU made their first three ball with 56 seconds left in the third and finished the game 4-for-26.
For the season, Milwaukee has allowed a total of six three-point makes on 45 attempts for a total of 13.3 percent. Earlier this season, the Panthers held RMU to a season-best 2-of-19 effort as the Colonials shot just 10.5 percent from three at the Klotsche Center on January 11.
The last time Milwaukee held a team scoreless from beyond the arc was against Marquette on December 8, 2021, as the Golden Eagles went 0-for-3 on the game.
CRASHING THE GLASS
In the January 26 overtime matchup at home against Wright State, the Panthers had a season-best 49 rebounds, eclipsing its previous mark of 48 rebounds on the road against the Raiders earlier in the month at the Nutter Center on January 5.
The last time Milwaukee had at least 49 rebounds in a single game came last season when MKE ripped down 56 boards in overtime win against Boise State. The last time the Panthers had at least 48 rebounds in a regulation game was on December 2, 2021, in a loss at Youngstown State at the Beeghly Center, while the last time Milwaukee won a regulation game with at least 48 rebounds was on March 19, 2021, with 51 rebounds against Drake in the WNIT.
DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE
In their best defensive showing of the season statistically, Milwaukee held Robert Morris to a season-best 27.6 percent from the field on January 31, which was the first time the Panthers held an opponent to under 30.0 percent from the floor since last season's home win against Purdue Fort Wayne on February 23, 2023, when the Mastodons connected on just 24.1 percent.
The Colonials made just 16 of their 48 attempts overall, which is one more make than Viterbo had on December 20. Meanwhile, RMU also struggled from beyond the arc early having missed their first 18 attempts from three before finishing the game 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
A HELPING HAND
With 27 assists during the team's win over McNeese, Milwaukee had the most assists in a single game since the team recorded its program record of 31 set back in December 2012 against Bradley in double overtime. The Panthers nearly tied their mark on January 26, with a 26-assist effort in overtime against Wright State at the Klotsche Center.
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. The team also had 28 assists against Chicago State in January of 2000, while the only other time Milwaukee had 27 assists in a game came back in January of 1991, during its inaugural Division I season against Northeastern Illinois.
GRACE'S TIME IN OVERTIME
During the team's overtime victory over the Wright State Raiders on January 26,
Grace Crowley scored seven of Milwaukee's 14 points in the extra session while pulling down four rebounds. Her totals in overtime gave Crowley her first-career double-double finishing the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
A PAIR OF 20s
For the second time this season, Milwaukee had two players record 20 points in the same game as
Jada Donaldson had a career-best 20 points, while
Anna Lutz had 20 of her own in the team's win over Wright State on January 26.
Milwaukee also had a pair of 20-point games back in November, when
Kendall Nead had 38 and
Kamy Peppler added 22 in the team's win over McNeese.
OVERTIME HISTORY
Milwaukee picked up the win in overtime on January 26 by a 93-87 margin over Wright State at the Klotsche Center, marking the first Panther appearance in overtime since November 27, 2023, against Boise State. The Panthers are 21-23 in all-time overtime contests and are 9-6 in their last 15 games that have gone to over-time.
The Panthers have only gone to double overtime on 10 occasions in program history, most recently in January of 2021 at IUPUI in an 85-83 win.
DOUBLE-FIGURE STREAK
Reaching double figures in scoring for the first 14 games of the season,
Kendall Nead put together the longest run of double-digit scoring performances since former teammate
Megan Walstad had a stretch of 14 games during the 2021-22 season from January 8 to February 24.
Nead scored at least 10 points through the team's first 14 games, which had not been done to open a season since 2017-18 when Steph Kostowicz also opened the year with 14 consecutive games in double-figure scoring. Nead had her streak snapped against Cleveland State on January 1.
HISTORIC NIGHT VERSUS THE V-HAWKS
Milwaukee blitzed the Viterbo V-Hawks on December 20, recording a 100-37 victory in its non-conference finale at the Klotsche Center. The 63-point scoring margin was the largest margin of victory for the team in Division I program history, with the previous mark coming on February 2, 2002, against Youngstown State, when the Panthers won by a 100-46 score.
The 100-point mark for Milwaukee was the first time the Panthers had reached the century mark in a regulation contest since the dual with Youngstown State at home in 2002. In the showing against the Penguins, Milwaukee connected on a then program record of 14 three-pointers, while this time around against the V-Hawks the Panthers only had six three-pointers, while making 39-of-69 from the field overall.
The 39 field goals tied the program record of makes in a regulation contest, set back in the team's inaugural Division I season, when the team also made 39 against Northeastern Illinois on January 22, 1991. The overall program record is 46, during a double-overtime matchup against Bradley on December 4, 2012.
The defense stood up against the Viterbo offense, yielding just 37 points the fewest since the February 23, 2023, matchup at home against Purdue Fort Wayne that saw Milwaukee win by a 64-34 score. In that game, Milwaukee held the Mastodons to just 11 points in the first half to set a new program record, the Panthers nearly tied that mark as MKE allowed just 12 first-half points to Viterbo on December 20.
SWEET 17
For the first time in a regulation game, the Milwaukee Panthers connected on 17 three-pointers in a single game during the team's win over Central Michigan on November 25. It was the first time the Panthers had 17 in a single contest since December 4, 2012, when the team also had 17 in a double-overtime matchup against Bradley.
Milwaukee's previous mark for three-pointers in a regulation game was 16 on November 18, 2014, at North Dakota, while it was Milwaukee's most three-pointers in a home game in regulation since December 31, 2010, against Wright State with 15. Under
Kyle Rechlicz, the team's most three-pointers in a home regulation game was 14 against Cleveland State on February 11, 2017.
20/20 VISION
Milwaukee had its leading scorer score at least 20 points during the team's six-game stretch from November 12-25, including
Kamy Peppler against UIC (25),
Kendall Nead against Louisiana Monroe (21), and McNeese (38),
Jorey Buwalda against Mississippi Valley (20), Nead again against Edgewood (20), and
Anna Lutz versus Central Michigan (23).
It's the first time Milwaukee has had a leading scorer reach at least 20 points over a six-game stretch since the 2015-16 season, when Milwaukee had it happen in eight consecutive games. From mid-February to early March, Jenny Lindner had 23 points for Milwaukee versus Youngstown State, followed by Steph Kostowicz against Valparaiso (27), and UIC (24), Sierra Ford-Washington led Milwaukee against Northern Kentucky (24), and Wright State (26), followed by Lindner and Kostowicz with 32 each against Oakland, Lindner against Detroit Mercy (20), in postseason play against Wright State (31).
NEAD'S NIGHT IN LOUISIANA
During the team's win against host McNeese at the Multi-Team Event in Lake Charles, Louisiana, junior
Kendall Nead scored 38 points for a career-best, while also becoming just the third difference Panther to score at least 38 points in a game. All-Time leading scorer Traci Edwards reached 38 twice in her career, including the program record of 45 in February 2008, Edwards also scored 42 points in January 2007. Andrea Filipek in January 1999 was the only other Panther to reach 38+ points in a game.
Nead connected on 17 field goals against McNeese as she tied the single-game record for field goals made in a game. She finished the game 17-for-23 from the field with three of those coming from three-point range including her final two makes with 7:32 and 7:03 left in the fourth quarter. Traci Edwards held the top spot alone since January of 2007 as the only player to score 17 field goals in a game prior to Nead.
Nead's 23 attempts were also the third-most in a game, while her shooting percentage was also third-best among the now five players all time to score at least 14 field goals in a game. Avyanna Young shot 15-for-19 (78.9%), while Maria Viall was 14-for-18 (77.7%), Nead slots into third at 73.9%, followed by Jenny Lindner at 14-for-24 (58.3%), and Traci Edwards at 17-for-33 (53.5%). No player in Milwaukee history has ever ended a game with 16 field goals made.
SPANNING THE REGION…AND THE GLOBE
This season Milwaukee has eight student-athletes from the state of Wisconsin, while the team has two players from both Illinois and Iowa, with one student-athlete hailing from Ohio.
In addition to the 13 Panthers from the United States, Milwaukee will be represented by three international students as returner
Lior Halevi (Israel) is joined by
Vanessa Jurewicz (Sweden), and
Izzy Pugh (New Zealand).
This will be the first time in Milwaukee Division I history, that the Panthers have more than one international student-athletes on its roster for any season.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Milwaukee will be at home for the final time during the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. start against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, following the game the Panthers will recognize the five members of their senior class that will be leaving the program after the season. The regular season will conclude on March 2, when the Panthers visit Green Bay at 1:00 p.m.
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Matt Menzl returns for his eighth year as the play-by-play voice of the Panthers on the Black and Gold Network. Links for audio along with any TV coverage can be found on MKEPanthers.com. The Milwaukee women's basketball X account (@MKE_WBB) will also have live updates throughout the game.
Thanks to ESPN+, Milwaukee basketball fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers all season long. All of Milwaukee's home games will be carried live online at ESPN+. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN+ platform.
ESPN+ offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content, and original programming not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) and cancel at any time.
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