INDIANAPOLIS – Three Panthers scored in double figures as the Milwaukee women's basketball team got back in the win column with a 66-62 victory over the host IU Indy Jaguars at The Jungle on Wednesday evening.
 
Anna Lutz had a team-high 15 points, Kacee Baumhower scored 13 and Payton Rechlicz netted 10 in the win for a Panther team that made 47.1 percent of its attempts from the field.
 
Included in her 13-point effort was the 1,000th career point for Baumhower, who has now scored 292 points as a Panther following her 717 entering this season.
 
"I thought this was a complete performance by our team," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz after the game. "I'm especially proud of our defensive effort, we were very disciplined and communicated well on that end of the court."
 
The Panthers held IU Indy to 39.3 percent from the field, while the Jaguars were 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from three. Six of IU Indy's 15 turnovers were forced by Panther steals.
 
Milwaukee outrebounded the Jaguars by 10 at 34-24, including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Rechlicz had a team-best six rebounds for the Panthers with Lutz and Jorey Buwalda each corralling five apiece.
 
"I think that it's attributed to our physicality," added Rechlicz on the team's rebounding effort. "We're really taking ownership of the boards, and even our guards are boxing out more on the perimeter. We were a lot more aggressive in getting defensive rebounds tonight."
 
The Panthers led 18-10 after the opening quarter and took a nine-point lead into the halftime break at 31-22. Baumhower had nine in the opening half, while both Lutz and Kallie Peppler scored seven points each in the first 20 minutes.
 
IU Indy refused to go away quietly in the second half and trimmed the Panther lead to four following a seven-point run by the Jaguars' Katie Davidson.
 
Buwalda had a big layup late in the quarter and drew the foul to extend Milwaukee's lead back to nine, before a late layup by Davidson sent the game to the fourth.
 
Ahead 45-38, MKE got off to a quick start with a three-point make by Kamy Peppler. Rechlicz scored an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 53-41.
 
The Panthers led by 12 with four minutes left in the game, but back-to-back threes and one free throw by the Jaguars closed the deficit to five. Lutz extended the advantage for Milwaukee back to seven on a layup, but IU Indy knocked down a pair of clutch threes late to pull within two. Baumhower put MKE back up by two scores in the waning seconds as the Panthers held on for the 66-62 victory.
 
Baumhower had a team-best five assists and three steals. Kamy scored eight points with three assists and two steals. Buwalda and Kallie finished with seven points each, with Jada Donaldson scoring six points with four rebounds.
 
Davidson led IU Indy with 24 points including the 1,000th point of her career, split between the Jaguars and Miami (Ohio). Davidson also had team highs in rebounds and assists with four each and led the squad with three steals.
 
Milwaukee returns home for its next three games beginning with Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at the Klotsche Center. The homestand will also include games against Robert Morris on Feb. 6 and Youngstown State on Feb. 8.