MILWAUKEE – After opening the season with a three-game road trip, the Milwaukee women's basketball team returns home to welcome the North Dakota Fighting Hawks to the Klotsche Center for a 6:00 p.m. tipoff.

Thursday's matchup marks the first meeting between Milwaukee and North Dakota since December 2019 and the fifth all-time Division I meeting between the two programs.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Matt Menzl returning for his 11th season as the voice of Panther women's basketball. Links to the ESPN+ broadcast and live stats will be available at MKEPanthers.com.
 
THE MATCHUP & GAME LINKS
Thursday, Nov. 12 | Milwaukee vs. North Dakota | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 6:00 p.m. | ESPN+ / Live Stats
 
QUICK NOTES
» Milwaukee returns home after beginning the season 0-3 on its season-opening road trip, the Panthers dropped deci-sions to Northwestern, Saint Louis, and SIUE before returning to the Klotsche Center to welcome the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota.
» This past Sunday, the Panthers suffered a 63-57 setback to the Cougars of SIUE in Edwardsville, Ill. In the loss, Izzy Pugh recorded the first double-double of her career, connecting on a career-best 20 points, while pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds.
» Milwaukee had its worst shooting game of the young season on Sunday, connecting on just 39.0 percent from the field, and 19.0 percent from three. The team, however, did have its best rebounding game by pulling down 37 boards against the Cougars. The Panthers also had a season-high in assists (19) and steals (5) against SIUE.
» The Panthers will welcome North Dakota to Milwaukee, who will continue to Detroit Mercy for a second-straight game against a Horizon League opponent this coming weekend.
» North Dakota is 1-1 on the young season, playing a pair of Division II opponents with a loss to Minnesota Crookston in its opener, 81-68, before defeating Minot State on Sunday, 84-68.
» In the team's win over Minot State, North Dakota was led by Jayda Mayes with 19 points, while London Harris added 14, and Jayden Sonnenberg added 13 points off the bench. Aliyah Green had nine rebounds, while Ciona Wells had 11 points and six assists.
» Thursday will be the fifth all-time meeting between Milwaukee and North Dakota as Division I opponents, Milwaukee is 1-1 against the Fighting Hawks, including a win in Grand Forks in December 2018, before a loss at home in Milwaukee in December 2019. The Panthers did not fare as well against the program during its nameless era with losses during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, after the university retired the Fighting Sioux mascot in 2012.

THREE THINGS ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA
1. North Dakota is 1-1 to begin its season under second-year head coach Dennis Hutter, getting a win in its second game of the season. Last year it took the Fighting Hawks six games to get its first win as the team finished the 2025-26 season with a 7-24 record, including a 3-13 mark in the Summit League. Last year the teams had just one common opponent; Green Bay, with the Hawks going 0-1 and the Panthers going 0-2 against the Phoenix.
2. The roster for North Dakota is a melting pot of states and countries, as the team has representation from 10 areas, including seven states, two Canadian Provinces, and one player from Finland. The team has three players from both the States of Minnesota and North Dakota. The last player from the State of Wisconsin to play at UND was Kiyah Hurst, who played three years there (2022-25) before transferring to Division II Parkside as a senior in 2025-26.
3. North Dakota gets to the free throw line, a lot, the Fighting Hawks enter play this week 8th in the nation in free throws made per game at 21.5, while the team is 14th in Division I in free throw attempts per game at 29.0. Longdon Harris is tops in the Summit League in both free throw makes (11) and attempts (15) through the team's first two games. The team is also 14th in DI in three-point attempts per game, averaging 32.5 per contest, but have only knocked down 7.5 per game, placing them 108th in the nation.

SERIES HISTORY / LAST MEETING
Milwaukee is 1-3 in previous Division I meetings against North Dakota, which includes a pair of losses at home against UND. The Panthers are 1-1 in games played in Grand Forks, N.D.

In their last meeting, a 6-66-58 loss on December 21, 2019, Milwaukee was led by Brandi Bisping with 22 points and eight rebounds. Alyssa Fischer chipped in with seven points off the bench. Meanwhile Alaina Jarnot had a team-high 15 points for North Dakota with Melissa Leet scoring 10 off the bench.

ON THIS DATE
Milwaukee has played just once before on Nov. 12 in its Division I history with the lone matchup coming just a few seasons ago in the team's home opener against UIC in 2023. The Panthers fell to the Flames, 73-70, which was the first time that now graduate student Jada Williams played in front of a Klotsche Center crowd.

HOME OPENERS
The Panthers open the home schedule on Thursday vs. North Dakota, beginning its 37th Division I season at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers are 19-17 in home openers during that span.

This will be the third time that the Panthers will begin a season against a team that currently comprises the Summit League. On Nov. 11, 2021, the Panthers lost to North Dakota State, 69-58, while the team won its 2015-16 home opener on Nov. 16 against Kansas City, 70-48.

UP NEXT
After its home opener on Thursday night, Milwaukee will play a pair of games this coming weekend with a trip to former Horizon League foe Loyola Chicago on Saturday afternoon, before heading to Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. to take on Indiana on Sunday, both games will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CT).

MILWAUKEE'S LEADING SCORERS
Through Milwaukee's first three contests, the team's leading scorer has come in the forms of three different players as Rita Gomes scored 19 at Northwestern (Nov. 3), Madison Fitzgibbon scored 22 at Saint Louis (Nov. 5), and Izzy Pugh scored 20 at SIUE (Nov. 8).

In 2025-26, Milwaukee also had three different players lead the team in scoring through its first three games.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DOWN UNDER
Izzy Pugh recorded the first double-double of her career for the Panthers on Nov. 8 at SIUE, the 6-3 forward from New Zealand recorded a career-high 20 points while pulling down a career-best 10 rebounds in the effort. She becomes the first active player on the roster to record a double-double in a Panther uniform, Rita Gomes had two double-doubles during her junior college career at Arizona Western.

LOTS OF HELPERS AGAINST THE COUGARS
Milwaukee had a season-high 19 assists on 23 makes from the floor on Sunday afternoon, which included Tierney Madigan tying her career-best with four assists, Kylie Butler and Olivia Olson had the first assists of their careers, and a career-high six assists from Payton Rechlicz.

THREE GAMES, THREE LINEUPS
Milwaukee has used three different starting lineups to begin the season, with four starters in their regular roles; Jaeda Murphy, Tierney Madigan, Payton Rechlicz, and Izzy Pugh. The fifth role has rotated between Jada Williams, Rita Gomes, and now Madison Fitzgibbon in the team's most recent game on Nov. 8 at SIUE.

In 2025-26, Milwaukee used 11 different lineup combinations, three of which garnered records of .500 or better.

ROAD TRIP TO OPEN
Milwaukee begins the 2026-27 season with three-straight road games, it marks the first time the Panthers' first three games came away from the Klotsche Center since the 2017-18 season, when the Panthers played in the preseason WNIT.

It marks the first time Milwaukee begins the season with three consecutive true road games since the 2006-07 season, when the Panthers began with South Florida, Miami (Fla.), and Drake to begin the year. This year is the fourth time

FIRST TIME, LONG TIME
This season, Milwaukee will not be playing a first time opponent, having at least one result against every team on its originally scheduled 2026-27 slate.

However, it has been a long time since Milwaukee has played several of its opponents having last played Northwestern (2021-22), Saint Louis (2020-21), SIUE (2009-10), North Dakota (2019-20), Indiana (2018-19), Toledo (2012-13), Michigan State (2012-13), and Eastern Kentucky (2012-13) at least five years ago.

MAGIC NUMBER
Since 2016–17, Milwaukee is 123–50 (.711) when shooting at least 40 percent from the field. When shooting 43 percent or better, the Panthers improve to 106–30 (.779). When shooting below 40 percent, Milwaukee is 27–113 (.193).

IN THE PAINT
Since the start of the 2023–24 season, Milwaukee is 26–27 when scoring more than 25 points in the paint and 6–41 when scoring fewer than 25.

KEEPING THE FOULS DOWN
Since the 2022–23 season, Milwaukee is 13–4 when committing 11 or fewer fouls. Conversely, the Panthers are 13–42 when committing 18 or more fouls.

CLOSE GAMES
Since the 2023-24 season, Milwaukee is 7-25 in games decided by nine points or fewer.

IN OVERTIME
With a 1-2 record in overtime in 2025-26, Milwaukee is now 22-29 all-time in overtime games played since joining Division I in 1990-91.