MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's basketball team opens its season Tuesday evening, traveling to Evanston, Illinois, to take on Northwestern at 7:00 p.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Tuesday's non-conference matchup against the Wildcats will be available to stream on B1G+. Live stats will also be available, with links to both located on MKEPanthers.com.
 
THE MATCHUP & GAME LINKS
Tuesday, Nov. 3 | Milwaukee at Northwestern | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. | 7:00 p.m. | B1G+ / Live Stats
 
QUICK NOTES
» Tuesday begins the 56th season of Milwaukee women's basketball and 37th as a Division I program as the Panthers begin their season at Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
» Leading the Panthers will be 15th year head coach Kyle Rechlicz, who returns four-of-five to the coaching staff and 12-of-15 student-athletes on the roster.
» Among Milwaukee's 12 returners are three starters, graduate student Jada Williams, senior Payton Rechlicz, and sophomore Madison Fitzgibbon.
» The Panthers welcome three newcomers to the roster including transfer Jaeda Murphy, and true freshmen Kylie Butler and Nataya Donaldson. Redshirts a season ago, Lizzy Favret and Olivia Olson are also expected to play in their first collegiate seasons in 2026-27.
» Milwaukee finished last season at 8-24 overall, finishing 10th in the Horizon League standings and hosting the play-in game against No. 11 Detroit Mercy. The Titans ended Milwaukee's season at home in the opening postseason contest.
» This year, Milwaukee was projected to finish 10th in the preseason poll, out of 12 teams. Northern Illinois joined the Horizon League for its first season in 2026-27.
» Milwaukee visits Northwestern, who is led by first-year head coach Carla Berube.
» Northwestern was 8-21 last season and was one of just three of the 18 teams in the Big Ten Conference that failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, ending the year with a 2-16 Big Ten record in 2025-26.
» This will be the 11th all-time meeting between Milwaukee and Northwestern, with the Wildcats leading the all-time series, 6-4. The team's are 1-1 against each other when meeting in season openers.

THREE THINGS ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
1. Northwestern welcomes new head coach Carla Berube to the sidelines in Evanston this season, Berube has been a head coach for 23 seasons, including the past seven at Princeton in New Jersey. Prior to her stop in the Ivy League, Berube helped turn Division III Tufts into a national power, including back-to-back NCAA Championship game appearances in 2016 and 2017. In the 2016 title game, Berube coached against Jeff Hans (now of Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League), while at Thomas More.
2. Despite the head coaching turnover, the Wildcats still return seven players from last season's roster including Rachel Mutombo, Claire Keswick, Kat Righeimer, Crystal Fuqu Wang, Sandra Moreno, Casey Harter, and Amparo Lopez. The team also welcomes four transfers including Lexi Blue (Kentucky), Lily Carmody (Boston Vollege) as well as Camdyn Nelson and Jasmyn Cooper-Derba (Syracuse).
3. Last year, Northwestern finished the season at 8-21, which included wins against Horizon League members IU Indy and Cleveland State. The Wildcats are 6-0 against Horizon League teams dating back to the 2017-18 season, with its last loss coming to No. 21 Green Bay on Dec. 19, 2017, a 63-57 loss to the Phoenix.

SERIES HISTORY / LAST MEETING
Milwaukee is 4-6 in 10 all-time Division I meetings against Northwestern, including a 3-3 record in games played in Evanston, Ill.

Milwaukee last played Northwestern on Dec. 14, 2021, a 55-46 loss, while the Panthers' last win against the Wildcats came in their previous meeting on Dec. 3, 2017, a 66-57 victory for the Black & Gold.

ON THIS DATE
November 3 marks a tie for the earliest the Panthers have ever started a season, equaling last season's start date. The Panthers are 0-1 on Nov. 3, falling to Loyola Chicago at home in the season opener in 2025.

SEASON OPENERS
Milwaukee is 12-24 all-time in season openers and have lost their last five lid-lifters dating back to the 2021-22 season. Milwaukee's last win in a season opener came on Nov. 25, 2020, at home against Ball State.

2026 marks the second-straight season the Panthers are taking on a Chicago-based opponent, having faced Loyola Chicago at home a season ago. Milwaukee has also opened seasons against Chicago State (2007 & 2012), DePaul (2003), as well as Northwestern (1994 & 1999).

The Panthers are 1-1 in season openers against Northwestern, winning on Nov. 21, 1999, by a 65-54 score, while falling on Nov. 25, 1994, a 64-55 loss.

Milwaukee is 1-10 in season openers against Big Ten teams with the lone win coming against Northwestern in 1999. The Panthers are 0-6 against Wisconsin, 1-1 against Northwestern, and 0-1 against Michigan, Purdue, and Indiana.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee heads to Saint Louis for a non-conference matchup against the Billikins on Nov. 5 at 7:00 p.m. at Chaifetz Arena. The game will mark the first meeting between Milwaukee and Saint Louis since the 2021 WNIT.

Milwaukee is 5-4 in games played on Mar. 2, including a win over Green Bay in its last game on Mar. 2, 2024. The Panthers do have a loss to Detroit Mercy on Mar. 2, a 66-40 defeat to the Titans in Michigan.

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.

2026-27 COACHING STAFF
Entering her 15th season as head coach of the Panthers, Kyle Rechlicz is the longest tenured head coach in the Horizon League.

Rechlicz returns four assistants from last year's staff including Associate Head Coach John Pfaffl, assistants Lanyce Williams and Hannah Whitish, as well as graduate assistant coach AJ Ediger. New to the staff this season is Rich Mullin, who most recently served as an assistant coach at Division II Minot State in North Dakota.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Milwaukee returns 12 of 15 players that were a part of the 2025-26 roster, including three starters. Graduate student Jada Williams, senior Payton Rechlicz and sophomore Madison Fitzgibbon were all regulars in the lineup a year ago. Rechlicz started in all 32 of the team's games a season ago.

The Panthers also return seven other players who saw significant minutes in 2025-26, including Sophia Rampulla, Kendall Barnes, and Tierney Madigan, who all averaged at least 13 minutes per game.

NEW TO THE ROSTER
The Panthers welcome three new players to the roster in 2026-27, including transfer Jaeda Murphy. The Chicago-native makes her way back to the Midwest after spending her first two seasons at Mississippi Valley State. While with the Devilettes, Murphy averaged 9.3 points per game as a sophomore and led the team with 103 assists and 48 steals in 2025-26.

Also new to the team are freshmen Kylie Butler and Nataya Donaldson. No stranger to the Horizon League both Kylie and Nataya's older sisters both played in the league. Kylie's sister Bailey was three-year starter and four-year player for Green Bay, while Nataya's older sister Jada spent five seasons with Milwaukee including the last three as a starter.

BENCH TO THE RESCUE
In 2025-26, Milwaukee led the Horizon League and ranked 26th nationally in bench scoring, averaging 25.1 points per game from its reserves. LSU led the nation, averaging 8.7 bench points per contest.

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.

MAGIC NUMBER
Since 2016–17, Milwaukee is 123–48 (.719) when shooting at least 40 percent from the field. When shooting 43 percent or better, the Panthers improve to 106–28 (.791). When shooting below 40 percent, Milwaukee is 27–112 (.194).

IN THE PAINT
Since the start of the 2023–24 season, Milwaukee is 26–24 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 13–40 when committing 18 or more fouls.

CLOSE GAMES
Over the last two seasons, Milwaukee is 7-23 in games decided by nine points or fewer.

THREE WINS TO GO
With Milwaukee's Jan. 31 win over Wright State, head coach Kyle Rechlicz earned her 197th career victory since taking over the program prior to the 2012-13 season.

She is three wins shy of becoming just the third head coach in program history to reach the 200-win milestone, joining M.A. Kelling (284 wins, 1978-95), and Sandy Botham (245 wins, 1996-2012).

FOUR STEALS, ONE GAME
Three different Panthers recorded four-steal performances in 2025-26:
• Sophia Rampulla vs. Marquette (Nov. 19)
• Valerie Cassidy-De Falco vs. Pacific (Nov. 28)
• Tierney Madigan vs. UC Davis (Nov. 29)

No Panther has recorded more than four steals in a game since Feb. 19, 2021, when Miquela Santoro tallied six against UIC.

TEN FOR THREE
After posting just three games with 10 or more three-pointers in 2023–24, Milwaukee rebounded with eight such performances in 2024–25 and recorded seven more during the 2025–26 season. Under Kyle Rechlicz, the Panthers have made at least 10 three-pointers in a game 78 times.

A DOZEN THREES IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES
Last season, Milwaukee knocked down 13 three-pointers on Dec. 10 at Purdue Fort Wayne and followed with 12 more on Dec. 14 against Ripon. It marked the first time the Panthers hit at least a dozen threes in consecutive games since February 2013.

The 25 combined three-pointers over the two-game stretch are the most since the 2012-13 season, when Milwaukee hit 11 at Toledo (Dec. 8), and 14 at DePaul (Dec. 11).

COMEBACK WIN
Milwaukee erased a 16-point first half deficit in its Jan. 4 win over Cleveland State, tying the fifth-largest comeback in program history.

The Panthers also overcame a 12-point halftime deficit, again tied for fifth all-time, and turned it into an eight-point victory, representing a 20-point swing. The program record for halftime turnarounds is 28.