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Post by skrapheap on Jan 27, 2017 0:09:03 GMT -6
The Panthers managed to bounce back after being dominated in Green Bay, but they had to fight hard to beat Cleveland State in Cleveland today. A last-second layup by Steph Kostowicz gave Milwaukee a two-point win.
The Vikings started fast, and the Panthers started slowly. Seven minutes in the first quarter, CSU had a 22-9 lead. Kostowicz was on the bench for most of the quarter after being called for two quick fouls. Lizzie Odegard came in for the Panthers and sparked a 9-2 run over the next six minutes to reduce the lead to four, and, after the Vikings answered with a run of their own, Odegard helped start another run that gave the Panthers their first lead of the game at 37-35 with a little more than a minute remaining in tge second quarter. Good defense allowed Milwaukee to build a six point lead before CSU scored a last bucket before half-time.
The Vikings scored six of the first eight points in the third quarter to pull into a tie at 43-all, and went on another run to take a 58-53 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Panthers retook the lead in the early part of quarter four on consecutive three-point shots from Odegard and Alexis Lindstrom, but the Vikings again responded to take a 70-65 lead midway through the quarter. Milwaukee again scored six consecutive points to retake the lead over the next two minutes, and the final minutes of the quarter featured four lead changes and three ties.
The Panthers's last possession started with 25 seconds on the game clock, and Sierra Ford-Washington successfully worked the clock down to about six seconds before passing to Kostowicz, who scored with .9 seconds left to give the Panthers an 80-78 win.
Five Panthers scored in double figures, led by Lindstrom's game-high 21 (67% shooting, 62.5% from distance), followed by Kostowicz with 17, Jenny Lindner and Odegard (67% shooting, 3-3 from distance) with 14, and Ford-Washington with 12. The win knocked the Vikings into fifth place in the league, leaving Milwaukee (6-3 in league play) alone in fourth place, behind Green Bay (9-0), Wright State (7-1) and Detroit (6-2).
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 28, 2017 18:26:34 GMT -6
After Thursday's last-second win in Cleveland, the Milwaukee traveled to Youngstown to play Youngstown State this afternoon. The play-by-play guys for YSU repeatedly mentioned that YSU had won the last eight games against Milwaukee.
The Panthers got off to a good start in the first quarter, building a lead to five points at 18-13 late. The Penguins managed to cut the lead to 18-15 at the end of the quarter. Steph Kostowicz scored the first four points of the game, but Sierra Ford-Washington led the way with seven points.
YSU chipped away at the lead to begin the second quarter, outscoring Milwaukee 6-2 in the first three minutes of the quarter to take a 21-20 lead. It would be a short-lived lead, and the Penguins's only lead of the game. Ford-Washington hit a shot to put the Panthers back into the lead about 30 seconds later. The Panthers gradually built the lead from there. Kostowicz scored four points in about 25 seconds to get the lead to 26-21, and then both teams had trouble putting the ball in the basket for about the next three minutes. A flurry of scoring pushed the Panther lead to 12 at 33-21 with 1:45 to play in the quarter, before the Penguins scored the last five points of the half to cut the lead to seven at 33-26. Kostowicz had 13 points at half-time, followed by Ford-Washington with 11.
The Penguins cut the Panther lead to four or five points a few times early in the third quarter. Jenny Lindner, who had two points in the first half, stepped up big for the Panthers, scoring nine points in the quarter, including the last four Milwaukee points, to give the Panthers a 51-43 lead at the end of the quarter.
A good start to the fourth quarter again enabled the Panthers to increase the lead to 12 points with six minutes left in the quarter, and again with 1:44 left, but YSU would not go away. A combination of defense and hot shooting from distance fueled a come-back by the Penguins, which reduced the lead all the way to two at 76-74 with eight seconds left. The Penguins were playing the foul game, and the Panthers, uncharacteristically, were not hitting all their free-throws. Milwaukee did hit enough free throws to prevent YSU from tying the score or taking the lead, and the final score was 78-74 to snap the losing streak. Kostowicz led all scorers with 22 points. Lindner and Ford-Washington were right behind her with 20 and 18 points, and Bailey Farley had 12 points. Alexis Lindstrom had an off-day shooting, but her one three-point make, late in the game helped the Panthers stem the tide.
The Panthers are now 7-3 in league play. The Panthers finish their five game road-swing with games at Detroit next Thursday night and at Oakland next Saturday afternoon.
Last year, the Panthers 12-6 league record was remarkable, in that their wins and losses were all season sweeps. Green Bay, Detroit, and Youngstown State all swept the Panthers, who swept the rest of the league: UIC, Oakland, Valparaiso, Wright State, Northern Kentucky, and Cleveland State. So far this season, two of the Panther wins are against teams they lost twice to last year: Detroit and Youngstown State; two of their losses are against teams they swept last year: Wright State and Oakland.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 2, 2017 20:27:56 GMT -6
i tuned out of an off night for the Panthers (5-24 from three point range, out-shot 51% to 40%; helped by a definite home advantage in officiating in a 77-63 loss to Detroit) to watch the Oakland-Green Bay game late in their third quarter.
As i tuned in, Oakland was putting the finishing touches on a 29-point third quarter, converting a four-point half-time deficit to a 63-61 lead.
The lead changed hands several times in the fourth quarter, and Phoenix tied the score at 71 with 35 seconds. After a shot clock violation by Oakland, Green Bay had the ball and about 10 seconds and a chance to pull out the win. Instead, Oakland stole the inbound pass, scored a layup and got a three-point play to go up 74-71 with 2.2 seconds left. Green Bay could not get off a shot, and Oakland pulled off the upset.
Green Bay had climbed to 21 in the latest national poll. It will be interesting to see what this loss does to their ranking.
Green Bay plays Detroit on Saturday. I wonder how fired up Kevin Borseth will have his Phoenix team for that game.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 9, 2017 16:40:01 GMT -6
i tuned out of an off night for the Panthers (5-24 from three point range, out-shot 51% to 40%; helped by a definite home advantage in officiating in a 77-63 loss to Detroit) to watch the Oakland-Green Bay game late in their third quarter. As i tuned in, Oakland was putting the finishing touches on a 29-point third quarter, converting a four-point half-time deficit to a 63-61 lead. The lead changed hands several times in the fourth quarter, and Phoenix tied the score at 71 with 35 seconds. After a shot clock violation by Oakland, Green Bay had the ball and about 10 seconds and a chance to pull out the win. Instead, Oakland stole the inbound pass, scored a layup and got a three-point play to go up 74-71 with 2.2 seconds left. Green Bay could not get off a shot, and Oakland pulled off the upset. Green Bay had climbed to 21 in the latest national poll. It will be interesting to see what this loss does to their ranking. Green Bay plays Detroit on Saturday. I wonder how fired up Kevin Borseth will have his Phoenix team for that game. Didn't matter. Detroit led most of the way and hung on to win, 76-72. i wonder when the last time was that the Phoenix lost consecutive league games? The two losses dropped Green Bay out of the national Top 25. The current standings: # | School | Lg Ws | Lg Ls | Ovl Ws | Ovl Ls | 1 | Wright State | 10 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 2 | Green Bay | 10 | 2 | 19 | 4 | 3 | Detroit | 9 | 3 | 13 | 10 | T4 | Oakland | 7 | 5 | 13 | 10 | T4 | Milwaukee | 7 | 5 | 15 | 8 | T4 | Cleveland State | 7 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 7 | Youngstown State | 4 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 8 | Northern Kentucky | 3 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 9 | UIC | 1 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 10 | Valparaiso | 1 | 11 | 6 | 17 |
Wright State's one loss was to Green Bay. If Green Bay wins the remaining game with the Raiders, the Phoenix would have the first tiebreaker should that be necessary. Oakland has now swept Milwaukee, after winning 77-63 last Saturday, so they hold the tiebreaker if they finish tied with the Panthers. Last year, the Panthers finished 12-6 in league play, which was good for the second seed. If they win their last six games (including beating Green Bay in Milwaukee) they could finish 13-5, but would be seeded lower than second unless all the teams ahead of them lose a bunch of games. The Panthers have a four game home stand after their five game road swing (thanks so much, HL schedulemaker...), starting tonight Youngstown State, followed by a Saturday game in the Klotsche against Cleveland State, the aforementioned Green Bay game on Friday the 17th, and finishing with Valparaiso on Monday February 20th. It's an opportunity to make hay and climb higher in the standings. The league season ends with road games with Northern Kentucky and Wright State on February 24th and 26th.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 11, 2017 20:01:12 GMT -6
Going into the weekend, the Horizon league Twitter account was focusing on how every game counts for seeding for the League tournament, the idea being to get into the top six and avoid a first round game. Before Thursday's game, Milwaukee was in a three-way tie for the fourth through sixth place. Two victories later, the there is no tie between any of the top six teams.
The games this week played out similarly: the Panthers had and lost early leads, traded runs with their opponents, and took and held on to leads late in the fourth quarter to come out with a victory. The Panthers had major contributions in both games from role players: Kelsey Cunningham had 12 points in 14 minutes against Youngstown State on Thursday, and Bailey Farley had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists against Cleveland State today. The 9-5 Panthers are now alone in fourth place, two games ahead in the win column of both Oakland and Cleveland State.
Next up is Green Bay, who comes to the Klotsche Center on Friday night. The Phoenix are 12-2, having easily won both their games to rebound from losing road games to Oakland and Detroit.
Wright State won twice this week, to stay one game ahead of Green Bay in the loss column and in first place. The Raiders have to run the gauntlet to finish the regular season, facing Detroit on the road (after traveling to 8th place Youngstown State) and then hosting Green Bay and Milwaukee in the last weekend of the season. That season finale could be with the top seed for the tournament on the line.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 17, 2017 21:48:08 GMT -6
Tonight, the Panthers beat the Green Bay Phoenix, 72-60. It was only the second Milwaukee victory over Green Bay in the last 27 meetings. It was the first home victory over the Phoenix since 2006.
Steph Kostowicz scored her 1000th career point on a free throw in the second quarter. She finished with 15 points, second on the team to Alexis Lindstrom's 16. All the Panthers starters finished in double figures, accounting for 67 of the 72 points scored. The starters also accounted for 17 of the team's 20 assists (on 25 made shots). The only bench player to score, Jordyn Swan (who led the Panthers in scoring in a 42-point loss to Green Bay last month), got her points quickly, and helped lead a run which closed out the third quarter with a four-point Panther lead.
The Panthers shot 58% for the game; the Phoenix shot only 35%. Green Bay hit 11 three-pointers to keep the game close until late in the fourth quarter. The Panthers hit only nine, but shot 56% from distance, to only 28% by Green Bay. The Panthers won the game in the paint, 28-10, as their defense kept the Phoenix away from the basket. In the final minutes of the game, the combination of Panther free-throw shooting (9-10) and a Phoenix shooting drought (the Phoenix last point came with 2:43 left) stretched a 63-60 lead to the final margin.
The Panthers are now 10-5 in league play, good for fourth place, just one loss behind Detroit, who plays at Valapariso tomorrow. The Panthers's next game will be their last regular season home game, against Valparaiso. It will be Senior Night with Sierra Ford-Washington, Lindstrom, Swan and Christina Wakeman being honored. The Panthers close the regular season with road games with Northern Kentucky on Friday and Wright State on Sunday.
Tonight's loss leaves the Phoenix at 12-3, one win behind first place Wright State, but two losses behind the Raiders. If Green Bay is to at least share the league regular season title for a 19th consecutive year, they will need help. Green Bay hosts UIC on Monday night, then travels to Wright State and Northern Kentucky on Friday and Sunday. Winning all three games is the Phoenix best hope. Wright State has four league games remaining: road games with Youngstown State tomorrow and Detroit on Monday, and finishes at home with the Phoenix, and then Milwaukee on Sunday the 26th. Two Raider wins would yield them no less than a tie for first place; three wins would win first place outright.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Feb 18, 2017 11:21:09 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 18, 2017 22:24:34 GMT -6
Eight of ten Horizon League teams played this afternoon. In the game of most direct interest to the Panthers, Valparaiso took advantage of a mistake by a Detroit player to pull out an improbable last-second win. The Titans had tied the score with seven seconds left, and appeared to have sent the game to overtime. On the subsequent Crusader inbound play, a Titan player fouled a Crusader, who promptly sank two free throws to put Valpo up 57-55 with less than four seconds left. The Titans were out of time-outs, and were unable to get the ball down the length of the court and get a shot off. The loss dropped Detroit into a tie with Milwaukee for third place at 10-5.
Valparaiso travels next to Milwaukee for a 7:00 pm game on Monday. It will be Senior night for Milwaukee. The game will be carried on Spectrum cable, so it willl probably be blacked out on ESPN.
Youngstown State fought hard at home, but in the end Wright State pulled out a 68-64 win for their 14th League win, their 13th win in a row. Their only loss was to Green Bay. The Raiders host the Phoenix on Friday.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 20, 2017 20:07:05 GMT -6
The seeding at the top of the league got a little bit more interesting tonight. Wright State's 13 game winning streak ended tonight in Detroit, as the Titans hung on to win 85-80. Wright State is now 14-2 in league play.
Green Bay easily defeated UIC to raise their record to 13-3, so the Phoenix will go into their game with Wright State on Friday just one game out of first place.
In the Klotsche Center, the Panthers celebrated Senior night with an 80-64 win over Valparaiso, to keep pace with Detroit at 11-5. Milwaukee started their four seniors and Bailey Farley, and were trying early to get all four seniors opportunities to score. Alexis Lindstrom and Sierra Ford-Washington, being regular starters, did not find scoring to be a problem, and Christina Wakeman got three early points. Jordyn Swan did not score early, but did score seven points by game's end. Ford-Washington finshed the game with 16 points, six rebounds and eight of Milwaukee's 18 assists. Wakeman finished with three points and two rebounds.
Jenny Lindner led all scorers with 23 points, hitting all five of her three-point shots. Farley and Steph Kostowicz also finished the game in double figures with 11 each. Kostowicz added six rebounds and five assists.
Valpo played fairly well in the first half, overcoming an early Panther lead, and going up by as many as eight points in the first quarter. The Panthers cut the lead to 22-19 at the end of the quarter.
The Crusaders again got the lead to eight at 34-26 with 2:47 left in the half. That was their last points for the next 5:09 of play spanning the end of quarter two and the beginning of quarter three. The Panthers hit a three pointer to cut the halftime lead to 34-29, and then scored the first 13 points of the third quarter to take an eight point lead. The third quarter rush started with a Farley three eight seconds into the quarter. Valpo snapped the string with a basket, but Milwaukee steadily built the lead from that point. The Panthers out scored the Crusaders 32-16 and led 61-50 after three.
The lead reached 23 about three minutes into the fourth quarter, and Coach Rechliz put the seniors back in so that they could be acknowledged a final time.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 23, 2017 22:56:50 GMT -6
As a result of the HL Women' s basketball games tonight, the Panthers are alone in third place, half a game ahead of Detroit (who lost to Cleveland State by 25) and Oakland (who beat Youngstown State by 32); Detroit and Oakland are 11-6. Oakland plays at Cleveland State and Detroit at Youngstown State on Saturday.
Milwaukee could expand its lead to a full game by beating Northern Kentucky tomorrow afternoon (4 pm start time). The Panthers could finish anywhere from second to fifth, depending on how the tiebreakers fall. Oakland swept Milwaukee in regular season play, so they have the advantage if they finish with the same record. The Panthers' remaining game after tomorrow is a Sunday afternoon game at Wright State.
At the same time tomorrow, Green Bay takes the court against Wright State. A Phoenix win would pull them into a first place tie with the Raiders, and would give Green Bay the first tiebreaker: a season sweep. A Raider victory would clinch the regular season title outright, ending Green Bay's 18 year run as regular season champs.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 24, 2017 19:27:13 GMT -6
The best that can be said about Milwaukee's 21 point loss to Northern Kentucky today is that it's over with.
The Panthers's offensive output was their second lowest of the season. They managed to hit two of nineteen three-point shots. NKU hit 13. NKU scored 25 points off Milwaukee turnovers.
The Panthers have a little less than 48 hours to regroup against a Wright State team that let their chance to win the regular season title outright slip away at the end of their game with Green Bay, who won 58-51.
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Post by MKEPanthers45 on Mar 5, 2017 18:17:24 GMT -6
They play GB tomorrow at noon.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 5, 2017 19:34:27 GMT -6
Milwaukee backed into the HL tournament on consecutive losses, and faced a challenge in fourth-seeded Oakland, who had won their last five games and had scored 80+ points in those games, and who had swept the season series. The Panthers's last two losses were a waxing by Northern Kentucky, and a 10 point loss to second seed Wright State.
The Panthers would need to play much better to have a chance in the tournament, and they did, pulling away late to win by 22, 82-60. The Panthers won with balanced scoring, led by 16 points each from Steph Kostowicz and Jenny Lindner, both of whom also finished with double-doubles with 10 and 14 rebounds, respectively. Bailey Farley had 14 points, including some key early three-pointers to help Milwaukee take an early 9-0 lead. The other starters also scored in double figures: Alexis Lindstrom had 12 points and Sierra Ford-Washington had 10 points.
The margin of victory would have been greater, except that Oakland hit three more three-pointers (on five more attempts). The Panthers won the rebounding battle (46-34 overall and 16-9 offensive rebounds), points in the paint, second-chance points, and points off turnovers. The Panthers did a tremendous job of hanging on to the ball, turning the ball over only eight times against a defense ranked eleventh in D1 in steals-per-game. The eight turnovers (Oakland had 15) is tied for the second-lowest total in a game. It was as complete a game as the team has played all season.
The win gives the Panthers 20 for the season, something accomplished only twice in the program's D1 history. If the Panthers can beat Green Bay again in the tournament semifinal tomorrow, and win the final, the 22-win total would tie that of the 2005-06 team for most in a season.
Green Bay was impressive in their dismantling of Valparaiso, but the Milwaukee knows they are capable of beating the Phoenix. Tomorrow has the potential to be a red-letter day, if both Panther teams can get themselves into their tournament finals.
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Post by nickpanther on Mar 5, 2017 19:56:51 GMT -6
i think we've only had both UWM teams in the NCAA tourney at the same time once, in the mid-2000s. We all know that UConn is likely to win its fifth straight national title, its news when they dont win by 20 points. Still just getting into the field of 64 is an accomplishmenmt
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 6, 2017 6:24:24 GMT -6
i think we've only had both UWM teams in the NCAA tourney at the same time once, in the mid-2000s. We all know that UConn is likely to win its fifth straight national title, its news when they dont win by 20 points. Still just getting into the field of 64 is an accomplishmenmt That was in 2006, the last time the Women's team won the tournament.
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