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Post by skrapheap on Feb 13, 2018 18:54:00 GMT -6
Once she got a full roster of her own recruits, her Panthers teams improved markedly.
The problem is that other teams on the league have also made significant steps up: Oakland, Cleveland State, and even Detroit have had individual strong seasons. Wright State has been consistently competitive the last three years. IUPUI had a strong first half in League play in their debut; they lost to NKU recently, so it will be interesting to see if the rest of the league plays them better the second time through.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 16, 2018 12:52:44 GMT -6
Six games ago, the Panthers were 5-3, with the prospect of a five game home stand to launch them on a climb toward the top of the league standings. They went 2-3 at home, losing the last two games to Northern Kentucky and Green Bay. Last night they started a tough stretch of three games in five days on the road with a one point overtime loss to the suddenly hot YSU Penguins. The loss drops them to sixth place in the league.
Earlier in the season, Milwaukee specialised in late-game heroics. Lately they haven’t been able to come all the way back (the Green Bay debacle excepted) and their defense has allowed their opponents to hang on to small leads or win the game at the buzzer.
At least Steph Kostowicz appears to be recovered from her leg injury. She scored 23 of her game-high 28 points in the second half, and actually gave the Panthers a late lead, which they allowed to slip away. The Panthers had a chance to win in regulation at the buzzer, but Jenny Lindner’s shot missed as time expired. The Panthers shot poorly in OT and were forced to foul to try to keep the score close, which is not likely to succeed against the third highest free-throw percentage team in the league.
Milwaukee now moves on to Cleveland, to face a Viking team who overcame a late Green Bay surge to beat the Phoenix, and finish the road trip in Indianapolis against IUPUI, now one game back of Green Bay in the race. It’s hard not to see than Panthers losing the next two games and coming home to finish regular season play at .500 if they can’t reverse this trend.
Those last two home games are against Detroit and Oakland, so they have a chance to head into tournament play on a bit of a roll.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 17, 2018 14:32:05 GMT -6
For the first half of the game with Cleveland Stste, it looked like the Panthers’s losing streak was going to go to four games. The Vikings led at half 29-19.
Then the Panthers exploded in the third quarter. They finished the the quarter with 31 points, 12 more than their first half output. They went from 10 points down to eight points up over the course of the quarter
The Panthers was then held on through the fourth quarter, making late free throws to win 69-63. Four Panthers scored in double figures: jenny Lindner had 24 points, Jamie Reit had 16, and Bailey Farley and Steph Kostowicz had 10 each. Kostowicz had 17 rebounds for another double-double, and added six assists as well. Farley’s points all came in the second half; 19 of Lindner’s points were scored in the second half.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 19, 2018 20:26:53 GMT -6
The Panthers finished road play for the regular season by beating IUPUI 67-60, to finish 2-1 on the road swing, the wins coming consecutively.
The word for this game was “steady.” Neither team held a lead of more than seven points. The Panthers trailed 17-13 at the end of one, and lead by two at half. Both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter, so the Panthers also led by two after three quarters. The Panthers pulled away late thanks to some late clutch shooting by Jamie Reit and then free-thow shooting to account for the final margin.
Four Panthers scored in double figures. Jenny Lindner led the way with 18 points, which pushed her career total over 1600. Steph Kostowicz scored 12 points in 23 minutes, hampered by foul trouble. McKaela Schmelzer and Jamie Reit finished with 10 points each. Schmelzer went 2-4 beyond the three point arc. Reit got to double figures at the foul line with just over a second left, taking a pass to break the Jaguar pressure and being fouled as she tried to dribble out the clock. Reit also contributed six rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
The Panthers' two game win streak pushed them back into fourth place from sixth place, half a game ahead of Wright State, and half a game behind third place Cleveland State, who beat Wright State tonight in Dayton. The Panthers finish the season at home against Detroit (currently 2-14 in league play) and Oakland (currently 6-10 after shellacking the Titans).
Milwaukee is now 19-9 on the season (10-6 in league play), with a chance to reach 20 wins overall for the season before the HL tournament begins. If the Panthers win out next weekend and manage at least one win in the tournament, they would reach 22 wins for the second consecutive year and just the third time in their D1 history. Any wins beyond 22 would set a record.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 19, 2018 22:01:54 GMT -6
Tonight’s Panther win, coupled with an easy Green Bay win at UIC, means that Green Bay will do no worse than tie for first place in the regular season standings, which extends their streak to 20 years.
A tie for first would require the Phoenix to lose to Oakland and Detroit at home next weekend, and IUPUI to beat both Wright State and Northern Kentucky at home. The Jaguars would win a share of the regular season title in their first season in the Horizon League, but would be the second seed because Green Bay swept the season series.
The top two teams in the league are already at or above 20 wins. The next three teams, including Milwaukee, are all at 19-9, so it’s possible that the top half of the league standings could have 20 or more wins.
If Milwaukee finishes third through sixth, their first tournament game would be on the second day of the quarter-finals. I suspect that IUPUI would hold a tie-breaker over Milwaukee if they finish with equal league records, so it would be difficult to finish higher than third.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 23, 2018 21:02:58 GMT -6
Just how dominant were the Panthrers against Detroit-Mercy tonight? These stats are after just three quarters: Statistic | Detroit | Milwaukee | FG % | 31 | 50 | FGs | 14-47 | 26-51 | Assists | 8 | 19 | 3Pt % | 36 | 53 | 3Pts | 4-11 | 10-19 | FT % | 0 | 76 | FTs | 0-2 | 13-17 | TOs | 13 | 6 | Pts <- TOs | 5 | 19 | RBs | 21 | 39 | Def RB | 13 | 26 | Off RB | 8 | 13 | 2nd Chnc Pts | 2 | 16 | Bench Pts | 11 | 13 | Paint Pts | 12 | 22 | Fst Brk Pts | 2 | 4 | Blocks | 3 | 5 | Steals | 4 | 6 |
All eleven Panthers who played scored. Three players scored in double figures: Jenny Lindner and Bailey Farley had 21 points, and Jamie Reit had 13 points. Steph Kostowicz and McKaela Schmelzer had eight points apiece, but they weren't trying that hard to score in the final quarter. The final score was Milwaukee 90, Detroit-Mercy 45. The Panthers have now reached 20 wins for two consecutive seasons, which they had not achieved in their D1 history. (The only time before now that they managed consecutive 20-win seasons was before they moved up to D1.) The Panthers have one regular season game left plus the HL tournament, so they could tie or surpass the season record total for wins (22, last achieved last year thanks to their CBI run). Green Bay won tonight, but the way the next several teams in the standings are bunched up, according to Matt Menzel, it's possible that the Panthers could wind up with the second seed for the tournament. As Menzel related it, if the Panthers beat Oakland, Cleveland State beats Youngstown State, and Northern Kentucky beats IUPUI, the Panthers would emerge from the resulting tie as the second seed based on tie-breakers.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 25, 2018 16:46:26 GMT -6
The regular season ended for the Panthers not with a bsng but with a whimper.
One game after everything went their way against Detroit, the Panthers gave away a game to Oakland that they had no business losing. They out-shot Oakland overall 48% to 43%, and out rebounded the Grizzlies 42-37, but gave up 14 three-point shots (shooting 6-26 themselves from distance) and lost the game 80-75. Three of the four Panthers seniors honored before the game scored in double-figures: Jenny Lindner had 23 points, Bailey Farley had 19 points, and Steph Kostowicz had 15.
The Panthers finish the laague season in a three-way tie with Cleveland State and Youngstown State at 11-7. The Panthers are 20-10 overall. Depending on the outcome of the IUPUI-NKU game this afternoon, the tie is for fourth or fifth place. If IUPUI wins, they will finish in second overall with Wright State in third; if NKU wins, IUPUI and Wright State are tied for second at 12-6, followed by the Panthers, Vikings and Penguins. i have no idea how the tie-breakers would break down in either scenario. Unless those tie-breakers fall Milwaukee's way, they will finish lower than their predicted fourth-place finish. In contrast, IUPUI was predicted to finish in seventh place, and will finish second. Wright State needed a late season surge to get close to where they were predicted to be, and needed NKU's halp to get there.
The Panthers actually had a better record on the road in league play than at home: 6-3 versus 5-4. Of the Four home losses, three were games that better defense st key moments could have won. A 14-4 overall record would have been good for second place in the league this season.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 26, 2018 0:33:39 GMT -6
The good news heading into the league tournament is that the tie-breakers on the three way tie for fourth place broke Milwaukee’s way: the Panthers are seeded fourth and play Youngstown State in their first tournament game, which will be the early Sunday afternoon game (1:30 pm Milwaukee time).
The bad news is that the Panthers are on Green Bay’s side of the bracket. The Phoenix will face the winner of the eight-nine game, Northern Kentucky versus Detroit. NKU was one of two HL teams to beat Green Bay during the regular season. That NKU win was early in the regular season, and Green Bay won the rematch.
A win over Oakland would have meant breaking a tie with Wright State for third place, so, depending on those tie-breakers, Milwaukee might have wound up with the same seeding. But a third seed would have meant the Panthers would not face the top seed until the finals.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 28, 2018 22:19:45 GMT -6
All-League Teams: mkepanthers.com/news/2018/2/28/womens-basketball-lindner-kostowicz-selected-all-horizon-league.aspxNot surprising that Kostowicz and Lindner made an all-league team. A few more wins would have produced a better finish and might have gotten Lindner on the first team. Kostowicz was a major contributor this season, but she scored less, which attracts less attention. A mark of the improvement in the league is that Green Bay did not dominate the all-league teams or the POTY honors to the extent that they have in previous years. The rest of the league has a long way to go before one or more teams emerge as a serious and sustained challenger for the top spot, but the quality of play is increasing.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 6, 2018 11:11:32 GMT -6
Whatever happened with the women's team?
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 6, 2018 12:41:58 GMT -6
Whatever happened with the women's team? They played the kind of basketball they played during their losses to IUPUI and NKU: they got behind early from a combination of poor shooting and bad defense, then they finally got on track but lost the game late. The difference in the tournament is that their rally got them into the lead, briefly. The bright side is they didn’t have to play a rested Green Bay team in the semifinals; YSU lost by 25 points. I don’t know how to assess this team. They pulled out wins early in the season after trailing by as many as 15 points twice. Later in the season they weren’t able to come all the way back and win. Milwaukee finished at 20-11. Last season and this season are the first time the Panthers have won 20 games in consecutive seasons since they’ve been in Division I. They accomplished a lot, but it’s frustrating because they had the opportunity to do so much more than they did. Now fans get to wait until next season, to see how well the staff can help the current and incoming players to build on the success of the last three years. Two starters will return: Jamie Reit and McKaela Schmelzer. Four players who saw significant court time will return: Lizzie Odegard, Ryaen Johnson, Brandi Bisping, and Alyssa Fischer. They will be joined by a player who had to sit out the year due to a knee injury, Alyssa Moore, a high-profile transfer, Bre Cera, and four new freshmen, including a pair of post players to replace the height being lost to graduation.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Mar 13, 2018 12:04:51 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 14, 2018 13:13:05 GMT -6
That's a pleasant surprise. i hadn't thought a post-season bid to be all that likely, so i hadn't even bothered to inquire when the WNIT or WBI fields would be announced.
Coach Rechlicz's team has now made it three consecutive years of post-season play. This is the second time in those three years that the Panthers have made the Women's NIT. I think this bid may be due in part to last season's success in the WBI, which landed them in the pre-season WNIT this season. After the Panthers's 20-11 season, the WNIT decided to give them an at large bid to the post-season tournament.
The Panthers face Northern Iowa (19-13) in the first round of the WNIT. The teams have played eight times previously (all regular season games) with Northern Iowa winning six of those. The teams have not played since 2010.
IUPUI got the Horizon League's auto-bid for the WNIT by finishing second in the league. They play Purdue in the first round. Wright State also got an at large WNIT bid, probably as a result of making the HL tournament final; they play Toledo in the first round.
Also in the WNIT field is a Western Illinois squad the Panthers beat on the road, and a Houston team the Panthers lost to in the pre-season WNIT. With IUPUI and Wright State, that makes a total of four WNIT teams the Panthers have faced this season, going 3-3 against those teams.
Youngstown State accepted a bid to the WBI, and has a home game against (SUNY) Binghampton. i don't know whether or not Cleveland State, who finished in a three-way tie with YSU and Milwaukee, received a bid; if they did, it appears they didn't accept it.
With Green Bay in the NCAA Women's tournament, five of the ten HL teams are playing post-HL-tournament games. The Phoenix are a seven seed in the Spokane Regional in the NCAA tournament. i'm guessing that's as high as an HL team has ever been seeded. It's the second time the Phoenix have been seeded 7th.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 14, 2018 17:23:20 GMT -6
2018 Horizon League Women's Post-Season Tournament Update #1Women's Basketball Invitational Round 1: - SUNY Binghamton at Youngstown State, Wednesday, March 14. Binghamton wins, 70-59.
Women's NIT Round 1: - Purdue at IUPUI, Thursday March 15th, 6:00 PM CDT, ESPN3
- Milwaukee at Northern Iowa, Thursday March 15th, 7:00 PM CDT, ESPN3
- Wright State at Toledo, Friday March 16th, 6:00 PM CDT, EPSN3
Women's NCAA Round 1: - Green Bay (7) vs Minnesota (10), Friday March 16th, 4:00 PM CDT, ESPN2
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 15, 2018 18:50:09 GMT -6
2018 Horizon League Women's Post-Season Tournament Update #2Women's Basketball Invitational Round 1: - SUNY Binghamton at Youngstown State, Wednesday, March 14. Binghamton wins, 70-59. YSU led for most of the first half, but Binghamton put it together in the second half and won going away.
Women's NIT Round 1: - Purdue at IUPUI, Thursday March 15th. Purdue wins 48-46. A similar game to the YSU game, but lower scoring. IUPUI led the entire first half, a couple of times by double-digits. Purdue asserted itself in the second half, and took the lead late. IUPUI fought back from a 46-40 deficit to tie the score with 35 seconds left. Purdue scored with six seconds left, and a three-point shot from IUPUI missed as time expired.
- Milwaukee at Northern Iowa, Thursday March 15th. Milwaukee wins, 81-67.
- Wright State at Toledo, Friday March 16th, 6:00 PM CDT, EPSN3
Women's NCAA Round 1: - Green Bay (7) vs Minnesota (10), Friday March 16th, 4:00 PM CDT, ESPN2
The Horizon League is 1-2 so far in the post-season.
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