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Post by skrapheap on Dec 29, 2020 18:29:52 GMT -6
Since none of the league's women's basketball teams played over the last week, the League dispensed with Player of the Week honors for this week.
Looks like I will be watching a lot of basketball on the first and second.
The preseason poll put Robert Morris in fifth place, but i'm thinking that was with the expectation that the league would be playing something like a normal schedule. As it is, the Colonials introduction to the Horizon League has been pretty tough. The Colonials had all their non-league games cancelled. Northern Kentucky was predicted to finish higher than Robert Morris, and though the Norse had a rough time of it in non-league play (0-4, and not by close margins), they handled the Colonials pretty easily, winning both games by at least 25 points. Then RMU had to come to Milwaukee. The Panthers were picked to finish below the Colonials, but the Panthers played pretty well in their non-league games, going 3-1, and they beat the Colonials twice, though by narrower margins. So the Colonials are 0-4 in the league and on the season, and their next two games are in Indianapolis against IUPUI, the favorite to win the league.
Purdue Fort Wayne is also 0-4, but no one is surprised, as they were picked to finish near the bottom of the laague.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Dec 31, 2020 14:20:55 GMT -6
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Post by chipanthers45 on Jan 1, 2021 18:04:01 GMT -6
For someone who knows the women's game a little better, do we have a chance of being ranked this year if we keep this up?
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 1, 2021 18:55:20 GMT -6
For someone who knows the women's game a little better, do we have a chance of being ranked this year if we keep this up? Milwaukee has been climbing in the Mid Major polls. They entered the day 13th in the Mid Major Top 25. IUPUI was ranked sixth in the same poll, and was starting to get votes in the D1 Top 25. I would think that the head to head series between the Panthers and Jaguars will be key to the possibility of making the D1 Top 25. That matchup is three weeks away, and will be played in Indianapolis. Today, the Panthers overcame another sluggish first half and won going away against Detroit Mercy in Detroit, 64-43. Milwaukee had a three point lead at the end of the first quarter, and then were outscored 10-5 in the second quarter, giving Detroit a two point lead at the half. Megan Walstad was limited in playing time by early foul trouble and did not score in the half. The Panthers actually scored the first three points of the second quarter, as Emma Wittmershaus went 3-4 from the free-throw line. The Titans then scored the next seven points of the game, over the next five minutes, to take a 20-19 lead. Macy McGlone went 1-2 at the free throw line, to tie the score at 20 all. The Titans outscored the Panthers 3-1 over the remaining two minutes of the querter and the Titans had their lead. The third quarter featured a major offensive breakout by the Panthers. The Titans scored first to get to their highest lead of the game at 25-21, and the Panthers, led by Walstad, went on a 15-0 run to erase that lead and go up 11 points at 36.25. Walstad had the first six points of the run on two layups and two free throws. The Titans outscored the Panthers in the last two minutes of the quarter. After Walstad made another layup in response to a three-point shot by the Titans, Detroit scored the last two points of the quarter at the free throw line to cut the lead to eight at 38-30. The Panthers outscored the Titans 17-7 in th quarter. The Panthers played another dominant fourth quarter, outscoring the Titans 26-13 to reach the final score. All thirteen available players played for Milwaukee, and ten of them scored, from three to nine points in a display of real balance. Walstad and the Cera sisters lead the way with nine points each. Angie Cera scored her points from behind the three-point line. Brandi Bisping had eight points and Sidney Staver and Wittmershaus had seven points apiece. Miquela Santoro had six points, and McKaela Schmelzer, Kendall Nead and McGlone had three points each. The Panthers are now 8-1 on the season, a start unequaled back to the 1987-88 season, four years before before the Panthers went D1. Elsewhere in the league, IUPUI led from wire to wire and used a dominant second quarter to put away Robert Morris in Pennsylvania, 71-49. Green Bay needed overtime to beat Oakland in Michigan, 78-74. Wright State beat Youngstown State in the Penguins' first game of the season, 57-53, an impressive debut for the Penguins. They played the game close, and actually had a chance to beat the Raiders at the end of the game. Cleveland State was supposed to play Northern Kentucky, and UIC was supposed to play Purdue Fort Wayne, but Covid issues put an end to those series. UIC was notified of a positive Covid 19 test on the way to Fort Wayne. The league managed to cobble together a series between Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State. Northern Kentucky snagged a game with second-ranked Louisville and aquitted themselves well, keeping the game close until late in third quarter, and ultimately lost 74-64. At half-time of the CSU - PFW game, the Vikings had an eight point lead, but the Mastadons kept the game close until the end of the second quarter. The Mastadons have one of the youngest teams in D1, according to the announcers, and Cleveland State is not far behind.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 2, 2021 18:23:25 GMT -6
When the two game series format was announced for the Horizon League season for 2020-21, a widely expressed concern was how performance would suffer in the second game of a series. In the Panthers case, for the first two series, there was a slight drop-off in the performance, but not enough to affect the outcome. Tonight's second game was an improvement in almost every aspect.
Milwaukee beat Detroit, 77-38, a top five margin of victory in program history, to go 9-1 for the first time in program history. The 77 points scored was a season high. The Panthers were led in scoring by Angie Cera's season and career high 13 points (including her first two-point field of her college career), and Emma Wittmershaus's career-high-tying 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Eleven other players played for Milwaukee, and ten of them scored.
In her post-game comments, Coach Rechlicz pointed out that turnovers prevented the Panthers from scoring 90 points in the game (the team shot 56.3% for the game, and hit a season high 10 three-point shots). It was about the only fault one could find with the team's performance. The starters got the fourth quarter off, and the subs outscored the Titans 21-5. The Panther bench scored 45 of the team's 77 total points. The Titan bench managed 12 points.
Next up for the Panthers: home series with Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State. A win in the first game would tie the program record for consecutive league wins. A sweep of PFW would set a new record.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 4, 2021 13:06:38 GMT -6
The series between Milwaukee and IUPUI is about three weeks away. Both teams are currently 6-0 in league play.
I would say the odds are decent that both teams will be undefeated in league play by the time the series begins. But IUPUI has a bit more of a challenge in front of them. The Jaguars host Northern Kentucky (4-0 in league play) next weekend and then travels to play Wright State (currently 5-1 in league play).
The Panthers host winless Purdue Fort Wayne and 2-2 Cleveland State.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 5, 2021 17:52:52 GMT -6
Speaking of IUPUI, Macee Williams is the women's basketball Player of the Week. She averaged a double-double of 25 points and 15.5 rebounds in last weekend's games, so she deserved the honor.
It was interesting to me how last weekend's Panthers games went, as far as post scoring is concerned. Megan Walstad didn't score in double figures, nor did she rebound in double figures, in either game, though she was one of the leading scorers. But then, the Panthers don't have to rely on her scoring, as they have Brandi Bisping, Sydney Staver, and Bre Cera who can all score in the paint. As I have mentioned before, Emma Wittmershaus has also come on well this season. She matched her career high of 10 points, all from the paint or the free throw line, in Saturday's game with Detroit. The balanced scoring makes it hard to beat the Panthers, and makes it difficult to play defense. How can you set your defense to take away the Panthers' best player when any one of seven or eight players could lead the team in scoring? Coach Rechlicz routinely plays 10 or more players, so everyone is pretty well rested and she can cover for foul trouble without a big drop-off in performance.
Another upside of the Panthers' post play is the free throws. The Panthers routinely make more free throws in a game than their opponent shoots, and the Panthers are a really good free-throw shooting team. Bisping has been one of the top free-throw shooters in the Horizon League throughout her time in the League. So far this season, she's 37-41 for 90.2 percent. Her teammates are shooting well this season as well. McKaela Schmelzer is 14-14, Angie Cera is 15-16, Wittmershaus is 21-23.
I am more and more excited about the series with IUPUI as it approaches. I know the Panthers won't overlook either Purdue Fort Wayne or Cleveland State, but the showdown with the Jaguars is coming. You have to beat the best to be the best.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 7, 2021 22:41:16 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 11, 2021 14:36:17 GMT -6
The Panthers had a fairly easy weekend of it, sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne. The Friday game went mostly to form, as the Panthers established a lead, built on it steadily, and won going away. The Saturday game was more of a struggle, as the Mastadons kept the score close in the first half, rebounding from an 11-0 start to the game for the Panthers, and getting to within a single score on a couple of occasions, before the Panthers took control of the game in the third quarter. Megan Walstad had double-doubles in points and rebounds in both games. Brandi Bisping had a single double-double, but her numbers for the weekend were stronger, and she received the HL Women's Player of the Week award. The Panthers performed well on the weekend: - The Panthers set a new program record for conference wins to begin a season at eight.
- The Panthers extended their program best start to a season to 10-1.
- The Panthers allowed the second lowest amounts of points scored by an opponent in program D! history on Saturday. They tied the record against Marquette earlier this season.
- Walstad and Bisping both had double doubles in points and rebounds in Saturday's game, the first time two Panthers have done in the same game in nearly three years.
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Post by parkerj on Jan 11, 2021 15:40:54 GMT -6
CAN"T WAIT to post the new power rankings here
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 11, 2021 16:46:21 GMT -6
CAN"T WAIT to post the new power rankings here Should be interesting. It looks like IUPUI is on pause for COVID 19, so their series last weekend was cancelled and the series scheduled for next weekend will be as well. That means if the Panthers play this weekend as scheduled and the Panther - Jaguar series happens the following weekend, the Panthers will have played four more league games than the Jaguars. Seeding for the league tournament will be something of a challenge. As of this past weekend, only five of twelve teams in the league have played all the league games on their schedules. Suppose the two teams split the series and finish the league season with one loss each. Does the team which played more games get the higher seed? That wouldn't be all that popular since the majority of league teams won't have played a full schedule.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 16, 2021 20:36:31 GMT -6
The Panthers completed another regular season sweep, riding a fast start to a 65-44 win over Cleveland State. Megan Walstad put in a claim for another Player of the Week award, with her fourth consecutive double-double on a career high 28 points and 12 rebounds. On defense, she contributed four blocked shots and a steal. Four of her rebounds were offensive and contributed to the Panthers' 11-3 edge in second-chance points, and her overall play contributed to an overall 30-16 edge in points in the paint. For the weekend, Walstad averaged 20.5 points,12 rebounds, and 2.5 blocked shots per game.
All 13 available players played for Milwaukee, and ten of them scored, though no one aside from Walstad scored in double figures.
The Panthers started hot, scoring 20 points in the first quarter. Walstad had eight of those. The Panthers scored 18 points in the second quarter, and led 38-20 at halftime.
Next up for the Panthers is a trip to Indianapolis to play 6-0 IUPUI.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Jan 16, 2021 21:46:42 GMT -6
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Post by parkerj on Jan 16, 2021 22:14:57 GMT -6
The Panthers completed another regular season sweep, riding a fast start to a 65-44 win over Cleveland State. Megan Walstad put in a claim for another Player of the Week award, with her fourth consecutive double-double on a career high 28 points and 12 rebounds. On defense, she contributed four blocked shots and a steal. Four of her rebounds were offensive and contributed to the Panthers' 11-3 edge in second-chance points, and her overall play contributed to an overall 30-16 edge in points in the paint. For the weekend, Walstad averaged 20.5 points,12 rebounds, and 2.5 blocked shots per game. All 13 available players played for Milwaukee, and ten of them scored, though no one aside from Walstad scored in double figures. The Panthers started hot, scoring 20 points in the first quarter. Walstad had eight of those. The Panthers scored 18 points in the second quarter, and led 38-20 at halftime. Next up for the Panthers is a trip to Indianapolis to play 6-0 IUPUI. POTW
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 18, 2021 14:03:41 GMT -6
The Panthers completed another regular season sweep, riding a fast start to a 65-44 win over Cleveland State. Megan Walstad put in a claim for another Player of the Week award, with her fourth consecutive double-double on a career high 28 points and 12 rebounds. On defense, she contributed four blocked shots and a steal. Four of her rebounds were offensive and contributed to the Panthers' 11-3 edge in second-chance points, and her overall play contributed to an overall 30-16 edge in points in the paint. For the weekend, Walstad averaged 20.5 points,12 rebounds, and 2.5 blocked shots per game. All 13 available players played for Milwaukee, and ten of them scored, though no one aside from Walstad scored in double figures. The Panthers started hot, scoring 20 points in the first quarter. Walstad had eight of those. The Panthers scored 18 points in the second quarter, and led 38-20 at halftime. Next up for the Panthers is a trip to Indianapolis to play 6-0 IUPUI. POTW You called it correctly. Walstad Player of the Week for the Second TimeAs Brandi Bisping took the honor last week, this is the third such honor earned by a Panther this season. Now the Panthers take their top-of-the-league-and-top-five-in-all-of-D1 scoring defense to Indy to play the league's top offense Friday and Saturday. The match-up will feature, among other things, the two players who have been PotW twice this season in Walstad and Macee Williams.
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