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Post by parkerj on Oct 19, 2021 16:56:43 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2021 9:20:49 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 8, 2021 19:52:20 GMT -6
The Panthers will get the season started with a late-morning game tomorrow. It's a road game with Ball State that starts at 11:30 AM local time, which is 10:30 AM Milwaukee time.
The Panthers return three of five starters from last season's regular season co-champions: McKaela Schmelzer, Sydney Staver, and Megan Walstad. Ten bench players also return, lead by Miquela Santoro, Kendall Nead, and Emma Wittmershaus.
I expect Coach Rechlicz will use the non-league season (seven games) to try different combinations to fill the open spots in the starting lineup, as she has generally done, and to develop a rotation. The Panthers will take non-league wins as often as they can get them, but the priority will be to see how the team settles in. If any of the three freshmen show they can handle it, they will get a crack at playing time.
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Post by parkerj on Nov 9, 2021 13:50:21 GMT -6
*sigh* that was disappointing
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 9, 2021 22:53:13 GMT -6
Well, yeah. Anytime you lead nearly the entire game, give up the tying basket at the buzzer, and basically run out of gas in overtime, I'd call that disappointing. Especially since free-throw shooting, Milwaukee's strength, failed them at a key moment at the end of regulation. A missed free throw left the lead at two with 6.4 seconds left. A make might have meant the Panthers eked out a one-point win instead of going to overtime.
On the bright side, the Panthers got balanced scoring, and an early indication that the loss of Brandi Bisping will not slow down the Panther offense. The Panthers were also playing without Emma Wittmershaus and Angie Cera, either of whom might easily have contributed enough to a change a loss to a Panther road win. Even a slight improvement in their shooting percentage might have made the difference; the Panthers shot .355 for the game and .214 from beyond the three-point line. Ball State had six blocked shots, but a lot of Panther misses were open looks.
The officiating was brutal. 50 fouls in total were called, including a questionable "flagrant" (or whatever the term is) foul on Miquela Santoro. As Ball State missed both free throws and failed to score on the subsequent possession, it didn't really affect the outcome, anyway. But it is difficult to run offense when a foul is being called, on average, every 54 seconds.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 19, 2021 5:39:44 GMT -6
After an 0-3 start to the season, Milwaukee hosted Wright State to begin league play. (There are still a few non-league games to be played, mixed in among the league games.)
The Raiders are rebuilding: the coaching staff that had made the program perennial contenders in the Horizon League has moved on to Memphis, and most of the top players transferred out. I'm not sure how many incoming players stayed with their commitment to play for Wright State since the staff who had recruited them is gone. What is left are some holdover role players being asked to do much more and newcomers.
The Panthers have played stretches of good basketball to start this season, but lost all three games. This was in part because of some early injuries but also from an inability to get shots to go in. Milwaukee shot better over the course of the game, leading to an overall shooting percentage of .467. The result was a 58-47 win. Megan Walstad led all scorers with 19 points, on 7-11 shooting from the floor, with eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal. McKaela Schmelzer had a double double with 10 points and 13 rebounds .
Next for the Panthers is a Saturday morning (10:30 am) home game against Northern Kentucky. The game was rescheduled to accommodate the HL Volleyball Tournament. NKU played at GreenBay last night and lead from wire to wire. The Panthers will need another step up to win this game.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 21, 2021 8:19:49 GMT -6
Yesterday the Panthers hosted Northern Kentucky, who had won their league opener at Green Bay on Thursday night. As the Norse had won the previous five games with the Panthers, I was expecting the Panthers would have to play their best game of the early season to win a close game.
It wasn't a well played game in all aspects, but the Panthers won the game, 61-49. The defense was the key, holding the Norse scoreless for several stretches, especially in the second half. The Panthers got balanced scoring and out-rebounded the Norse 24-17 overall and 12-4 on the offensive end, leading to a 15-5 margin in second-chance points.
The turning point was the third quarter, in which Milwaukee outscored NKU 22-11 to convert a one point deficit to a ten point lead. The Panthers got the lead to 13 on two occasions in the quarter. All this was despite being called for eleven fouls to only three for the Norse. Oddly enough, a fair number of the foul calls were offensive, so that the Norse shot only eleven free-throws. Free-throws have not been a particular strength for the Norse, who hit only five in the quarter (7-15 for the entire game). The Norse started the game scoring well in the paint, and outscored the Panthers 32-30 for the game, but the Panther defense held them to 7-22 in the second half. The Panthers shot 15-26 in the second half, 60% (9-15) in the pivotal quarter, including four three-pointers.
McKaela Schmelzer and Sydney Staver led the way with 15 points each. Megan Walstad had a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Kendall Nead also reached double digits with 10 points.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 24, 2021 20:22:48 GMT -6
I wasn't sure what to expect from the Panthers going in to tonight's home game with Wisconsin. The Badgers replaced their head coach after last season. They had a 1-3 record, and their last game was an overtime loss to Chicago State at home. Yes, Chicago State (their fifth win in the last 136 games) in the Kohl Center.
Both teams got off to good starts, with Milwaukee up 20-19 at the end of the first quarter. The half-time score was 42-all. McKaela Schmelzer hit two early three-point shots. Emma Wittmershaus scored six points in the paint before picking up her second foul. But the early hero was Miquela Santoro, who hit several midrange jumpers in the first half.
The Panthers have been starting Wittmershaus and Megan Walstad of late, giving them high-low options on offense. Tonight they played Wittmershaus as the low post option from the opening tip. At the beginning of her career, I tended to think of Wittmershaus primarily in terms of height. Over her career, she has more and more proven that she has athleticism to go with her height. Walstad still looks more fluid, but Wittmershaus has come on steadily. It may have been Coach Rechlicz's goal from the beginning to have Walstad and Wittmershaus playing together. It took until now to happen, and it looks like it will play out well for the Panthers.
As they did against Northern Kentucky, the Panthers broke open a close game with a big third quarter, outscoring the Badgers 19-9 to take a 61-51 lead into the final quarter. By contrast, the final score for the NKU game was 61-49. The Panthers extended the lead to as many as 16 points early in the fourth, and the final score was 79-67.
Four Panthers scored in double figures: Walstad (21, with eight rebounds and four assists), Santoro (a career-high 19 points with four assists and three steals), Wittmershaus (her first career double double on 15 points and 10 rebounds), and Schmelzer (13 points, 12 from distance).
The Panthers are now 3-3 on the season, 2-0 in league play. Next up is a trip to DeKalb, Illinois, to play Northern Illinois. Based on her post-game comments tonight, Coach Rechlicz expects the Huskies to present a strong challenge.
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Post by skrapheap on Dec 4, 2021 17:54:19 GMT -6
After two awful shooting games, against Northern Illinois and Youngstown State, the Panthers looked to bounce back against Robert Morris.
The offense started slowly against the Colonials, and Megan Walstad and Emma Wittmershaus both struggled with both shooting and foul trouble. McKaela Schmelzer and Sydney Staver had subpar scoring games as well. The Panthers had to rely on Miquela Santoro (a game-high 15 points) and the bench to put together a 66-47 victory. The bench, lead by Kendall Nead (12 points) and Angie Cera (9 points), scored 35 of those 66 total points.
It took some time for the Panthers to get started. Santoro hit a three-point shot on her first shot to give Milwaukee 5-4 lead three minutes into the game. The Colonials took a 6-5 lead on the next play. It was their last lead of the game, as the Panther defense clamped down and held RMU scoreless for the last 6:46 of the first quarter and the beginning 3:54 of the second quarter (10:40 of game time), scoring 14 points themselves over that stretch. Robert Morris then heated up and scored 13 points over the remaining time in the quarter, to cut the half-time lead to 29-21.
The Panthers opened the second half with the kind of dominant third quarter they have put together in each of their wins this season. They out-scored the Colonials 17-8 to seize control of the game. Milwaukee finished the game with their highest-scoring quarter of the game: 20 points.
In the other league game of note, Youngstown State cemented its claim to Wright State's vacated role as contender with a steady 67-58 win over Green Bay. The Penguins hit 15 three-point shots in the game. Time after time, a Penguin player would hit a three-point shot in response to a Phoenix run. Green Bay got the game close on several occasions, but Youngstown held on to the lead.
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Post by skrapheap on Dec 30, 2021 20:51:09 GMT -6
I don't know what is wrong with the Panther offense these last several games, but if they don't start hitting shots more consistently, they are going nowhere in league play. In tonight's game with Oakland, the Panthers dressed ten players to only nine for the Grizzlies, but Oakland lead nearly the entire game, much of the time by double digits.
The Panthers put on a surge in the fourth quarter, but found it difficult to cut the lead below six points, again due to poor shooting. The lead was cut to four, but poor shooting by the Panthers allowed the Grizzlies to push the lead back to nine with less than four minutes remaining. The Panthers stumbled their way through the remaining time and lost.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 14, 2022 21:37:17 GMT -6
The Panthers looked much better tonight, besting Purdue Fort Wayne, 68-56. The Panthers got balanced scoring; they were lead by McKaela Schmelzer's 12 points, followed by Megan Walstad and Sydney Staver with 11 points apiece, and Emma Wittmershaus with 10. After a couple of games where the opponent took more than 20 free throws, the Panthers had a decisive edge in free throws, shooting a strong 22-25 (88%) to 5-7 for the Mastodons.
Most importantly, the Panthers played strong in the fourth quarter, after fading badly in the previous three games. Milwaukee outscored Purdue Fort Wayne 21-14 in the third quarter, and 20-17 in the fourth. The fourth quarter effort was strong, with the Mastodons hitting a couple of three-balls in garbage time. The Panthers outscored the Mastodons in all four quarters, with a fast start to the third quarter turning a close game to an nine-point lead.
The Panthers have not yet gotten back to their accustomed efficiency, but they did shoot better than they had in recent games. The win raises Milwaukee's league record to 6-3 for the season.
Next up for the Panthers is a home game with Cleveland State on Sunday at 2:00 PM. Cleveland State started the season hot, but they have had some games cancelled due to Covid. They are 4-2 in league play but have not played a game since January 1st.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 29, 2022 18:34:20 GMT -6
The Panthers finished their weekend by scoring a season high 80 points to beat a one league win Wright State team. The team reversed its recent trend of shooting poorly, hitting 53.1% from the floor, and over 40% from three-point range. Milwaukee started out hot, jumping out to an early lead against a Raider squad that had seven players ready to play. The lead grew to 25-8 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. The Raiders narrowed the lead to 25-13 before the Panthers scored a last second bucket to make the score 27-13.
The Panthers cooled off considerably at the start of the second quarter, so much so that the Raiders tied the score at 33-all in the first six minutes of the quarter. After leading 25-8, the Panthers were outscored 25-8 over about nine minutes spanning the end of the first quarter and the first half of the second. But Milwaukee withstood the surge and took a nine point lead into halftime.
Milwaukee started the third quarter by scoring the first four points and ten of the first twelve points of the quarter. Milwaukee outscored Wright State 20-10 for the quarter, which pretty much decided the game. The lead reached a high of 29 points midway through the fourth quarter.
The starters carried the weight in this game. Miquela Santoro led the way with a career-high tying 19 points. McKaela Schmelzer hit her first six shots of the game and finished with 17 points. Emma Wittmershaus and Megan Walstad scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. Sydney Staver had five points as the starting five accounted for 64 of 80 total points.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 3, 2022 22:24:39 GMT -6
The Panthers have now played two solid offensive games in a row, as they beat Robert Morris 68-48. The Panthers finished the game with the second highest shooting percentage in program history, .659.
60 of the total of 68 points came from the starters: Megan Walstad had a game high 23 points and 11 rebounds for a double double. Sydney Staver had a season high of 17 points; McKaela Schmelzer and Emma Wittmershaus had nine points each.
This is a positive sign going into Saturday afternoon's game with Youngstown State, whi is still just ahead of IUPUI in the standings. The Penguins list tonight at Green Bay in double overtime. It was YSU's third loss in league play, and the first time all season they lost consecutive league games. I expect Saturday's game to be similar to YSU's game with Green Bay, a close game throughout.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 21, 2022 22:41:12 GMT -6
The Panthers' home regular season finale did not set up well. Green Bay entered play on a ten game winning streak, their last win being a 15 point thumping of IUPUI in Green Bay. Milwaukee had 11 league wins, but only one against a team ahead of them in the standings. The result? The Panthers overcame a 13 point halftime deficit to upset the Phoenix, 50-48.
Green Bay outscored Milwaukee 17-10 in the first quarter, and 12-6 in the second quarter. Milwaukee outscored Green Bay 17-12 in the third quarter and 17-7 in the fourth quarter to pull off the win. Emma Wittmershaus scored a career high 20 points to lead all scorers; Megan Walstad had a double double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Wittmershaus jump started the Panther offense in the third quarter by hitting three consecutive three-point shots. She scored the Panthers' last five points, including three of four made three throws to give Milwaukee the lead.
The win guarantees a winning league record for the season. If the Panthers win their remains two games, on the road against Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne, they would finish the regular season with a winning record. Cleveland State will be a challenge, as the Vikings will enter the game 18-6 overall and 13-5 in league play.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 22, 2022 6:55:51 GMT -6
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, there is some uncertainty about seedings for the tournament.
The teams in the top four seeds are set, but the actual seedings will be determined by the weekend's results.
Youngstown State is one game up on IUPUI with two games to play. The teams will meet in Indianapolis on Thursday night; then IUPUI hosts Robert Morris and YSU travels to Chicago to play UIC. If the Jaguars win at home on Thursday, they will have more of a challenge to win the regular season title against an RMU team that has won 10 league games, than the Penguins will have against one-win UIC. If IUPUI wins Thursday, they would have the season sweep over YSU for a tie-breaker.
Green Bay could rise as high as the second seed if they win out over Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State, and get some help.
Cleveland State would still narrowly hold on to the fourth seed if they lose to Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Milwaukee could take the fifth seed if they win out and Northern Kentucky loses both of their remaining games. The fifth seed will probably host UIC and the sixth seed will probably host Detroit Mercy in the first round.
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