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Post by skrapheap on Apr 8, 2022 15:40:03 GMT -6
The 2022-23 season will be an interesting one for the Panthers. The three departing super-seniors took with them a lot of court time. Of the top five players in the minutes played category, only Megan Walstad (#1 on the list) and Emma Wittmershaus (#4 on the list, just ahead of Sydney Staver) are returning. Of the other players showing up in the statistics, none of them averaged more than 16 minutes/game, which is 10 minutes/game fewer than Staver. Coach Rechlicz does have some experienced players to fill the void. Kendall Nead played extensively her freshman season and a little more in terms of minutes/game last season. Jada Donaldson was the point guard off the bench when McKaela Schmelzer was resting. Macy McClone played more and more as last season wore on, spelling both Walstad and Wittmershaus. My inexpert and way-too-early projected starting lineup looks like this: - Megan Walstad, Forward
- Emma Wittmershus, Forward
- Jada Donaldson, Guard
- Kendall Nead, Guard
- Angie Cera or Grace Crowley, Guard
On that last starter, I am definitely guessing, because neither Crowley nor Cera played every game. Both had their minutes increase as the season wore on. Cera seems the more polished and consistent player, so I give her the nod over Crowley, but only just. Coach Rechlicz moved Wittmershaus into the starting lineup fairly early last season, and when she and Walstad are playing well, it's hard to stop. The entire freshman class was essentially red-shirted, and the Panthers have two incoming freshmen for this fall. Those players will have an opportunity to fill in as they get accustomed to the pace of D1 basketball. One of this fall's newcomers, Kamy Peppler, was Miss Basketball for 2022 in Wisconsin, so her talents might give her an inside track to lots of playing time, and possibly a starting role. The Horizon League the Panthers will be facing won't be greatly changing. A lot of league teams benefited from having super seniors playing, so the Panthers will not be alone in having to replace a lot of minutes played. Last season, three teams replaced head coaches; so far there has been two changes: at Detroit and IUPUI. The Detroit situation is not a surprise. Going into the season, the Titans had a coach whom the players had quit on in the previous season, and accused of abuse; that coach left and an assistant stepped in as interim coach. The Titans finished dead last, and the interim coach was let go. IUPUI's Austin Parkinson, it has just been announced, is moving across town to Butler, to try to rebuild that program. He did a lot of hard work building the Jaguars into an HL power, but aside from losing Macee Williams, the Jaguars have a lot of good experienced players for the new coach to work with. I had heard some speculation that Green Bay's Matt Borseth might be looking to retire, as he is now 64 years old, but so far that is only speculation. It will be interesting to see if the logjam atop of the league standings continues.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Aug 17, 2022 10:18:33 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 18, 2022 14:18:40 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 11, 2022 8:41:44 GMT -6
First two games of the season are in the books. Milwaukee is 1-1, having lost to Wisconsin and beaten Loyola (Chicago).
The Panthers shot very poorly in the opener, trailing 27-10 at the half, one of the lowest scoring halves in program history. The Badgers did not shoot a great deal better, but they built their lead steadily as almost no one among the Panthers was able to hit a shot. Megan Walstad had a particularly bad game, scoring only two points. The Panthers never led the entire game. The second half performance was better, as they scored 39 points, to 32 for the Badgers, but never seriously challenged.
Against former league foe Loyola, Milwaukee got off to a slow start, but got over it in the first quarter, scoring the last nine points to change a 15-10 deficit into a 19-15 lead. From there, the Panthers built their lead and maintained it the rest of the way. The Ramblers closed to two points on a couple of occasions in the second quarter, but the Panthers rebuilt the lead to seven at the half, 33-26. The Panthers ran away with the game in the third quarter, scoring the first nine points to push the lead to 42-26. Walstad played a big part in the run, scoring six points and assisting Emma Wittershaus's three-point basket. The Panther lead grew to 20 with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, when Coach Rechlicz emptied the bench. The Ramblers outscored the Panthers the rest of the way, reducing the deficit to the final margin of 76-66. All thirteen Panthers played, and nine scored. Walstad had 15 points; Kendall Nead and Grace Crowley had 13 each, and Wittmershaus had 11 points.
Nead and Crowley had notable games. Nead played one of her better games, and Crowley had a career high. Crowley got on the floor more and more as last season wore on, but she did not score much. Her interior game was on display in the first two games as she got her points either close in or at the free throw line. All three of last season's freshmen, who were redshirts, got into the game. Anna Lutz had six points and Justina Hernandez scored four points.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 25, 2022 18:58:07 GMT -6
After the 1-1 start, Milwaukee has lost three straight, counting today's 64-47 loss to a 1-2 Nevada team.
The Panthers have played well offensively in one game so far, their win over Loyola. In their four losses, they have not scored 50 points in a game. The struggles are general, although Megan Walstad appears to be playing better after a cold start to the season. In a physical game against UIC, the Panthers did not shoot a free throw, and free-throw shooting is one category where they are doing well. They shot seven against Nevada, and made only two, but going perfect would have still have left a 12 point deficit.
The team has yet to put together consistent good team play. Individual players have had good games, but outside of the Loyola game, the Panthers have yet to have multiple players play well in a game. Shooting has been a problem, as the team is shooting .365. The Panthers rely on out-rebounding the opposition, and in today's game, they were out-rebounded 26-16, so when they missed shots, they weren't getting a lot of second chances. Next up for Milwaukee is a Sunday game with Boise State (as part of Nevada's tournament), followed by their first two Horizon League games, at home against Green Bay (3-2) next Thursday, followed by a road game against IUPUI (3-3) on Sunday, December 5th. Green Bay will play at IUPUI on Friday. Green Bay seems to be significantly better in the early season than they have been the last two seasons, in which they steadily improved over the course of the season, and played their way into fairly high seeds in the league tournament. IUPUI is retooling if not rebuilding, as Macee Williams and the head coach have both moved on. The Phoenix losses have been to mid-major Drake, who has been a strong team for several years, and to Florida. IUPUI has lost to UIC, Louisville, and Eastern Michigan.
After the IUPUI game, Milwaukee has three more non-league games, at home against Eastern Illinois, on the road against Minnesota, and at home against Maine, before entering league play in earnest.
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Post by skrapheap on Dec 1, 2022 21:12:29 GMT -6
Old habits die hard.
Milwaukee played a good first half in their league opener against Green Bay, leading 12-10 after one quarter and 34-30 at the half. The Phoenix got going in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 19-10 to take a five point lead at 49-44. And it looked like Green Bay had control of the game. I was prepared for a Milwaukee loss, as had happened so often.
But the Panthers did not fold. Their offensive struggles from the third quarter continued early in the fourth quarter, but that didn't matter, because the Phoenix could not buy a basket either. GB had gotten themselves into the lead by mixing points in the paint with three-pointers. This has been a signature of Kevin Borseth's teams. Coach Rechlicz said, during the beginning-of-season practices, that it would be very important to the team's success that the Panthers do much better at defending the three-point shot, especially being effective at contesting shots. That defensive improvement was important in the fourth quarter. Panther defenders were closing rapidly on Phoenix shooters beyond the arc, and the Phoenix were forced to take deeper shots to try to get a clean look at the basket. The Panther defense in the paint was much more effective at contesting shots and rebounding misses in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee outscored Green Bay 15-3 in the quarter, and won 59-52. The Panthers shot well from the free throw line tonight after some early season woes, and those made free throws pushed the lead out of reach.
I need to have more faith in this team. This is the third consecutive time the Panthers have beaten the Phoenix at home, and the Panthers have won five of the last seven games against the Phoenix. Green Bay continues to have a lop-sided lead in the overall series, but in recent years the Panthers have shown that they can play with the Phoenix.
Megan Walstad led all scorers with 15 points (including making her only three point shot) and nine rebounds. Emma Wittmershaus had a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Kendall Nead finished with 10 points, playing after being ill.
The Panthers next play IUPUI in Indianapolis, Monday night, to finish the two league games on the schedule, followed by three non-league games to close out that portion of the schedule.
Matt Menzl noted, during the broadcast, that the Panthers game with Eastern Illinois (Saturday, December 10th) will have them facing a team coached by Matt Bollant, who succeeded Borseth at Green Bay, and paved the way for Borseth's return by leaving Green Bay to coach at Illinois. EIU is 6-1 on the season, having lost their first game of the season on Saturday. EIU will play Bradley at home on Tuesday before traveling to play Milwaukee.
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Post by thetruth on Dec 10, 2022 19:58:48 GMT -6
This should be Kyle Rechlicz's last season. She has three 20-plus winning seasons in 11 years. She has five losing seasons. Her career record entering this year is 154-154.
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Post by skrapheap on Dec 31, 2022 15:58:16 GMT -6
Milwaukee played two games this weekend, against Detroit Mercy on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon against Oakland. The Detroit Mercy game was, as expected, a walkover, a 63-29 win. The Panther defense set D1-era records for fewest points allowed, fewest field goals allowed and lowest shooting percentage allowed in a game in which five Panthers scored in double figures. Detroit Mercy is on their fourth head coach in the past three seasons and was badly overmatched in the game. The Panthers scored the first twelve points of the game and led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Titans managed to score more than eight points only in the fourth quarter and were still outscored 17-12.
The game with Oakland was always going to be a more realistic measure of how Milwaukee compares with the league. The Grizzlies entered the game 1-2 in league play, but 6-6 overall. Oakland played Green Bay close for a half but wound up losing to the Phoenix by 22 points.
The story early in the season has been that Milwaukee has had to rely on defense as the offense has struggled mightily, in particular their top scorer, Megan Walstad. The defense was effective against both Detroit Mercy and Oakland, and the offense showed signs of coming around. The defense was enough to overcome some sloppy play, as the Panthers continue to commit way too many turnovers and are shooting fewer free throws.
The Panthers started out well on Saturday, weathering a late run in the first quarter to hold a 16-15 lead. Walstad took over the game in the second quarter despite playing with two fouls, scoring eight points, as Milwaukee expanded the lead to 33-27. Walstad scored 14 points on the afternoon. Emma Wittmershaus has continued to play well, reaching double-figures in scoring for the sixth time in the last seven games with a game-high 15 points. Kendall Nead also scored 14 points on 4-5 shooting from distance. The final was 65-49, raising the Panthers to 3-1 in league play.
Next up for Milwaukee is a four-game road trip, starting with Northern Kentucky. The Norse have been competitive in the league the last several years and have played especially well at home against the Panthers.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 5, 2023 21:06:14 GMT -6
The road trip started about as well as one could expect. A short-handed Panther team played lights-out defense in then first half, holding NKU to 16 points on 19% shooting, despite having seven turnovers to two four the Norse, and making only one free-throw.
NKU played much better in the second half, and won 66-60. The Norse scored seven more points in the third quarter than they scored in the first half of the game, and scored 50 points total in the second half. Milwaukee scored more points in the fourth quarter than they did in the second and third quarters combined, but it was not enough. The Panthers struggled at the free-throw line as well, shooting 10-17.
The Panthers were down two key subs, Angie Cera and Anna Lutz, who are recovering from concussions, and a third key player, Grace Crowley, was a game-time scratch. Any of those three could have helped, but the Panthers have yet to win a road game this season. Milwaukee will have an opportunity to break that streak on Saturday when they play Wright State, who have lost twelve consecutive games after losing to Green Bay tonight, 72-51.
The third game of the road trip (next Thursday) will be the toughest, against Cleveland State, who takes a 13 game winning streak and an undefeated league record into a Friday night home game with Purdue Fort Wayne. The Panthers finish the trip against PFW a week from Saturday.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 9, 2023 0:43:31 GMT -6
After struggling to score points early in the season, the Panthers have started to hit their stride. Getting to 50 points was a struggle in the early going, but the Panthers have scored an average of 65 points per game in their last four games.
Even short-handed, Milwaukee won a game it was supposed to win, beating Wright State, 72-61. Perhaps a Panther team at full strength would have had an easier time of it, but a road win is a road win. Four Panthers scored in double digits, led by Megan Walstad's 18 points. For the second straight game, Kami Peppler set a new career high, this time with 17 points. Kendall Nead contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Emma Wittmershaus had 11 points. It is encouraging to see Walstad playing more like a two-time First Team All Horizon League player. It is also encouraging to see Nead developing into a multi-faceted offensive threat, and to see Peppler adjusting to the D1 game. The Panthers took advantage of their trips to the free-throw line, hitting 19-22. The win improves the Panthers record to 4-2 in league play.
The Panthers were again missing Angie Cera, Anna Lutz, and Grace Crowley. Cera and Lutz are, if I heard Matt Menzl correctly, both out with concussions. Crowley was a game-time scratch for both games this weekend. Getting all of them back would be a big boost for their next game, Thursday night at Cleveland State, who is unbeaten in league play and on a 15 game winning streak since losing their season opener.
The current road trip ends with a Saturday game in Fort Wayne. The Mastodons have lost three straight, but played IUPUI tough for three quarters before fading.
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Post by skrapheap on Jan 30, 2023 19:31:28 GMT -6
The Panthers finished 5-5 on their first pass through league play. They should have been 6-4, but their offense disappeared against Purdue Fort Wayne and they gave up a lead in the fourth quarter and lost by ten points.
Since then they've lost games to IUPUI and Green Bay in which the Panthers played the opposition close for the first half and then were outplayed in the second half. The Panthers have gotten better on offense as the season has progressed, but not to the point where they can challenge the better teams in the league. I can easily see them going 5-5 over the second half of league play, or maybe 6-4 if they can beat Purdue Fort Wayne at home. That would land Milwaukee squarely in the middle of the league standings, and ultimately seeding will determine how likely a first-round victory in the tournament will be.
I don't know if the leadership in the Athletic Department pays that much attention to the program, so I don't how likely Amanda Braun is to decide that eleven years with an overall record just under .500 is grounds to make a change.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 18, 2023 6:43:46 GMT -6
There hasn't been a lot of positives to write about for the Panther women in the second half of the league season. They had won only one of their games, against a team below them in the standings, and one of their losses was at home against Wright State, the Raiders' fourth league win. They had lost Emma Wittmershaus to a separated shoulder, suffered while diving for a loose ball in a home loss to IUPUI. They have been plagued with inconsistent play, especially in the second hal of games.
I wasn't optimistic about Milwaukee's chances on the road at Youngstown State, but the Panthers played what Coach Rechlicz called their best game of the season. The Panthers overcame an early 13 point deficit in the first quarter to finish the first half tied at 39-all. Hot shooting from behind the three-point line was the main factor. Milwaukee hit five long range shots in the first quarter and four more in the second.
The Panther defense came to the foreground in the second half, holding the Penguins to four points in the third quarter and 15 points in the second half, while the Panthers scored 36. The result was a 21-point victory. Angie Cera had six of MKE's 14 total three-point makes (a game-high 20 points total) and Megan Walstad had three (accounting for nine of her 17 points) raising her season total to 13. Kamy Peppler had a strong game, contributing 11 points (2-3 on three-point shots), seven assists, no turnovers, and three steals coming off the bench.
The win improves the Panthers to 7-10 in league play with three games remaining. Next up is the final road game of the league season against Robert Morris, followed by home games against Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State. There is some hope that Wittmershaus, one of their leading scorers, may be back by the league tournament.
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Post by FTA1982 on Feb 18, 2023 9:49:30 GMT -6
I've watched probably 3 games this year. Angie Cera needs to get way more shots.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 18, 2023 12:28:35 GMT -6
I've watched probably 3 games this year. Angie Cera needs to get way more shots. She has been getting more playing time and has, Matt Mendel informed the listening audience last night, scored in double digits the last five games. She missed some time with injury before that. She is also, according to Coach Rechlicz, the best on-ball defender on the team. Another recent positive trend is Megan Walstad hitting three-point shots. She has made three shots in consecutive games. I think she got away from it because she played mostly low post when Wittmershaus and she were on the floor together. Walstad may also have shied away from shooting three-pointers because Wittmershaus is better from distance (.367 to Walstad's .302).
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 23, 2023 17:30:55 GMT -6
The road trip last weekend was this season in microcosm: the Panthers won a game no one would have expected, a 21 point victory over Youngstown State in which the Panthers hit 14 three-point shots, then shot extremely poorly in a game against Robert Morris, and lost a game anyone would have expected them to win. The loss eliminated the team's slim chances of finishing 10-10 in league play.
As I am typing this, the Panthers came out on fire against Purdue Fort Wayne, a team they lost to on the road before the Mastodons started to play much better (the teams at the bottom of the league all seem to be playing much better on the second pass through the league). The score at the end of the first quarter was 21-2, and it took PFW almost seven and one half minutes to hit their first shot. Another plus is that Emma Wittmershaus is back from her injury, coming off the bench in this game. She had two points.
The second quarter has been less unevenly played, but the Panthers outscored the Mastodons 12-9 to take a 33-11 lead at the half. That 11 point figure is a D1-era record for the Panthers for points allowed in a first half. Grace Crowley led all scorers with nine points, followed by Kamy Peppler with eight, and by Megan Walstad and Kendall Nead with six points each.
The third quarter was more of the same: the Panthers outscored the Mastodons 14-6 to lead by 30 with one quarter remaining. Walstad reached a double-double during the quarter.
The fourth quarter was PFW's best offensive quarter of the game, but Milwaukee matched them, to finish a 30-point win, 64-34.
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