The Milwaukee women’s basketball team squashed Detroit Mercy Friday night at the Klotsche Center by 45 points, scoring 22 unanswered in the third quarter. The Panthers are now 20-9 overall and 11-6 in the Horizon League.
In what was the program’s third-largest win in history saw all 11 players scoring.
“I think our starters really set the tone in the beginning of the game, and then our bench just followed that,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. “The energy in the gym was great. We were really locked into the game plan. I was probably most proud of our defense.”
Seniors Jenny Lindner and Bailey Farley each scored 21 points. Lindner went 9-of-13 shooting and snatched 11 rebounds for her 20th career double-double, tying Erica Young for fifth most in program history. Farley went 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 from the three-point line. The team overall connected on 11 three-pointers.
After going neck and neck during the first quarter, Milwaukee pulled ahead in the second after hot shooting from Steph Kostowicz, Lizzie Odegard and excellent team defense to make it a 47-27 lead going into the half. The team continued its dominance on both sides of the ball throughout the second half including strong play from Alyssa Fischer, Akaylah Hayes and Ryaen Johnson who all came off the bench.
Milwaukee finished the game shooting 47 percent and 46 percent from the three-point line. They also had a dominant game at the glass pulling down a season-high 56 rebounds.
“Our offensive flow has been really good the last two and a half games – including this game,” said Rechlicz. “I just knew, defensively, that we needed to lock in and that has really been working for us lately; the new defense that we put in.”
The Panthers look to close out their regular season on a high note Sunday as they take on Oakland at the Klotsche Center at 2 p.m. This will be the final home game for four seniors as its “Senior Day.”