Despite not playing their best basketball of the season and a red-hot shooting opponent, the Milwaukee women’s basketball team beat North Dakota State University 79-74 Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers are now 6-1 for the season.
It was a tough competitive battle throughout that featured 16 lead changes and 14 ties. North Dakota State was deadly from long range as they hit 11 3-pointers. The Panthers were down by seven with just seven minutes left but through grit and determination, Milwaukee finished the game with a 9-0 run. That culminated as a part of an 18-6 run in the late minutes of the contest.
“Our team was executing at a very high level at that point (in the game),” Milwaukee Head Coach Kyle Rechlicz said. “I was calling out a lot of our plays from the bench and our team was getting the ball into the hands of who needed it, and that was Jenny and Steph. Jenny hit a huge three that really made the run secured, then she fed the ball inside and then Sierra hit a huge layup.”
Both Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz came through as they scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds each. Sierra Ford-Washington was also a huge contributor as she reached double figures scoring 14 points along with pulling down seven rebounds. Alexis Lindstrom came up huge in the closing moments of the game as she scored five points, along with five assists and a steal that gave the Panthers the go ahead lead late.
“This is why you play team basketball and not individual,” said Rechlicz. “Some of our players didn’t have their best basketball game tonight, but it’s always nice when you have players that really step up. That’s what the makeup of our team is. When certainly players aren’t playing as well, other people can step up. We found a way. We held strong and I think our fans played a large support in that too. They were very loud at the end.”
The Panthers will be on the road for their next game as they play Illinois St. Wednesday at 7 pm in Normal, Illinois.