The Panthers swept the season series over the Jaguars with a 77-70 win in a back-and-forth game at the Klotsche Center on Saturday.
The win marks the first time this season that the Panthers have won consecutive games.
“When you go into the [Horizon League] tournament,” said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. You need to prove you can win multiple games in a row.”
The Panthers claw out of last place in the conference with the result and now sit 8-21 on the season and 5-13 in the Horizon League.
Panthers Over Jaguars
The Jaguars drop to 7-20 on the season and 6-12 in the conference.
The Panthers beat the Jaguars in Indianapolis 66-62 at the end of January.
“The physicality was there both games,” said Peppler. “Just down the stretch, we became more aggressive instead of shying away and trying to hold out possessions.”
Kamy Peppler was the temp-setter for the Panthers the entire contest. Peppler’s 26 points went along with eight assists while she shot an efficient 9-16 from the field. Jorey Buwalda (14) and Anna Lutz (11) joined Peppler in double figures.
Rechlicz also mentioned Jada Williams and Payton Rechlicz as players who stepped up in the contest. Payton Rechlicz had two vital threes down the stretch and sported a team-high +20 plus/minus.
“I thought different people gave us moments at different times,” said Rechlicz.
Katie Davidson came into the game averaging 18.4 points per game for the Jaguars. Davidson finished the game with 24 points while shooting a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line and 8-13 on field goals.
Alexa Hocevar made 4-4 from three-point range (all in the third quarter) and finished with 13 points, joining Faith Stinson who had 11, and Davidson reaching double figures.
The first quarter was back-and-forth, with both teams shooting 6-14 from the field. After one, the Jaguars held the advantage 16-15.
In the second quarter, the Panthers went on a 9-0 run and flipped a 15-18 deficit to a 24-18 lead.
Milwaukee was ahead by seven points late in the quarter but IU Indy went on a 12-2 run going into halftime up 36-33.
Both teams made 13 field goals at the half but the Panthers had 33 attempts compared to only 23 by the Jaguars. IU Indy made four more free throws than Milwaukee at the half.
After a high-octane third, the fourth quarter featured more back-and-forth basketball. Milwaukee found themselves down by four and in foul trouble at the 7:40 mark.
A Payton, Rechlicz and Peppler run gave the Panthers a 67-63 lead with 4:09 left.
After a slight Jaguars surge, Jorey Buwalda took the lead back for Milwaukee with 3:10 left in the game which the Panthers never surrendered.
Learning How to Close Games
For much of the season, the Panthers have struggled late in games, but they excelled at the end to pull off the Jaguar effort.
“We’ve learned from our losses,” said Peppler. “That’s something we’ve really focused on these past few wins, and it’s obviously helped us.”
Milwaukee shot 44.6% on field goals through four quarters while shooting at a 40% clip for their 10 threes made.
IU Indy shot at a better rate making 47.9% of their 48 shots, but they attempted 17 fewer shots than the Panthers.
The Panthers’ last two regular-season games are against the top two teams in the Horizon League: Green Bay and Purdue Fort-Wayne.
“Really excited to play Green Bay, it’s a rival at their place so that’s gonna be a fun one,” said Peppler.
The Panthers take on in-state foe Green Bay on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Kress Center.