The Milwaukee women’s basketball team battled in a cross-rivalry showdown against the Marquette Golden Eagles on Sunday afternoon with the Golden Eagles taking the victory, 83-68.
The loss snaps an eight-game win streak for Milwaukee, which the Panthers achieved by success on the road and at home.
“I think Marquette really came in and played Marquette-style of basketball,” said Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz. “We fell into the trap that they wanted us to fall into.”
Allazia Blockton scored big for MU with 29 points.
MU took an 8-2 lead early and had the offensive advantage all game. Fast break points were huge for MU with the Golden Eagles outrunning the Panthers 6-0. MU beat UWM 22-16 in points off turnovers and 42-32 in points in the paint.
The Panthers responded quickly to MU’s attacks with hot shooting on their end. A couple of triples from Bailey Farley and McKaela Schmelzer stopped the early run by MU and tied the game.
Milwaukee capitalized on their game plan with layups from several players, which earned the Panthers several trips to the free throw line where they shot over 70 percent.
Jenny Lindner led the Panthers with 13 points.
Jamie Reit, Steph Kostowicz, and Bailey Farley all scored 10 points.
“We wanted to be physically and mentally tough,” said Rechlicz.
“I thought we had some really good play coming off of our bench. A couple of players really stepped up for us. I thought they came in with just a sense of urgency of trying to win it.”
MU’s defense intensified and forced 31 turnovers on UWM. The Golden Eagles never let up on their offense, going up 14 at the start of the third quarter. MU led by as much as 17 in the second half.
UWM found continued success from the three, but it was not enough to gain the lead.
The game – which was the final home game of 2017 for the Panthers – puts UWM at 8-3 on the season and the Golden Eagles add a win to extend their record 6-4. The Panthers head back on a four-game road trip starting with a matchup against Chicago State on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got to get our flow back, hopefully before Christmas,” said Rechlicz.
“I’m proud of who we are. We definitely have some key pieces, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have to start taking care of the basketball a little bit better and we have a lot to do on our defensive game plan, especially in short turnaround games. We treat every matchup the same, whether they’re a Big East program or a different level school. We’re going to go home, watch some film a little bit, and get ready for Chicago State.”