The Milwaukee women’s basketball team got an efficient win over Wright State at the Klotsche Center on Thursday evening.
Jenny Lindner led the Panthers with 23 points on 6-9 shooting and a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. Lindner added a career-high 16 rebounds. With one of their best scorers, Steph Kostowicz, out with an injury, Lindner filled major shoes to help the Panthers win.
“This was a huge win for our program,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. “The energy and the focus that our team came out with is exactly what you expect towards the second half of conference play. It’s tough when you have one of your better players sitting on the bench, but we had a lot of people that stepped up in her absence.”
Jamie Reit added 14 points and Bailey Farley contributed nine points.
Horizon League Leading Scorer Chelsea Welch scored 17 points for WSU.
After starting an impressive 10-0 run early in the first quarter, the Panthers scored fearlessly and never looked back. Milwaukee shot well from beyond the arc, making 6-13 on the night. Four of the six three’s came in the first half, which helped the Panthers stretch the lead tremendously.
The Raiders battled back with efficient offense of their own and cut the once double-digit lead to single digits for the rest of the way. WSU found a huge spark in their offense in the fourth when they went up for the first time by one and then again by three.
It was Lindner again for the Panthers who made several consecutive shots in the final minute. Milwaukee came up with a stop defensively first, then pushed the ball for a 6-0 run to get atop the Raiders by the final buzzer.
The Panthers shot well all night at 47.5 percent in field goals and 46.2 percent from deep. Milwaukee achieved many of their shots by getting to the free throw line. The Panthers made 15-18 free throws on the night.
While shooting well, Milwaukee maintained their defense, limiting WSU to just 30.9 percent from the floor.
The Panthers have their annual Pink Day and Alumni Day games next, in which they will take on Northern Kentucky on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Green Bay next Saturday.