UWM women’s basketball posted a 16-16 record last season and went 10-10 in the conference schedule, placing them fifth in the Horizon League. Before the season, they were predicted to finish sixth according to the preseason poll.
The official preseason poll predicts a fourth-place finish in the Horizon League.
“This year, we’re going to play some fast basketball,” said head coach Kyle Rechlicz, who enters her league-leading 13th season as head coach. “We’re really picking up the pace within practices.”
A big emphasis for the team this year is to limit turnovers.
“We turned the ball over at way too high of a rate last year for us to be successful,” said Rechlicz.
Another focus coming into the season is to fix holes in the defense.
“We do feel like we’re more athletic this year defensively than we’ve ever been,” said Rechlicz. “We really want to push to being… the top team defensively in the league. That’s a goal for us.”
This year’s roster mixes a veteran core with a young and talented contingent. The Panthers’ returning leading scorer is junior guard Kamy Peppler, who averaged 11.5 points per game last season.
Peppler finished second in assists in the Horizon League season, collecting 153. Peppler and senior guard Jada Donaldson combined for 248 assists as a backcourt last year, leading the Panthers to become nationally ranked in assists a year ago.
Her standout sophomore season earned her a spot on the Horizon League’s preseason all-league team for 2024-25.
“We have a core group of five veterans who just have played a lot of minutes in the Horizon League,” said Rechlicz. “Then you look at our next five, and they’re very young but extremely talented.”
The Panthers will have to move forward without their leading scorer from last season, Kendall Nead, who averaged 13.8 points a game. Angie Cera, who chipped in 9.6 points per game, also graduated.
Milwaukee struck gold when they acquired Kacee Baumhower from in-conference foe Wright State in the transfer portal.
Baumhower finished top-five in assists and top-10 in scoring and minutes in the Horizon League last year. The Ohio native averaged 12.5 points per game for the Raiders last season.
“She’s a little different than Kendall and Angie – the ball really moves with her,” said Rechlicz. “She’s very assist-driven as well as scoring-driven.”
A transfer from within the conference was considered taboo until recently.
“Right around the COVID period, four years ago, that wasn’t heard of, you just didn’t have people transferring within league,” said Rechlicz. “Now, with the transfer portal opening up, it’s a little bit more common.”
Junior forward Anna Lutz is among the returns looking to grow as a leader this season.
“I’m trying to step up my leadership position on the team,” said Lutz. “Just continuing to gain respect for my teammates, and doing the best I can as a leader.”
The Panthers are keeping their goals high heading into the season.
“The ultimate goal is to play in the NCAA tournament.” Said Rechlicz.
The Panthers season begins on Nov. 4 at St. Thomas in Minnesota. Their home opener is scheduled for Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. against Carroll at the Klotsche Center.
Carroll is one of four in-state opponents – the schedule also features the defending Horizon League champion-Green Bay Phoenix, who heads to Milwaukee on Dec. 11 and hosts Milwaukee on Feb. 22.
The Panthers will head to Madison to face Wisconsin on Nov. 17. Their in-city rivalry with Marquette renews on Dec. 15 at the Al McGuire Center – both games tip off at 2 p.m.
The Panthers most recently beat Wisconsin in 2021-22 and Marquette in 2020-21.
Included in their non-conference slate is a late-November trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico where they’ll face American (Washington, D.C.) and Air Force.
“I’m excited to play against new teams we haven’t seen and maybe a different style of basketball,” said Rechlicz. “But I think I’m more excited about the team building that we’re going to be doing out there.”
Rechlicz plans to have the team enjoy the last day of their trip away from basketball, opting to allow players to bond off-court.
Horizon League play commences on Dec. 4 with a trip east to battle Youngstown St. and Robert Morris.
“We want to be able to see in the non-conference, if we can compare ourselves to a Green Bay, to a Cleveland State (preseason No. 1) to a PFW (Purdue Fort-Wayne),” said Rechlicz. “And see how we play against them.”
The Big East’s Butler and Big 12’s Kansas State are also among the UWM women’s basketball team’s 11 non-conference opponents to prepare them for the Horizon League portion of their schedule.
“It’s the closest team that we’ve had in the last four or five years,” said Rechlicz. “It’s going to be an exciting year.”