At 11:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, the Klotsche Center was filled with many students from nearby Milwaukee schools to watch Panthers women’s basketball take on the Northern Kentucky Norse.
The young “school day” crowd brought an excess of energy that carried its way into the contest.
“It’s just awesome that they get to come here and feel the excitement of what Panther basketball is all about,” said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. “Our team loved the energy.”
Northern Kentucky did just enough to snag the 59-56 victory in a back-and-forth contest, which saw 18 lead changes and 9 ties.
Milwaukee had chances late but couldn’t execute in the last 10 seconds.
Payton Rechlicz Stepping Up
In the second quarter, forward Payton Rechlicz had a decent look from deep but decided to pass it up.
The next dead ball, her mom and coach Kyle Rechlicz told her that if she wasn’t going to shoot, she was going to sit on the bench.
The following action put Payton Rechlicz in the same position as before. This time she pulled the trigger with no hesitation, and connected for her first three points of the game.
“Just looking to be more aggressive, [coaches] have been getting on me about that, and looking to score,” said Payton Rechlicz on her in-game adjustment.
Rechlicz finished as the top scorer for Milwaukee with 14 points. Her performance won over the young crowd, who swarmed her after the game to get her signature on various items, such as shoes, shirts, purses, their own hands and more.
“Payton has the potential to be a lot like Grace Lomen for us, she’s got a very smooth shot, she just doesn’t always believe in herself unfortunately, as much as our coaching staff believes in her,” said Kyle Rechlicz. “If we can get her going and keep her going and build that confidence in her, that’s going to be huge for us especially with Grace [Lomen] graduating next year.”
Grace Lomen Struggles
Senior guard Grace Lomen couldn’t find her shot all game, which is a big reason why Rechlicz had to step up offensively. Lomen has become the Panthers’ first option on offense as the season has gone on.
Lomen scored only 3 points on 1-15 shooting after producing 30 points the game prior at Robert Morris in an overtime loss.
Her one basket was an and-one layup where she got a technical foul for “taunting” after the make.
Lomen averaged 17.2 points per game the five games prior to the Northern Kentucky match.
Defensive Energy
The raucous crowd definitely impacted the play on the court, most notably on the defensive side of the ball.
Points were few and far between in the first quarter, which ended 12-6 in favor of the Norse after a late Northern Kentucky flurry.
The offenses got acclimated as the game went on, but it was far from an offensive clinic by either team.
After four quarters, Milwaukee held the quality Norse offense to 31% from the field and 19.2% from three.
The problem was the Panthers didn’t shoot much better, finishing 36.2% on field goals and 22.7% from deep. ‘
Northern Kentucky made 11 more free throws than Milwaukee, which ultimately made the difference.
Micayla Silas
The fast-paced nature of the contest lent itself to arguably the most athletic player on Milwaukee, Micayla Silas.
Silas played over 17 minutes of full-throttle basketball, the most of any Milwaukee bench player.
The Onieda native scored six points, including a three-pointer as time expired at the end of the third quarter.
Silas also finished with four assists, drew five fouls, and was relentless on the defensive side of the ball.
Two Chances Late
The Panthers were down 56-57 with the ball and around 14 seconds remaining. The play they ran set up freshman Tierney Madigan on the left block. The lefty slasher had a freshman moment and turned it over out of bounds with six seconds to go.
Milwaukee fouled Norse forward Mya Meredith immediately on the subsequential inbound.
Meredith scored a game high 18 points, seven coming at the free throw line.
Her two biggest free throws came with four seconds left which put Northern Kentucky up 59-56 with four seconds left in regulation.
The Panthers ran a play for sharp-shooter Rita Gomes looking for the tie. The inbound went all the way to the opposite corner, but Gomes bobbled the catch and heaved an airball as time expired.
The loss dropped Milwaukee to 8-19 overall and 4-11 in the Horizon League while Northern Kentucky improved to 12-14 overall and 9-6 in the conference.
“School Day” Festivities
Over 2,000 people packed into the Klotsche Center for the contest, most of them being young students from the Milwaukee area.
“Thanks to the Milwaukee community and Milwaukee school system for having the kids out to the game,” said Kyle Rechlicz. “It’s so important you know… we are the university in the city of Milwaukee that these young people can aspire to go to school here and get degrees here.”
The youngsters had plenty to cheer for throughout the game, especially during stoppages of play.
The festivities featured a six-seven cam, teachers facing each other in musical chairs, a spirited t-shirt toss and more.
Looking for the Sweep Over Wright St.
A trip to Wright State is next for Milwaukee. They are set to play the 8-18 (4-11) Raiders who just jumped the Panthers in the standings after beating last placed Detroit Mercy.
Wright St. is a much better team than their record suggests. Injury issues put them in a hole early, but recently they have gotten healthier.
Milwaukee won the first matchup between the two 75-70 on Jan. 31. That was the last time the Panthers won a game, who now have lost three in a row.
“We have a lot of different people who can score, so just keeping the defense going and the rest will come,” said Payton Rechlicz.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Feb. 18, the game will also be streamed on ESPN+.