The Panthers (4-4) was not quite able to overcome a rough 16-for-62 (25.8 %) shooting night on Monday night in the Klotsche Center, falling to Denver 56-49.
Denver (2-8) finished the game with a small advantage in rebounds on the night (40-34), but it was ultimately their far superior 38.3 percent shooting from the field that carried them to the victory.
“Going into the game, we knew that Denver was better than what their record showed,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game and it was going to come down to physical toughness. I feel like when some of the teams that have played us more physically tough, we struggle to shoot.”
Milwaukee had their best night of the season in both the offensive rebounding and turnover categories in the loss, pulling down 17 offensive boards and only turning the ball over 12 times.
“Every other statistical category we were great in,” Rechlicz said. “We out rebounded them, we had more steals, turned the ball over less; we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket tonight.”
Alexis Lindstrom led the Panthers in scoring on the night with 12 points and was joined in double figures by Sierra Ford-Washington who scored 11 points and Steph Kostowicz who finished with 10.
Emma Roenneburg fought hard in the paint to grab 10 rebounds to go along with seven points in 25 minutes off the bench.
“Emma was excellent tonight. I thought she played with an incredible amount of heart,” Rechlicz said. “She really was a leader for us out on the court even as a freshman. She was trying to put the team on her back a little bit, which you don’t get to see a lot from freshman.”
Maya Rodgers and Jacqlyn Ross each scored 13 points to help power the Pioneers past the Panthers.
The Panthers face off with the Marquette Golden Eagles on Dec. 22 in the Klotsche Center at 7 p.m. The game can be seen at home on the Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.