Despite receiving strong performances from Jenny Lindner and Sierra Ford-Washington, the Milwaukee Panthers fell to the Youngstown State Penguins 70-62 Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center. Lindner and Ford-Washington led the Panthers with 23 points and 15 points respectively, but the Penguins were just too much for the Panthers on Saturday. Milwaukee falls to 13-10 (7-5 Horizon) on the season.
Sarah Cash led Youngstown State with 18 points. Three other Penguins reached double-figures on a day where they shot 50 percent from the field. Of the rest, Jenna Hirsch had the best day scoring 15.
The Panthers went into the half up one with a 31-30 lead. The Penguins though came out of the locker room on fire. Youngstown State went on to shoot 70 percent in the 3rd quarter. That hot shooting resulted in an 11-0 run in the middle of the third for the Penguins which put them up 56-45 with a minute to go in the quarter. The Panthers fought diligently in the 4th quarter but the closest they got was a margin of 4 with 5:27 to go. Youngstown State was just too much on the afternoon as they closed out Saturday’s game from there. The Penguins, who make the most 3’s in the conference, made 12 on Saturday.
Despite Youngstown State’s impressive shooting day, the Panthers left a bit to be desired on the defensive end. At times, it appeared the Panthers either lost their mark or were a little slow closing down on some of Youngstown’s lethal shooters. Panthers coach Kyle Rechlicz talked on that point postgame:
“We needed to get out quicker,” Rechlicz said “we got a little complacent on the defensive end, missed some switches that we were suppose to have which gave them some of those open looks.”
Despite the loss, this is a great opportunity for a strong Panthers squad to recoup and go back to the drawing board. With the Panthers not playing again until Thursday, this week should serve as a great chance to recover physically after playing two games in three days and right the wrongs that plagued them in Saturday’s loss. As mentioned, the Panthers return to the floor Thursday at Valparaiso at 7 p.m. You can catch the game on ESPN 3 or the Big 920.