Milwaukee women’s basketball team concluded their Michigan road trip with a 61-49 victory over Oakland. The Panthers dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Golden Grizzlies 20-9. Jada Donaldson contributed significantly, scoring five of her nine points in this period and ending the game with five assists and five rebounds.
Kallie Peppler was Milwaukee’s top scorer with 12 points, while Jorey Buwalda also achieved double figures with 10 points. All eight players from Milwaukee scored during the game. The team recorded 16 assists on 22 field goals, shooting an overall 44% from the field and achieving a notable 55.6% shooting in the first half.
“We were being really aggressive offensively,” said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. “We were attacking the rim and tried to use their aggressiveness against them by being even more aggressive ourselves.”
Defensively, Milwaukee limited Oakland to just a 31.6% shooting percentage, restricting them to one three-pointer in the final three quarters. Oakland’s performance declined further as they shot only 27.8% in the last quarter.
“It’s back-to-back games where we held teams on the defensive end,” Rechlicz added. “It’s nice to see we can really rely on our defense, and it showed because we had two quarters where we held them under ten points.”
The Panthers led early with an 18-14 score after a competitive first quarter and extended their lead in the second quarter with a stretch of successful shots, closing at halftime with a score of 38-23.
In the third quarter, Milwaukee maintained its double-digit lead with Peppler’s three-point shot increasing their advantage to 45-32 going into the fourth quarter.
Despite Oakland narrowing Milwaukee’s lead to eight points late in the game, Payton Rechlicz secured four free throws that helped seal their victory.
Macy Smith was Oakland’s standout player scoring all three of their successful long-range attempts for a total of 18 points. Maddy Skorupski supported with another double-digit contribution of eleven points alongside seven rebounds and three assists.
Milwaukee will return home for their next game against IU Indy Jaguars at Klotsche Center on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m.
