Milwaukee City Wire

In a tightly contested Horizon League matchup, the Milwaukee women's basketball team was narrowly defeated by Detroit Mercy Titans with a score of 50-46. The game took place on Thursday evening in Detroit.

Jada Donaldson led Milwaukee with 13 points, including three successful three-point shots. Anna Lutz also contributed significantly with 10 points and seven rebounds. Jorey Buwalda led the team in rebounds with nine and added six points to the scoreboard.

Kacee Baumhower scored eight points and Kamy Peppler added seven. Baumhower also provided three assists, while Peppler and Donaldson each recorded two steals.

Milwaukee struggled with shooting, achieving only 27.8 percent from the floor and 22.8 percent from beyond the arc. "We just didn't knock down our shots tonight," said Panther head coach Kyle Rechlicz. "We have to do a better job of that on the road … but we came in and held them to 50 points, it says a lot about where our defense was at tonight."

Rebounding statistics were close, with Detroit Mercy slightly ahead at 40-38, while both teams secured 12 offensive boards each. Although Milwaukee made more free throws and three-pointers, it was the Titans' six additional field goals that secured their victory. Detroit Mercy finished the game shooting 36.2 percent from the field.

"This was one of our better defensive performances," Rechlicz stated. "We made some great plays on the defensive end, especially at the end of the game."

Milwaukee trailed by nine points late in the game but managed to reduce Detroit's lead to two with just over half a minute remaining. However, Detroit Mercy clinched their win by sinking two crucial free throws.

Donaldson had an impressive start for Milwaukee with 11 points in the first quarter alone, including her trio of three-pointers. A buzzer-beater three-pointer by Peppler gave Milwaukee a slight edge at 17-15 after ten minutes.

The second period saw Milwaukee take an early bucket through Buwalda before conceding 12 unanswered points to trail behind at halftime by four after a small rally led by Lutz and Grace Lomen.

An offensive surge continued into the third quarter as Baumhower’s layup put Milwaukee briefly ahead at 30-29 before Detroit regained control leading by up to nine towards game's end despite late efforts from Lutz's free throws alongside baskets from Donaldson and Baumhower bringing them within reach until turnovers sealed their fate against Titan free throws securing victory.

Detroit's Makayla Jackson scored a game-high eleven points while Aaliyah McQueen grabbed nine rebounds contributing overall balance among starters each scoring between eight to eleven supported further via fourteen steals off twenty-two turnovers forced upon Panthers who now prepare visiting Oakland Golden Grizzlies Saturday afternoon Athletics Center O'Rena scheduled start time one pm central standard time.