The 3rd Man In

Milwaukee Panthers Women’s Sports Roundup

It was a highly anticipated week for the Milwaukee Panthers volleyball and women’s basketball teams. The Panthers volleyball squad was set to compete in the Horizon League Tournament, while the women’s basketball team played two talented and challenging teams.

After cruising past the Valparaiso Crusaders in the semifinals, the Panthers met the challenging Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the Horizon League Championship match on Sunday. The Golden Grizzlies got the best of the Panthers in both matches in the regular season, and now Milwaukee looked to return the favor to earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The Panthers were able to win a closely contested first set, winning 25-23. It appeared the momentum was in Milwaukee’s favor, but the tide quickly turned, as Oakland was able to win the following three sets to earn their first-ever Horizon League title.

With the loss, this caps the end to an excellent career by Julie Kolinske, who will go down as one of the top outside hitters in program history. She was able to finish her Panther career with an impressive 22 kills, while being named to the All-Tournament Team.

Junior setter Kayla Price also earned All-Tournament honors.

Obviously, it would have been terrific to make the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season, but unfortunately they ran into a better team and lost. They still had an excellent season, and there is no question that the Panthers will be back in position to win a Horizon League title next season.

The women’s basketball team was also in action this past week as they looked to continue their excellent start to the season. Despite leading 50-32 at the half, the Panthers couldn’t hold on to win their second consecutive game, falling to North Dakota 83-76 last Tuesday.

Milwaukee was outscored 51-26 in the second half.

Senior Ashley Green scored 30 points and junior Jaleesa Armstrong added 23 in the losing effort for the Panthers.

This was a disappointing loss for Milwaukee, as a win against a NCAA Tournament team like North Dakota would have been big for the program.

The Panthers looked to return to winning ways when they returned to Milwaukee to face Bowling Green State on Saturday morning.

In the first half, it was all about defense. After 20 minutes of play, the Panthers led 16-13. However, the Falcons outscored the Panthers 47-34 in the second half to claim the 60-50 victory.

This game was very similar to their loss against North Dakota. Milwaukee played extremely well in the first half, only to give up the lead in the second half to lose the contest.

Mistakes haunted the Panthers in this game, as they committed a disappointing 24 turnovers.

Green continued her excellent start to the season scoring a team-high 23 points on 75 percent shooting from the floor.

Up next, the Panthers will play two games over Thanksgiving break, with their first coming on Wednesday when they travel crosstown to face the Marquette Golden Eagles. Milwaukee will then face Missouri on the road Sunday afternoon.

With the volleyball team’s loss, the fall athletic season has officially come to an end. The fall season is always an exciting time with three successful programs competing, but now it is time for the women’s basketball program to show what they are capable of. While mistakes have hurt them early on in the season, if they are able to build off these last two games, they will be a surprising team this season.

Stay tuned next week for the fourteenth edition of the Milwaukee Panthers Women’s Sports Roundup to be up to date on everything happening with the women’s basketball program. 

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