Fort Wayne, IN – It was “Defend the Fort” night in the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Wednesday, featuring a double-header with the Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball team taking on league rival Milwaukee, followed by the men’s basketball team facing MAC foe Eastern Michigan. The Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball team (7-4, 3-0 Horizon) came out swinging in the opening frame just enough to hold off an impressive, and unexpected, shooting performance from the Milwaukee Panthers (2-9, 0-2 Horizon), winning 70-60.
The two teams came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. The Panthers would get the first basket of the game from standout Jorey Buwalda. Buwalda, a force in the scoring column and rebounding column, should be a defensive focus for all teams moving forward. The 6-0 junior tied her career high in points with 20 on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-8 from deep. It is worth mentioning that Buwalda came into the game with only three triples on the season (3-of-26). In fact, as a team, Milwaukee was last in the Horizon League in three-point percentage at 25% coming into this matchup (45-of-180). This would not be the case inside the Fort. Starting the game hitting nine of their first 11 three-point attempts, the law of averages started to swing toward head coach Kyle Rechlicz’s squad.
Sometimes, your opponent just can’t miss. Great defense, better shot. How are you supposed to defend it? For Maria Marchesano’s team, Wednesday’s answer was to “score more points.” The Mastodons shot an impressive 62.5% in the first quarter, sparking a 12-0 run early in the half to counter the anomaly from Milwaukee. The law of averages then struck again as the Mastodons quickly cooled down to a poor 28.6% in the second frame. Fortunately, the explosive first quarter offered enough cushion. At the half, the Mastodons led 36-31 behind 13 points from Alana Nelson, seven points from Nika Lokica, and six points from Jordan Reid.
The second half seemed to be a repeat of the first half with PFW handling the first quarter with ease and building a nice cushion, only for the Panthers to come charging back refusing to go down without a fight.
The Mastodons were able to contain Buwalda in the second half, not allowing another three-pointer from her. In fact, the Panthers only hit four triples in the second half. Ella Riggs had her biggest contribution to the game for PFW in the third period, scoring seven of her 10 points in six minutes of action in the quarter.
The Panthers took the final frame 18-14, but the Mastodons’ lead was just too much heading into the fourth quarter. Rita Gomes, Grace Lomen, and Sophia Rampulla each had a three-pointer for Milwaukee, bringing their final total to 13-of-25 (52%) on the game. Thirteen different players saw minutes for the Panthers, and nine of them scored at least one point. Only two of the 13 players played for less than five minutes of the game.
There could be a different story written if the Mastodons shot below or at season average for free throws. The Mastodons went 12-of-16 from the charity stripe to keep the Panthers at bay. Reid, Nelson, and Lauren Lee were all perfect from the line. Coming into the game just under 65% (121-of-186), the Mastodons are sitting second-to-last in the league in free throw percentage, only besting Detroit Mercy. For context, the Mastodons were the third best free throw shooting team in the Horizon League last year at 76%, and this year’s PFW team would rank 12th in last year’s Horizon League.
Nelson and Buwalda each ended the game with 20 points and four three-pointers. Buwalda also notched her third double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Nelson recorded five rebounds and Reid led the ‘Dons with seven. Milwaukee won the rebounding battle 35-30. Lokica recorded a season high 16 points on quite a few tough turnaround and fadeaway shots.
The Panthers will return home in hopes to break the six game skid with a matchup against the NCAA Division III Ripon College Red Hawks on Sunday, December 14. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 2:00pm ET and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
The Mastodons will get to face off against a team soon to be very familiar in Northern Illinois (2-7, 0-0 MAC) on Sunday, December 14. The Huskies will be joining the Horizon League next year in search of greener pastures. Earlier this year, NIU dropped a contest in DeKalb against the Milwaukee Panthers 65-76. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 2:00pm ET and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
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