Women’s basketball team falls short of league title

A cold-shooting afternoon, particularly from the 3-point line, doomed the second-seeded UWM women’s basketball team to a 56-46 loss to fifth-seeded IUPUI on Monday in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament.

UWM guard McKaela Schmelzer drives toward the basket during UWM’s loss to IUPUI in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament Monday. Schmelzer had six points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in the game. (Horizon League photo)

Winning the league tournament would have qualified UWM for the NCAA Tournament. Now the Panthers will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid. If not, they could qualify for the WNIT tournament, which begins March 19. Both tournaments make their selections on Monday, March 15.

A first-quarter 10-0 IUPUI run put UWM in a 16-5 hole, and the Panthers never led after that. Brandi Bisping led UWM with 12 points, going 3-for-8 from 3-point range, but the Panthers missed their other 17 shots from long distance.

“I’m proud of our team. I couldn’t be more proud, actually,” UWM coach Kyle Rechlicz said. “I know we came up short, but everything we did, the tenacity they played with, the energy, from top to bottom, everybody gave everything they had.”

Complete coverage is available on the Milwaukee Athletics webpage.

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