Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 6)
Green Bay 67, Oakland 52
UIC 83, Detroit 66
Green Bay 67, Oakland 52
For the 16th-consecutive season the Green Bay women’s basketball team earned a Horizon League regular season title as it posted a commanding 67-52 victory over Oakland on Thursday evening at the Kress Center.
Green Bay improved to 19-8 overall and 12-3 in the Horizon League, guaranteeing a share of the conference title and top seed for the upcoming tournament. The run of 16 seasons is currently the longest active streak in the nation.
Four Phoenix finished in double figures, led by a career-high 19 points from senior Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.). Freshman Tesha Buck (Red Wing, Minn.) added 19, classmate Mehryn Kraker had 12 and junior Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) chipped in 10.
Oakland scored the first points of the game and maintained a lead midway through the half, going up by as many as five points (16-11) with 10:17 remaining. Green Bay slowly chipped away at the lead, starting with a banked three point shot from Megan Lukan and another three from Buck to give the Phoenix its first lead of the contest, 17-16, with 9:34 on the clock.
The lead exchanged hands twice over the next four minutes before yet another three, this time by Kraker put the Phoenix ahead for good, 22-21, with 6:55 remaining. The Kraker three started an 11-2 run by Green Bay to put their lead at seven points (30-23) with 3:40 remaining, with the freshman totaling eight of the 11 points. Sophomore Kaili Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) hit the back end of a pair of free throws, while Buck hit a running jumper to account for the other three points.
Olivia Nash ended the Phoenix streak with a three, but Green Bay senior Sam Zastrow (Algoma, Wis.) responded on the other end of the court to spark a 10-5 Phoenix run that gave the team a 40-31 lead going into the break.
Green Bay put the game out of reach early in the second half, opening the stanza with an 11-2 run over 3:45 to assume and 18-point lead, 51-33. Ranger scored back-to-back buckets in the paint to start the run before Kraker added a three and Kaili Lukan and Buck each connected on jumpers. Oakland never got closer than 12 points down the stretch as Green Bay earned the 67-52 triumph.
All 12 Phoenix took to the court in the game, with eight denting the scoreboard. Kaili Lukan finished with a game-high six rebounds, while Kraker and Buck had a game-high four assists apiece. As a team Green Bay finished shooting over 50 percent for the fifth time this season, going 27-for-50 (54.0%) from the field and 7-for-12 (58.3%) from deep. The Phoenix also controlled the boards, 33-30, and outscored the Golden Grizzlies in the paint, 36-22.
Oakland was held to 35.8 percent (19-53) shooting from the field and was paced by 14 points apiece from Elena Popkey and Victoria Lipscomb.
UIC 83, Detroit 66
The UIC women's basketball team (21-8, 10-6 HL) secured the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament Thursday (March 6) with an 83-66 home win over Detroit (6-22, 3-12 HL). It was the regular season finale for UIC, who will play host to the No. 5 seed in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on March 12.
Cleveland State (14-14, 9-6 HL) plays at Youngstown State (13-15, 9-6 HL) Saturday (March 8) and the loser of that contest will travel to Chicago to play the Flames. The winner will be the No. 3 seed and play host to No. 6 seed Oakland (12-16, 7-8 HL).
UIC will play host to a quarterfinal game for the second time under head coach Regina Miller as the Flames defeated No. 5 Butler in the 2011-12 season. Senior Katie Hannemann poured in a game-high 27 points on Senior Night and became the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
Senior Rachel Story scored 20 points while sophomore Ruvanna Campbell scored 11 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for her 11th straight double-double. Sophomore Terri Bender was in double-figures off the bench with 12 points.
“We secured a quarterfinal home game and honored our seniors on the same night. An all-around great day to be a UIC Flame,” said UIC head coach Regina Miller. “Our seniors were outstanding and combined for 54 of our 83 points. We concluded the regular season on a high note and we are excited to start postseason play at the Pavilion next Wednesday.”
UIC forced 21 Detroit turnovers and scored 29 points off the Titans’ miscues. The Flames collected 13 steals and tied a program record with 30 assists. UIC out-rebounded Detroit 48-36 and is 21-3 when winning the battle on the boards.
UDM held a 17-16 advantage with 13:00 left in the first half but that was its final lead of the contest. After knotting the game at 19-19, UIC went on a 13-5 run to go up 32-24 with 8:42 left before halftime. The Flames took a 41-38 lead into the locker room and are 19-1 when leading at halftime.
UIC scored the first six points of the second half but Detroit pulled within three at 52-49 with 13:47 remaining. The Flames used a 10-0 run over the next 3:01 to pull away from the Titans. UIC held its largest lead at 82-62 with 1:40 remaining.
Hannemann was 10-of-17 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line for her ninth career 20-point performance. She owns four 20-point efforts this season and all of them have come over the last six games. Over the last six contests, Hannemann is averaging 22.7 points and shooting 62.3 percent from the field.
Hannemann grabbed 10 rebounds for her 13th career double-double and seventh this season. She also tied her career high in assists (6) and blocks (2).
Story scored 20 points for the second straight game and the 12th time this season. She owns 23 20-point performances in her two-year UIC career. Story was 8-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point land.
Campbell had seven points and 10 rebounds in the second half on the way to her Horizon League-high 21st double-double. She also dished out a career-high seven assists and tied her career high with three blocks. Campbell is averaging 15.4 rebounds over the last five games.
Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Bender collected her 14th double-digit effort and third in the last four games. She was 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. Bender also picked up two more steals and her 85 steals are third most in the single-season at UIC.
Senior Megan Wallace recorded her 14th career start and first of the season. Wallace was efficient in her 15 minutes on the floor as she set career highs in assists (5) and steals (3). She also contributed four points, four rebounds and two blocks.
Tags: Green Bay - Women's Basketball · UIC - Women's Basketball
