Ames, Iowa -- A lot has been made of Green Bay’s seventh-seed in this season’s NCAA Tournament and that its first round game will be against a lower seed opponent playing on its home court.
Just don’t expect the Phoenix to get caught up in any of that.
“The committee has a tough task at hand when it comes to deciding which teams will play where,” senior co-captain Julie Wojta said. “We are just excited to be in the tournament another year and have the opportunity to play. We’re just going to take it for what it is and go out and play our best game.”
In fact, the Phoenix are looking forward to the challenge that playing a team like Iowa State, who went 14-2 in the Hilton Coliseum this season with its only losses coming to top-ranked Baylor and Texas A&M, the defending national champions, presents.
“This is the venue and the type of environment that you want to play in, especially in the NCAA Tournament, senior co-captain Hannah Quilling said. “This is what you dream of as little girls, coming and playing in front of a packed house. Our players thrive in the sort of situation that Iowa State’s home court advantage here at Hilton presents.”
Quilling is not lying when she says the Phoenix have thrived on the road this season. Green Bay went 14-0 away from the friendly confines of the Kress Center, the first time in program history it went undefeated in the regular season on the road.
In Green Bay’s 12 true road games (they played two neutral site games in Puerto Rico) this season, the Phoenix outscored their opponents by an average of 19.8 points per game.
“Our players really believe that we should win,” Head Coach Matt Bollant said. “It doesn’t matter who we play, our players believe. They believe that the way we practice and what we do is special. We’re also very consistent in our program. We practice hard every single day. We really value the little things and we don’t have a big game mentality. We’re going to go and play hard and smart together and we’re doing that every game.”
Green Bay has been at its best almost all season. The Phoenix went 30-1 in the regular season winning the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles as they ranked as high as ninth, a program record, in both the coaches and media poll during the regular season.
“Our accomplishments this season have definitely been stepping stones,” freshman guard Megan Lukan said. “We play each game to get better. I think we’re ready. We’ve had some close games. We’ve had some games where it’s been more of a blowout. We just know how we have to the most aggressive team and fight hard. That’s how we’re going to win.”
A Quick Look at Iowa State
Iowa State received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after finishing the regular season with an 18-12 mark.
They are led by junior forward Chelsea Poppens who led the Cyclones in points (14.3 ppg.) and rebounds (10.7 rpg.) this season.
“She’s a big body,” Wojta said. “She is physically gifted. She is tough, physical and can do a lot of great things. She scores when they need her to. She averages a double-double, so just being able to contain her some will be big for us. We obviously won’t be able to stop her completely, but we have a quick defense and if we continue to stay within our defensive plan, we should be fine.”
Poppens is just one of three starters for the Cyclones who stands over six feet tall. Iowa State had a plus-6.6 rebounding margin in the regular season and it will be important for the Phoenix, who start two players, Wojta and Lydia Bauer who both are listed at 6’0”, to not lose the battle on the boards.
“I think that our system matches up very well with Iowa State’s system,” Wojta said. “ISU has a very good post game, but the couple of inches that they do have on us in post we should be able to combat their height with our quickness. Quickness can outplay height.”
Junior forwards Sarah Eichler says it’s not about height or quickness, but which team comes out and is able to run their system the best.
“We take pride in guarding the dribble, and we’re going to stick to our system. We’re going to try and stop them from doing what they like to do. They do run a lot of sets, so we’re going to be ready to come out, be aggressive and pressure the ball. We’ll do our system and hope that gets us a win.”
Quick notes
This is Green Bay’s 4th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th overall…Wojta and Quilling have played in more NCAA Tournament games (7) than any other Phoenix player in the 39-year history of the program…Green Bay is 5-12 all-time in the tournament, but 0-9 when playing on their opponents home court…The Phoenix rank second in the nation in turnover margin (+9.2).
