Top-seeded Green Bay (30-1) trailed by three at halftime of the Sunday’s Championship game, but grabbed momentum quickly in the second half and never let Detroit (20-13) get going in the final 20 minutes in winning the Horizon League Tournament, 66-53.
The Phoenix will find out its NCAA Tournament destination and opponent on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET. Detroit will represent the Horizon League in the WNIT.
The Titans held a 30-27 lead at the break after Co-Newcomer of the Year Shareta Brown scored 16 points and Senee Shearer had 11 points in the first half. The Titans only turned the ball over four times in the opening half and assisted on eight of their 11 field goals as Detroit seemed unfazed by the League’s top scoring defense in the regular season.
Shearer connected on a three-point field goal on UDM’s first possession of the second half to extend Detroit’s lead to 33-27, but Green Bay responded with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 35 with 16:55 remaining. The Phoenix would keep the pressure on extending the 8-2 run to a 20-6 run as GB opened a 47-39 lead with 11:57 remaining. Detroit would stay within striking distance the rest of the game, but would never get closer than six point as Green Bay won going away 66-53.
It was Green Bay’s defense that swung the game in its direction in the second half as the Phoenix forced 11 turnovers after only forcing four in the first half. They also held the Titans to 30.8 percent shooting in the second half and just 20 percent from three-point range after Detroit had connecting on 44.4 percent of its three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
Horizon League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Julie Wojta had 29 points, 20 in the second half, 12 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Wojta’s performance helped her be named to the All-Tournament team as MVP. Joining Wojta, on the All-Tournament team was freshman Megan Lukan who scored a career-high 20 points for the Phoenix. Lukan was instrumental in keeping Green Bay in the game in the first half as she had 11 points, including knocking down three 3-pointers, to keep the Phoenix close.
Brown led the Titans with 22 points and finished the tournament with 71 points total to finish just two points shy of tying the career tournament scoring record. Shearer, who was injured early in the second half and never returned to the game, had 14 points.
All-Tournament Team
Julie Wojta, Green Bay (MVP)
Megan Lukan, Green Bay
Shareta Brown, Detroit
Kim Demmings, Wright State
Jasmine Bailey, UIC
Tags: Detroit Mercy - Women's Basketball · Green Bay - Women's Basketball
