Horizon League Women's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 23)
Green Bay 53, Wisconsin 38
North Dakota State 60, Milwaukee 48
Green Bay 53, Wisconsin 38
In front of a crowd of 3,505 strong, the Green Bay women's basketball team (8-2) dominated in the paint and on defense to defeat Wisconsin 53-38 Sunday evening at the Kress Center. The win marks the fourth consecutive victory for Green Bay in the series against the Badgers, improves the Phoenix to 11-18 all-time against Wisconsin and gives Green Bay a 2-0 advantage over other Division I teams in Wisconsin this season.
The Badgers opened what started as a close contest with a Morgan Paige three, but senior Lydia Bauer responded with a triple of her own to tie the game. A Paige free throw gave the Badgers a one point advantage, but Green Bay went on a 7-0 run over the next five and a half minutes to push the lead to 11-4. Wisconsin responded with a 5-0 run of its own to cut the lead to two, but it was all Green Bay for the rest of the half.
The Phoenix closed the opening frame with a 16-1 run over the final 9:06 to take a 27-10 lead into the locker room. Redshirt sophomore Megan Lukan finished the first half with a game-high six points, including a spectacular no-look underhand layup through the Wisconsin defense with four minutes remaining in the half. Lukan finished the contest with eight points on 66.7 percent shooting.
Wisconsin came out of the break by stringing together an 11-2 run over the first 5:46 of the second half, with all 11 points scored by Paige and Jacki Gulczynski. Paige finished with a game-high 21 points, while Gulczynski had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Redshirt senior Stephanie Sension broke Wisconsin's run by scoring seven consecutive points in just over a minute, sparked by an and-one free throw with 12:51 remaining. Sension led all Green Bay players with 13 points.
The Phoenix pushed the lead to as many as 19 with less than two minutes remaining, but late threes by Paige with 37 seconds and again with one second remaining cut Green Bay's lead-and the final score-to 53-38.
After scoring 46 points in the paint in a 72-37 rout of North Dakota State earlier in the week Green Bay again dominated down low, outscoring the Badgers 38-6 inside. Green Bay also scored 12 points off Wisconsin's 25 turnovers, the second highest mark the team has posted this season since forcing 26 at Marquette on Dec. 8.
Senior Adrian Ritchie scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds while pitching in four assists. Ritchie, the Horizon League's steals leader, also grabbed four away from the Badgers on the night. Fellow senior Sarah Eichler scored nine points and had a game-high five steals.
North Dakota State 60, Milwaukee 48
North Dakota State University stormed back in the second half to hand the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team a 60-48 defeat Sunday afternoon at the Bison Sports Arena.
The Bison (4-8) limited the Panthers (4-7) to their lowest scoring output of the season, erasing an 11-point halftime deficit with a 29-4 run at the start of the second half to take control.
Junior Angela Rodriguez led Milwaukee with 16 points. Senior Sami Tucker ended the day with 11 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Avyanna Young - making her first collegiate start - finished with five points and a team-best nine rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Green, who did not start due to an injury concern, was held to three points in just 14 minutes.
Dani DeGagne paced three Bison in double-figures with 16 points.
Looking to add to an 11-point cushion after halftime, Milwaukee scored four of the first six points and led comfortably, 38-25, after Young made a jumper at the 18:51 mark.
But then, the trouble began for the Panthers. NDSU found its shooting stride and UWM went ice-cold, resulting in that 29-4 run that included 15 straight points at one time to go ahead, 54-42, with about four minutes to play. The Panthers would cut the deficit to eight on a pair of occasions, but could get no closer.
Milwaukee finished the game at 28.6 percent (18-for-63) from the floor, including just 20 percent after halftime which included no makes on 10 three-point attempts.
Midway through the first half it looked like a completely different ballgame, with the Panthers firing on all cylinders and playing well on both sides of the ball. Trailing by one after North Dakota State went on a 9-2 run to lead 15-14, UWM used an impressive 15-2 run of its own to take control.
The team used a strong defensive effort in the seven-plus minute stretch that limited the Bison to just one made field goal on eight attempts, while also forcing six turnovers.
Junior Emily Decorah's layup at the 3:43 mark capped the spree and made it 29-17 on the scoreboard. Milwaukee would lead by as many as 13 in the first, and take a season-best 11-point lead into the locker room at 34-23. It held NDSU to a 29.4 percent (10-of-34) shooting clip before intermission.
