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GREEN BAY, Wis. --- One
impressive streak for Green Bay came to an end but another impressive streak
kept right on rolling.
For the first time in 238
games, the Phoenix didn't make a 3-pointer, but behind Kayla Tetschlag's (Sheboygan,
Wis.) career highs of 25 points and 14 rebounds, No. 22 Green Bay extended
its regular-season winning streak to 29 games by beating Southern Illinois
75-64 on Monday night.
It wasn't as easy for the
Phoenix (11-0) as it might have looked on paper against the Salukis (1-9).
Southern Illinois rallied from a double-digit deficit to lead three times
midway through the first half and trailed only 34-29 at halftime.
But while the Phoenix
failed to sink a 3-pointer for the first time since a loss to
Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 24, 2000, it continually threw the ball inside to
Tetschlag or Julie Wojta (23 points). Green Bay scored 48 points in the paint
and 23 from the free-throw line, accounting for 71 points.
"We really challenged
our post players, especially Julie, at halftime," Phoenix coach Matt Bollant said, "telling them, 'Hey, they're guarding you one-on-one.
They're letting the ball go inside. There's absolutely no reason you can't
score.'"
One 43-second span helped
the Phoenix turn a tenuous 58-52 lead into a 64-52 margin. Tetschlag hit two
free throws and Celeste Hoewisch stole the inbounds pass, grabbed an
offensive rebound, was fouled and sank two free throws. Hoewisch came up with
another steal, and a third-effort layup by Tetschlag gave Green Bay a
12-point lead with 5:43 to play.
"All game long, we
kept saying, 'Now we're going to go on a run. Now we're going to go on a
run,'" Tetschlag said. "I think it just finally happened and I
think it just showed our determination and our fight, which I don't think we
had as much in the first half."
The Salukis hung around in
large part because of the long-range shooting of Christine Presswood (22
points) and Katerina Garcia (14 points), who combined to sink nine of the
team's 11 3-pointers. Standout freshman Stephany Neptune was held to seven
points but pulled down 17 rebounds.
"We shot really well
but when you have 25 turnovers and your opponents have 12, that's a lot of
difference in shot attempts and that's going to make the difference in the
outcome," Southern Illinois coach Missy Tiber said.
The victory improved Green
Bay coach Matt Bollant's record to 200-44. For the first time in school
history, it went undefeated in nonconference play, with quality wins this
year over DePaul, Wisconsin and Marquette. Still, Bollant wasn't thrilled
with how the latest win transpired.
"I just didn't feel
like we had the right mentality," he said. "Even in shoot-around
today, it was a little bit happy-go-lucky, kind of enjoying the moment type
of thing. I told them before the game, 'What makes you special is how hard
you play and your mentality. We didn't have it."
---Associated Press---
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