GREEN BAY, Wis.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Junior Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) led
five players in double figures with 18 points and seven different Phoenix
players knocked down a three-pointer as the Green Bay women's basketball team rolled
to a 94-47 victory over visiting Winona State in an exhibition contest Saturday
afternoon at the Kress Events Center.
Green Bay knocked down over 60 percent (37-61) of its
field goals and hit 12-of-23 three-pointers in the contest, but head coach Matt Bollant was more impressed with the
physical dominance he saw on the defensive end of the floor.
"I was really pleased to see us physically look quick
and strong," Bollant said. "They have done a great job in the weight room and
you can see the difference in them this fall compared to last spring. We looked
bigger and quicker, and I was glad to see that show on the defensive end. I thought
defensively we were really solid defensively. We took a team that runs really
good offense out of what they wanted to do."
Green Bay opened the game like the veteran team it is,
scoring the game's first 11 points and leading 19-2 on a Wojta jumper with
13:30 left in the first half. After a 13-0 run by Winona State, Green Bay
scored 21 of the next 22 points to hold a 40-16 advantage on a pair of free
throws by senior Kayla Tetschlag
(Sheboygan, Wis.). Wojta's layup with six seconds left before intermission gave
the Phoenix its biggest lead of the half at 49-19.
Wojta and Tetschlag combined to go 10-for-12 from the
field, including 4-of-4 from long range, in the first 20 minutes. The combo had
26 points (Wojta 14 points, Tetschlag 12 points) and nine rebounds at the
break, highlighting a half in which Green Bay hit 7-for-14 from three and
dished out 14 assists.
Tetschlag, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the
Year, finished the game with 14 points while fellow senior Celeste Hoewisch (Hortonville, Wis.) hit 6-of-9 shots and scored 15
points. Junior Hannah Quilling (Eau
Claire, Wis.) and Adrian Ritchie (De
Pere, Wis.) added 11 points apiece.
Five minutes into the second half, Hoewisch started a
10-0 run that Quilling capped with a triple that gave the Phoenix a 40-point
lead (71-31) at the 10:16 mark.
Jenny Gilbertson
(Wabasha, Minn.), a transfer from Kansas State, scored eight points during a
three-minute stretch which included a pair of three-pointers. Gilbertson is
eligible to play in 2010-11 after sitting out a season ago.
"It was so much fun and words can't describe [how it
felt]," Gilbertson said of getting out on the court. "We put in so much work in
the offseason and it was nice for it to finally be real. I got open from my
teammates making hard cuts. I had wide-open shots because of Sam making a cut
down the middle one time and from a really nice drive and dish."
Ten different players scored while 12 saw action for
the Phoenix. Ritchie, who also handed out seven assists of the team's 26
assists, played a game-high 29 minutes.
"It was good to see a lot of players step up and do
different things," Bollant said. "I thought we had a good presence with getting
touches inside and also knocking down threes. To have seven different players
make threes is a pretty good start for our team and shows the versatility we
have."
Bollant's team will have one more tune-up before
getting the regular season underway, hosting UW-Stevens Point next Saturday,
Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. at the Kress Center.