INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Today's
match-up between Green Bay (24-3, 13-3) and Butler (19-8, 12-4) lived up to its
expectations as both teams headed into historic Hinkle Fieldhouse tied for
first place in the Horizon League standings. It didn't come down to a Jimmy
Chitwood shot, but it sure had the excitement of one as Green Bay swept the
Bulldogs with a 61-54 win.
"What an exciting environment for our players to play in,
our fans were cheering their hearts out and it really helped because our
players felt a lot of pressure coming into this game," said head coach Matt Bollant.
With a back and forth battle in the first half the largest
lead came from Butler with 2:21 remaining when the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run
to lead 31-24. Green Bay responded going on a 7-0 run and topping it off with a
fast break lay-up from Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) at the buzzer tying the
score 31-31 at the break.
With 10 lead changes in the first half, both teams scored 18
points in the paint with Green Bay shooting 46 percent while Butler shot 44.
The most spread stat between the two squads was Butler's eight points off Green
Bay's nine turnovers compared to Green Bay's two points off Butler's nine.
"One of the things about today's game that we didn't do in
other games this season was maintain our poise when we fell behind and that was
so great to see," said Bollant.
The second half was much like the first but this time it was
Green Bay who had the largest lead of the half (7). Julie Wojta (Mishicot, Wis.)
fouled out on a charge call with 2:54 remaining, finishing with 17 points and
five boards.
Kayla Tetschlag (Sheboygan, Wis.) had her all-around best
game of her career as she posted her third double-double of the season putting
up 20 points and grabbing 15 boards to lead all players. In addition Tetschlag
joined teammate Celeste Hoewisch (Hortonville, Wis.) on the individual season
record list for free throws made (99).
"I love the comment Celeste made in the locker room when she
said, 'we really grew up today' and this is a team that struggled earlier in
the season when we got behind, but today we stuck with it and never got too
high and never got too low. It just makes me so proud of this team," said
Tetschlag.
Green Bay shot 42 percent in the game scoring 34 points in
the paint compared to Butler's 39 percent with 28 in the paint.
The Phoenix will wrap up their regular season at home as
they host Youngstown State Thursday, Mar. 4 followed by Cleveland State
Saturday, Mar. 6. Green Bay could split their last two games and still hold
first place in the League based on tie-breaker scenarios.
---www.GreenBayPhoenix.com---
