GREEN
BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Matt Bollant captured his 100th win as the head
coach of the No. 23/18 Green Bay (17-1, 6-0 HL) women's basketball team with a 60-51
victory over UIC (7-9, 2-3 HL) Saturday at the Kress Events Center. With the
win, Bollant is the head coach to win 100 games the fastest in the history of
Green Bay women's basketball.
"I'm really thankful to my great staff and players
around me," Bollant said of his 100th win with the Phoenix. "I'm very blessed
to be in a great situation here at Green Bay."
Julie
Wojta (Mishicot,
Wis.) was unstoppable in the first half shooting 8-10 from the field while
leading all players with 17 points and six rebounds throughout 19 minutes of
play. Green Bay shot a season-high 63 percent from the field in the opening 20
minutes while going 14-22 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range.
The Flames cut Green Bay's lead to three in the
early minutes of the first half. With 14:31 to play Briana Hinkle sank two free
throws to make it 13-10 in favor of the Phoenix. Kayla Tetschlag (Sheboygan,
Wis.) added 12 points and five rebounds in the first half as the Phoenix closed
out the final 6:17 with a 14-3 run before finishing with a 38-18 lead at the
break, its biggest of the game.
"I was really pleased with how we played in the
first half defensively and got ourselves in position to win but disappointed
with how we played in the second half, our energy level and competitive nature,"
said head coach Matt Bollant. "It's (energy) not something you can turn off and
on if we want to be the team we want to be down the road we just can't turn
intensity level on and off and expect to get better."
UIC opened the second half scoring the first five
points as part of an 8-2 run by the Flames. Green Bay's first points of the
half came from a pair of free throws by Celeste Hoewisch (Hortonville,
Wis.) at the 17:10 mark. The Phoenix scored its first field goal of the half
when Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) hit a jumper from the left corner
with 12:35 to play.
Wojta posted her fourth double-double of the season
with 8:14 remaining when she grabbed an offensive board and drew a foul. After
Wojta sank one of her two free-throw attempts, UIC cut Green Bay's lead to nine
with 6:49 remaining following consecutive three pointers from Taylor Foulks to
make it 51-42, forcing a Green Bay timeout.
Following the timeout, the Phoenix shot 2-8 from the
field before the Flames trailed by nine (57-48) with just 47 seconds remaining.
Green Bay built its lead back up to 11 with 39 seconds left after a pair of
free throws from Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) who finished the
game with four points and four assists.
The Flames outscored Green Bay 33-22 in the second
half as the Phoenix shot a season-worst 25 percent from the field while holding
on for the nine-point win. The Phoenix went 0-7 from beyond the arc in the
second half while shooting 17-24 from the free-throw line in the game.
"I think our intensity level can be improved but it's
a concern," Bollant said of Green Bay's performance in the second half. "What
makes us special is our energy level and how we play. As soon as we lose that,
we're not the special team we can be."
"When we're ready to go we just shoot better, when
we slow down our defensive stops that's when we stumble," said Tetschlag. "Trying
to put two halves together is what we're working on right now."
Wojta finished the game leading all players with 23
points and three steals while Tetschlag posted double-figuring scoring for the
sixth consecutive game chipping in 18 points while grabbing seven boards. On
the other side, UIC's Shameia Green poured in 20 points to lead the flames
while Jasmine Bailey led all players with 12 rebounds.
The
Phoenix will wrap up its three-game homestand Saturday, Jan.22 as it hosts Milwaukee
(5-11, 2-3 HL) at the Kress Events Center at 2 p.m.
