INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Phoenix rose to the occasion in the battle of the unbeaten at Hinkle Fieldhouse Thursday night taking on the Bulldogs for sole possession of first place in the Horizon League. No. 22/16 Green Bay (19-1, 8-0 HL) used a fast start to hold off a second-half charge by Butler (13-7, 7-1 HL), handing the Bulldogs its first conference loss with a 66-62 win.

"I feel relieved, we had a chance to put it away but we didn't do that with Hamilton making plays," said head coach Matt Bollant. "We showed a lot of character and heart tonight getting the job done in a tough situation."

Senior Celeste Hoewisch (Hortonville, Wis.) sparked the Phoenix in the second half scoring 19 points before finishing the game with a team-high 23 throughout 30 minutes of play after picking up two fouls early in the first half.

After an exchange of buckets in the opening seconds, Julie Wojta (Mishicot, Wis.) poured in six consecutive points for an early 8-2 lead by the Phoenix. The Bulldogs answered by cutting Green Bay's lead to one with 15:36 to play in the opening half.

The Phoenix held the Bulldogs scoreless for four minutes while going on a 13-0 run that was snapped when reigning Horizon League player of the Week, Chloe Hamilton drained two of her first half ten points with a  jumper from the right corner. Green Bay closed the half outscoring Butler 21-10 as the Bulldogs scored the final four points to trail the Phoenix 35-22 at the break.

Green Bay led by as many as 17 with 1:24 remaining in the first half before finishing shooting 50 percent from the field. Senior Kayla Tetschlag (Sheboygan, Wis.) paced all players with 11 points while Wojta chipped in 10. Both Tetschlag and Wojta also led the way on the boards, grabbing five rebounds each while also dishing out three assists each.

With the Bulldogs known for performing well in the second half, Bollant reminded his players to stay aggressive and focus on what Green Bay does, "We pride ourselves on being the most aggressive team but in the second half we just didn't do that at times."

Butler opened the second half with consecutive buckets as Green Bay turned the ball over five times in the first four and a half minutes of play as a result of the Bulldogs full-court pressure.

With less than 10:30 to play, Butler's Becca Bornhorst drained a three-pointer from the left wing cutting Green Bay's lead 44-37. Butler's Alyssa Pittman forced the Phoenix turnover and capitalized with a three-point play from Azjah Bass while cutting Green Bay's lead to four (44-40).

"Give Butler credit, they made some plays, got the crowd into it and we turned the ball over a little too much," Bollant said.

The Phoenix answered with a 9-4 run capped off by Hoewisch draining a three-pointer from the top of the key making it 51-42 with 8:08 remaining in the contest.

"Celeste was huge for us. When they made a run and we needed a play she made a couple of threes and made big plays for us after getting in foul trouble in the first half," said Bollant. "She really made a difference for us."

With a 60-51 Phoenix lead and 3:00 minutes remaining, the Bulldogs forced Green Bay's 23rd turnover of the contest resulting in a bucket down low from Hamilton. After a pair of free throws from Hoewisch, Butler's Alyssa Pittman drained her first three pointer of the contest cutting the Phoenix lead to six (62-56). Following another Green Bay turnover, Wojta fouled Pittman who sank a pair of free-throws, cutting the Phoenix lead to four with less than one minute to play.

As the shot clock was winding down, Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) missed a driving bucket but Hoewisch grabbed a huge offensive rebound and drew a foul. Hoewisch sank a pair of free-throws making it 64-58.

Tetschlag fouled out with 22.8 seconds remaining allowing Hamilton to sink a pair from the charity stripe and cut Green Bay's lead to four. Butler was forced to foul and Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) took advantage, sealing the win with a pair of free-throws.

Green Bay was outscored 40-31 in the second half while shooting 52 percent from the field compared to Bulter's 46 percent. For the second time this season the Phoenix shot a perfect 1.000 percent from the free-throw line, going 10-10 in the second half.

"Celeste was great going 8-8 and Hannah also stepped up and wanted to go to the line, drawing the foul," Bollant said.

Hoewisch led the Phoenix with 23 points while Wojta chipped in 20 as Tetschlag was held scoreless in the second half but led all players with five assists. Hamilton led all scorers with 26 points and 10 rebounds while posting her fourth double-double of the season.

"We found a way to get it done and that's what good teams do," Bollant said.

The Phoenix will wrap up its road trip playing at Valparaiso (4-15, 1-6 HL) Saturday at 7 p.m. Green Bay will return to the confines of the Kress Events Center Thursday, Feb. 3 where it will host Cleveland State at 7 p.m. followed by Youngstown State Saturday at 2 p.m. For tickets, click here.