By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com
SAN JUAN, P.R.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Despite its offensive struggles against its toughest opponent thus far this
season, the No. 18 Green Bay (5-0) women's basketball team captured a thrilling
67-62 win in overtime against No. 25 Georgia Tech (3-2) in the final contest of
the San Juan Shootout held at Mario Morales Coliseum in San Juan, P.R. Saturday.
With the win, fifth year head coach Matt Bollant improves to 4-2 against ranked
opponents.
"That was a fun game, I'm really proud of our players, they
never stopped believing," Bollant said. "In the first half Georgia Tech sped us
up and we turned the ball over but in the second half we enjoyed the fight
more."
With the two seconds remaining in regulation, Sarah Eichler
(Grafton, Wis.) found junior Adrian Ritchie
(De Pere, Wis.), who sank a long three pointer from the right wing, sending
the game into overtime.
"The bigger the game, the bigger the player she is," said
senior Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) of Ritchie's performance in the final
seconds.
Green Bay trailed by as many as nine in the second half
before Ritchie sank two three pointers in the final two minutes of regulation.
Trailing by four with 51 seconds to play, Eichler drove the lane sinking a
layup to cut Georgia Tech's lead to 54-52.
Forced to stop the clock with 10 seconds remaining, Ritchie
fouled Georgia Tech's Tyuanna Marshall who sank one of two free throw attempts
to make it 55-52 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario)
grabbed the rebound and the Phoenix ran a set play for Ritchie's second three
of the game.
"When coach called the play we ran it perfectly. The defender
was closing out on me and I honestly didn't know if it was going in, I blacked
out a bit but think I gave two fist pumps in the air," Ritchie said laughing. "We
knew we were in an intense situation and we just stayed calm and could see the trust
in each other."
In overtime, Georgia Tech led by as many as five with 3:13 to
play before Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.) grabbed a huge defensive board
and scored the layup to cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to three (62-59). Ritchie
once again tied the game at 62 with a three from the right wing.
Green Bay scored its final five points from the free throw
line after Georgia Tech was forced to foul and stop the clock.
"We could certainly feel that heading into overtime we had
the momentum and we fought to earn that extra five minutes of game time and we
knew we weren't going to let it go to waste," Ritchie said. "Our coaches
believed in us, set up the plays to win the game and all we had to do was
execute them."
Green Bay shot 38 percent in both the first and second half
of regulation while shooting 39 percent in overtime. The Phoenix went 25-of-64
for the entire contest, its worst of the season.
"We know we can't always count on our three-point shooting,
we have to be able to win when we're not shooting well and we proved that we
could do that tonight," said Ritchie who finished with a team-high 17 points. "Julie
(Wojta), Megan (Lukan) and Steph all stepped up big for us tonight down the
stretch."
Lukan and Wojta grabbed six offensive boards each while Wojta
posted her second double double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds. For
the second consecutive game Eichler scored in double figures finishing with 14
points while Lukan and Sension chipped in eight each.
Green Bay scored 22 points off Georgia Tech's 29 turnovers
while the Yellow Jackets sank 21 points off 25 Phoenix miscues.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: After averaging 19 points and 10.5 rebounds per game throughout the San Juan Shootout, Wojta was named to the All-Tournament Team.
OVERTIME BATTLES: The last time Green Bay played an
overtime game was March 12, 2010 against Cleveland State in the Horizon League
Championship game. The Phoenix is 2-2 under Bollant in overtime contests.
ON DECK: Green Bay returns home to host
in-state rival Marquette (3-2) Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events
Center before hosting Northern Iowa (3-1) at 12 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. Both
Marquette and UNI played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
###
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