By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Junior Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) scored a career and game-high 19 points while Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) tied a career-high 15 rebounds as No. 18/14 Green Bay (11-0, 1-0 HL) opened Horizon League play with an 80-63 win over UIC (7-5, 0-1 HL) Thursday at the Kress Events Center. Five players scored in double figures for Green Bay as it captured its 31st-consecutive regular season win.

"Tonight we celebrate a win over UIC who I think is going to win a lot of basketball games in the conference, they brought a lot of fight to the game tonight," said reigning Horizon League Coach of the Year Matt Bollant. "I thought we won the game tonight because we made more shots but we don't want that to be our identity."

Both teams shot 41 percent from the field in the first half as Green Bay struggled to get into its offensive rhythm with its leading scorer, Wojta, only scoring two points in the opening period.

"We definitely were a little jittery to start the game; you could see glimpses of our system at times but I think our nerves took over a little bit in the first half," said Eichler who led all scorers with nine in the opening half.

Green Bay opened the contest with back-to-back three pointers from Eichler and Ritchie, sparking a 13-4 run in the first seven minutes of play. Midway through the first half, Quilling drained a deep three from the right wing to boost Green Bay's lead to 11 before Wojta scored her lone bucket of the half at the 9:10 mark when Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) found her down low for the 20-7 advantage.

With a 10-point Phoenix lead, Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.) added a three-point play with 5:12 remaining in the first half with a bucket down low before converting the free throw to boost Green Bay's lead to 30-17.

UIC came as close as seven with 3:20 to play in the opening half when Jasmine Bailey sank a bucket down low to cut Green Bay's lead to 30-23. Bailey scored nine points in the first half while Shamiea Green added eight for the Flames.

Green Bay sank five three pointers in the first half, the most in four games throughout the opening half, going 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. For the second time this season and first time since its season opener, Green Bay shot 100 percent from the charity stripe (7-of-7) in first half action to take the 36-28 lead into the locker room.

"I'm not sure if it was the expectations heading into the game or what it was but I didn't like the way we looked in the first half," Bollant said. "I felt we lacked toughness and just weren't ready to fight."

Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) opened the second half with a three from the top of the key while Wojta scored six points in the opening four minutes as part of an 11-4 run by the Phoenix. After a jumper by Bailey, Eichler poured in eight consecutive points for the Phoenix, boosting its lead to 18 (53-35) at the 14:00 mark.

"I've been looking to attack more this year but each game is different with the amount of touches I get on the ball," Eichler said of her career-high scoring night. "I wasn't looking to force anything but if they were going to guard me at half court with an inch of space I was going to take what they gave me."

With 9:55 to play, Wojta stole the ball and took it the distance for the 58-39 lead before Bauer sank one of her two three pointers of the contest with 7:29 to play to give the Phoenix a 20-point advantage.

UIC came as close as 12 after a three from Taylor Foulks with 3:25 to play in the game but an 8-2 run by Green Bay over the next two minutes secured the 80-63 win.

In addition to Eichler's career-high 19, Wojta finished with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, her sixth double double of the season. Ritchie chipped in 18 points while Sension added 11 and Bauer 10 as Green Bay finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, its second lowest shooting percentage of the season. The Phoenix scored 27 points off UIC's 25 turnovers as the Flames dished out only eight assists in the game. Four players scored in double figures for UIC, including Bailey who led the Flames with 18 while Foulks chipped in 15.

"Our identity is being the toughest team on the court and it definitely didn't feel like that was the case tonight," Bollant said of his team's performance. "We are not going to be the team we want to be in March with the lack of toughness we showed tonight and that's something we need to get better at."

Green Bay will close 2011 Saturday, Dec. 31 as it hosts Loyola (6-6, 1-0 HL) at 2 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. The Phoenix will travel to in-state rival Milwaukee (4-7, 0-1 HL) Saturday, Jan. 7 for its first road conference game of the year at 12:30 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.

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