By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The No. 18/14 Green Bay (12-0, 2-0 HL) women's basketball team used its defense to close 2011 with a 76-49 win over Loyola (6-7, 1-1) Saturday at the Kress Events Center in front of 2,584 fans. With the win, the Phoenix finished the 2011 calendar year with an impressive 34-1 record. It is the second time under fifth year head coach Matt Bollant and second time in program history that Green Bay has had just one loss in a calendar year.

"2011 has been a pretty special year for the Phoenix and our program with our only loss coming to Baylor," said Bollant. "Obviously our focus is on 2012 but at the same time we look back on this year and think of how special it was for the Phoenix."

Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) scored six of Green Bay's first eight points as Loyola kept battling with the Phoenix in the opening minutes. At the 14:12 mark, Loyola knotted the contest 8-8 with a jumper from the left side of the lane before forcing a Green Bay turnover and taking the 10-8 lead with bucket from Simone Law, culminating a 6-0 run by the Ramblers. The Phoenix regained the one-point advantage (11-10) with a three from the left wing from Bauer with 12:05 remaining in the first half, sparking a 14-0 run.

With 9:32 to play in the first half Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) made a cut to the bucket and had a tip pass to Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) for a three in the left corner and the 18-10 lead. Ritchie had five points and one steal in Green Bay's first half run.

"I thought Adrian had a great start for us defensively," Bollant said. "We fought hard defensively to take them out of their one-four high stuff, making things tough for them."

With one second on the shot clock and 7:59 on the play clock, Loyola's Monica Albano heaved in a three pointer off an out-of-bounds play to break the Ramblers scoring drought and cut the Phoenix lead to 22-13.

Bauer drained her second three of the half with 4:42 to play when Ritchie found her on the left wing for the 30-19 advantage. Senior Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) dialed in from long distance with 29 seconds to play as part of a 16-6 run by the Phoenix to close the half.

Green Bay scored 27 of its first half points off Loyola's 19 turnovers to go into the locker room with the 45-24 lead. Wojta led all players with 12 points, four assists and four steals in the first half of action while Bauer chipped in 10 points, going 2-for-2 from three point range.

As a team Green Bay went 11-for-11 from the free throw line while shooting 46 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.

"We pride ourselves on our defense and it was important for us to come out to a good start defensively after struggling against UIC," said Wojta. "We were much more pleased with our performance tonight compared to Thursday's game."

Green Bay opened the second half with a 12-5 run, boosting its lead to 20 at the 10:50 mark after a free throw from Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.). With Green Bay's defense shutting down Loyola, forcing 15 turnovers in the second half, Bollant was able to give his starters rest.

"One of the things our program does really well is bury teams late in the first half and by doing that we are able to give our starters more rest in the second half," said Bollant. "I wasn't pleased with how they started but after we called a time out they responded really well. I thought Bre, Jenny and Steph all gave us good things coming off the bench and we want them to keep growing as it's hard to win with just six players."

With 5:13 remaining in the game Sension found Jenny Gilbertson (Wabasha, Minn.) on a fast break for the bucket and the 30-point advantage. Green Bay built its largest lead of the game (32) with 3:41 to play when Breannah Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) scored two of her eight points with a bucket down low.

Green Bay shot 45 percent in the second half with Ranger and Gilbertson leading the way with eight points each while the Phoenix defense forced a season-high 34 turnovers, scoring 41 of its 76 points off the Loyola miscues.

"We have a very intricate defensive system and roles change each year but I think we are slowly getting used to those roles," said Quilling. "We are not where we want to be right now but we're definitely getting there."

Wojta led all scorers with 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Eichler scored in double digits for the third consecutive game finishing with 12 points. Bauer chipped in 10 as Ritchie tied a career-high eight rebounds in Green Bay's 32nd consecutive regular season win.

ON DECK... Green Bay will travel to Milwaukee (4-7, 0-1 HL) for its first Horizon League road contest Jan. 7. The Phoenix faces the in-state rival Panthers at 12:30 p.m. at the Klotsche Center Jan. 7. The game will also be broadcast live on Time Warner Sports 32.

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