CHICAGO, Ill. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - For the
third-consecutive game, the No. 18/16 Green Bay (23-1, 12-0 HL) women's
basketball team scored over 80 points with its 81-50 win over UIC (10-12, 5-6
HL) Thursday at the UIC Pavilion. Celeste Hoewisch (Hortonville, Wis.) led all players scoring
20 points, including a career-high six three pointers while Kayla Tetschlag (Sheboygan, Wis.) added
19 as Julie Wojta (Mishicot, Wis.)
posted her second-consecutive double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
"When we are shooting and we do a great
job of getting the ball inside, now you are stretching the D with that,"
said head coach Matt Bollant. "It just makes us a lot tougher to guard."
After UIC took the lead twice within
the first four minutes of play, Green Bay went on a 13-0 run, taking a 19-6
lead over the Flames. Both teams remained scoreless from 13:19- 6:53 before Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) found Julie Wojta (Mishicot, Wis.) down low
for the bucket, ending the over six minute scoring drought while capping off a
13-0 run by the Phoenix.
After Green Bay built its biggest lead
of the half (+13), with 6:23 to play, the Flames sank three-consecutive three
pointers to cut Green Bay's lead to four (21-17) with 5:05 remaining in the
first half. The Phoenix answered with a Hoewisch three from the left corner, sparking
a 13-4 run to close out the half. The Phoenix led 34-21 at the half shooting 38
percent from the field, 28 percent from the three-point arc and 80 percent from
the free-throw line.
Tetschlag led all players with 12
points throughout 19 minutes of play in the first half going 3-5 from the field
and 6-8 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile Wojta led all players with nine
boards in the first half alone while dishing out four assists.
Green Bay opened the second half with a
commanding 19-2 run before leading 53-31 with just under 12 minutes to play.
The Flames came as close as 19 with 9:51 remaining before Hoewisch drained
another three, sparking an 11-3 run throughout the next two and a half minutes.
Green Bay's run was sealed with a layup from Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.) who came off the bench to score
10 points in the second half throughout seven minutes of play.
Sension scored eight of her 10 points
in the last 3:08 of the contest including a three-point play with 1:03 to play,
giving Green Bay its biggest lead of the contest (+33) 81-48. Hoewisch was
four-for-four from three-point range in the second half scoring 12 points
throughout 15 minutes of play. Hoewisch's career-high six three pointers tied
her for third on the individual game record list for Green Bay as the Phoenix
shot a season-high 77 percent from three-point range in the second half.
"I definitely think it starts on the defensive
end," Hoewisch said. "When we are clicking on the defensive end and playing
aggressive, our offense goes. I think every single game when we play though
defense and are getting after it, it carries over."
Wojta finished the contest tying her career-high
eight assists as Green Bay tallied its 14th-consecutive win and largest margin
of victory in its past 12 wins over the Flames. The Phoenix finished the
contest shooting 47 percent from the field, 80 percent from free-throw range
and 56 percent from beyond the arc (second highest of the season).
With its 81-50 win, the Phoenix can
finally put last year's loss at UIC behind them, "To go back to a place where
you didn't play well, you could see that we were a little tight in walk through
today," said Bollant. "I knew they we're just thinking about last year's game
and we reminded them what a good team we are and how well we're going to shoot
the ball. In the end, I thought they came out and did the right things to make
it happen."
"You can't replace experience,"
Hoewisch said. "The summer and the whole last year playing together, we have
really built a bond. We have something really special going."
Green Bay will face Loyola Saturday,
Feb. 12 at 12:30. The contest will be in conjunction with the Green Bay men's
team who plays at 3 p.m. against the Ramblers.
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