By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The season-high 3,474 fans at the Kress Events Center Saturday saw history right before their eyes as the No. 12/11 Green Bay (17-0, 7-0 HL) women's basketball team started the season 17-0 for the first time in program history with an 80-58 victory over Cleveland State (8-10, 3-4 HL).

"There have been some incredible teams in Green Bay and I have been really fortunate to coach five teams and to have the best start really says a lot about this team," said head coach Matt Bollant. "I was really pleased with the crowd; they really brought us energy and made a difference in that first half. I'm really thankful to see all those people that care about women's basketball."

The win was also Green Bay's 37th consecutive regular season victory, the longest winning streak in program history. The Phoenix has also won its last 33 regular season contests against Horizon League opponents.

"We just keep challenging ourselves to get better and to be honest, the records don't mean a lot to us now but at the end of the season that's where we want to be setting records. Right now it's just icing on the cake," said senior captain Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.).

For the fourth time this season, five players scored in double figures with Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.), Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.), Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) and Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.) all pouring in 12 while Quilling chipped in 10. Freshman Megan Lukan (Barrie, Ontario) led the Phoenix on the boards grabbing seven rebounds, six on the defensive end.

"We have such good balance on our team that it's hard to scout who's going to be on that night," said Eichler. "To see everyone get in the game and score is huge for us because we are so team oriented and want everyone to be involved."

Neither team led by more than three in the first three-and-a-half minutes as Wojta scored on the opening possession before Ritchie scored her lone three of the game following a Cleveland State bucket. Green Bay improved upon its last performance in defending the dribble as Bauer stole the ball at the 15:58 mark, sparking a 14-4 run by the Phoenix.

"We played a lot better today although it's not really about the opponent, it's about us continuing to improve," said Bollant. "I was really pleased with how we shared the ball today whether it was shooting or passing, everyone was involved and that's always great to see."

Green Bay's defense forced the Vikings five turnovers in the six minute stretch which featured scoring from seven different Phoenix players. Offensively Green Bay did not turn the ball over until 4:41 remaining in the first half.

"Every day we have points of emphasis during practice and a lot of time we stress not turning the ball over and today's lack of turnovers just shows that we are taking strides to get better," Quilling said.

After a three pointer from Cleveland State's Honesty King to cut the Phoenix lead to 12 with 8:21 to play, Eichler scored Green Bay's next six points before Quilling sank two free throws and Lukan hit a layup to boost the lead to 19 (37-18) with 5:32 to play in the opening half.

"We went to our dribble-drive offense and that's something I really like to do is drive the ball," Eichler said. "I've been working on improving on the offensive end."

Eichler scored her 10 first half points in the first 14 minutes of play. Wojta chipped in eight points in 11 minutes of play while grabbing three rebounds. Cleveland State's Honesty King led all players with 11 points at the break while Imani Gordon led the battle on the boards with five.

Green Bay finished the first half shooting 47 percent from the field and for the fourth time this season finished the half shooting 100 percent (10-10) from the charity stripe while turning the ball over just twice.

With a comfortable 43-23 lead at the half, the Phoenix never slowed down in the second half as it opened with a 9-4 run which was sparked again by Bauer, only this time it was on the offensive end as the junior sank one of her two three pointers.

Cleveland State scored six consecutive points to cut the Phoenix lead to 20 with 13:32 remaining. Green Bay's balanced scoring, which featured every player contributing at least four points, is a good sign the Phoenix continues to improve each and every game.

"I'm disappointed in the amount of points we gave up down the stretch but I felt today we had much more energy in our performance," Bollant said. "As great as it is to always see Julie continuously scoring baskets, it's great to see the balance this team has. As a I coach I love to see nine different players score and that makes us have more weapons."

Green Bay led by as many as 31 after Sension hit a layup to boost the lead to 74-43 as the Phoenix cruised to victory. Green Bay shot a Kress Center Record 94 percent (18-19) from the charity stripe, its second highest percentage of the season after going 13-for-13 in the season opener at North Dakota State. The Phoenix also turned the ball over a season-low eight times.

ON DECK... The Phoenix will hit the road Thursday, Jan. 26 as it travels to Butler (6-10, 2-3 HL) to battle the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. CT before making a stop at Valparaiso (5-11, 1-4 HL) Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1:35 p.m. Green Bay will return home Saturday, Feb. 4 to host Milwaukee at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. The game will be featured live on Time Warner Sports 32.

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