By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - No. 12/9 Green Bay (18-0, 8-0 HL) used its tenacious defense to improve to 18-0 with a 60-36 win over Butler (7-12, 3-5 HL) Thursday at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The win was Green Bay's 32nd consecutive over the Bulldogs and 34th consecutive regular season win against a conference opponent.

Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) cracked Green Bay's top 10 all-time scoring list with her game-high 15 points.

"She's just such a great player, I was hoping to rest her a little more in the second half but when Butler when on a little run I could tell she wanted to play," Bollant said. "We're just a better team with her on the court and I'm proud of the aggressiveness she showed."

Green Bay scored a season-low 60 points but its defense won the game, holding the Bulldogs to a season-low three field goals and 18-percent shooting while forcing a season-high 30 turnovers.

"Our players want to get better defensively, we're not always going to make shots," said fifth year head coach Matt Bollant. "I'm so proud of our team they way they competed and played great defense."

After Butler scored the first bucket of the contest, Green Bay went on a 15-3 run which featured six points from Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.), including a three to boost the lead to 10-2 at the 15:43 mark.

With 9:30 to play in the first half, Green Bay applied full court pressure, forced the Bulldogs a turnover and converted the layup to boost its lead to 19-7. The Bulldogs cut Green Bay's lead to 10 with a jumper from Haley Howard.

Green Bay boosted its lead to 20 (31-11) with a steal and layup from Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) with 4:55 remaining in the first half. Quilling scored back-to-back buckets for the Phoenix, part of an 18-4 run to close the first half of play.

The Phoenix defense held the Bulldogs without a field goal in the final 8:40 of the first half with Butler finishing with a season-low 13 points and three field goals. Green Bay forced 19 turnovers and poured in 20 points on the Bulldogs' miscues.

Green Bay's 42-13 halftime lead was its largest of the season. Wojta led all players with 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals in the first half while Ritchie chipped in 10 points and four rebounds.

"It's really fun to go on the road and dominate the way we did in the first half," said Bollant. "It's amazing how solid defensively we were. It's fun to go into the locker room and say our defense won that game."

Butler outscored Green Bay 12-6 in the opening eight minutes of the second half. Twelve of the first 18 points in the second half came from the charity stripe. The Phoenix built its lead to 32 (46-14) with a layup from Ritchie at the 18:08 mark.

The Bulldogs came as close as 20 (50-30) when Mandy McDivitt sank a three with 9:49 to play. Green Bay's defense responded forcing two consecutive turnovers while converting to layups from both Eichler and Wojta to make it a 24-point game. With 7:04 to play, Wojta found Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) on a beautiful cut to the basket for the 56-30 advantage.

Butler outscored Green Bay 23-18 in the second half as the Phoenix shot 28 percent, going 7-of-25 from the field.

The Phoenix finished the game scoring 30 points off Butler's 30 turnovers. Bauer led the Phoenix with a career-high nine rebounds while chipping in eight points. In addition to Wojta's game-high 15 points, Ritchie added 12 points and seven rebounds.

UP NEXT: Green Bay will head north to wrap up its road swing at Valparaiso (5-13, 1-6 HL) Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1:35 p.m. The Phoenix returns to the confines of the Kress Events Center Saturday, Feb. 4 as it hosts Milwaukee (5-12, 1-6 HL) at 7 p.m.

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