By Justin Grones
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY, Wis.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - With a three
from the wing at the 4:16 mark in the first half, senior Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) became the 30th member of the Green
Bay women's basketball program's 1,000 point club as Green Bay (5-1) never
relinquished its lead and posted a 64-52 victory over the University of
Indianapolis (4-1) on Friday night at the Kress Center.
Shooting 50 percent from the floor, UIndy jumped ahead
early in the first half and led by as many as seven points. With 4:16 remaining
in the half a wide-open Ritchie, who battled the flu this week, overcame early
shooting woes and drilled a three from the wing to give the Phoenix the lead
for good at 26-24. With the triple Ritchie hit 1,002 career points, becoming
the 17th player to accomplish this feat since the Phoenix became a Division I
program in 1987.
Ritchie capped off her historic night with 16 points, four
rebounds, a game-high seven assists and a career-high six steals.
"We've had a lot of 1,000 point scorers in this
program, and it's why the program succeeds because Adrian Ritchie is one of
those players. I don't know of a player that has ever worked harder than her. When
I watched her play in high school, we knew she was the next kid in line so I'm
not surprised at all," head coach Kevin
Borseth said.
With Green Bay leading 37-30 at the half, the second
half opened with a scoring drought of more than four minutes by both teams. At
the 15:58 mark, Ritchie found senior Lydia
Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) in the paint to put the first points of the
second half on the board. Bauer finished with a game-high 18 points.
The Greyhounds came within six points late in the
game, but Green Bay was able to hold on for the win to improve to 5-1 overall
and 2-0 at home.
"The team really gutted it out and played hard
tonight. We did a lot of things well statistically, but we could have done a
better job of containing on defense. Even with the things we did right, we
still had to fight for this one," Borseth said.
Senior Stephanie
Sension (Hopkins, Minn.) posted 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds
for the Phoenix, while Megan Lukan
(Barrie, Ontario) scored eight points to go along with four assists and three
steals. Breannah Ranger (Skokie,
Ill.) posted seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 12 minutes.
Winning its lone home contest in a 30-day stretch, Green
Bay will hit the road again next week, first traveling to take on Central
Michigan for the second time this season on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 11 a.m. The
Phoenix opened the season with a 75-48 victory over the Chippewas and will look to win its third straight matchup
against CMU. Green Bay will then travel south to Milwaukee to take on Marquette
on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. The Phoenix won't play at home again until Dec.
18 when North Dakota State travels to the Kress Center.
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