By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The No. 12/12 Green Bay (24-1, 14-1 HL) women's basketball team never relinquished its fast start, dominating Valparaiso (8-18, 4-11 HL) in a 72-36 win Thursday at the Kress Events Center. With the win, Green Bay clinched at least a share of its 14th consecutive regular season Horizon League championship, the nation's longest streak.

Junior Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) sank three three pointers in the opening nine minutes as Green Bay jumped out to a 19-2 lead, not committing a turnover throughout the run. Bauer finished with a game-high 17 points while senior Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) posted her 14th double double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

"I thought we set the tone right away, we want to be the most aggressive team and I thought Lydia got us going offensively with her threes early," said fifth year head coach Matt Bollant. "We haven't started the way we did tonight throughout conference play and were just more relaxed which helped."

After Green Bay's 16-0 run to start the contest, Valpo's Laura Richards put the Crusaders on the board with a jumper at the 11:18 mark. After Bauer's third three, Richards answered with a three of her own to cut Green Bay's lead to 19-5 with 9:50 to play in the opening half.

The Phoenix defense held the Crusaders scoreless for the next three-and-a-half minutes and allowed just six points on three field goals in the final 6:14 of the first half of play.

"Defensively, we were as good as we've been all year and took things away from Valpo," said Bollant. "We fought really hard tonight and were better guarding the dribble; I'm very pleased with our team."

The birthday girl, Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.), boosted Green Bay's lead to 20 (27-7) when Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) found her down low for the layup. Wojta and Bauer followed suit, each scoring a layup to make it 31-7 with 3:09 remaining.

The Crusaders converted two Green Bay turnovers in the final 43 seconds, including a bucket with one second to play, making it 31-11 at the break.

The Phoenix shot 43 percent in the first half, going 13-for-30 from the field, with all three of Green Bay's three pointers in the half coming from Bauer who led the scoring with 13 points.

Green Bay built a 35-11 lead in the early minutes of the second half following Megan Lukan's (Barrie, Ontario) lone bucket of the contest at the 18:05 mark. Valpo came as close as 19 (38-19) following a three pointer from Ashley Varner with 14:45 to play in the game.

The Phoenix then opened up a 15-0 run, featuring another three from Bauer and six points from Wojta, boosting its lead to 53-19 with 9:42 to play while holding the Crusaders scoreless for seven minutes of play.

"I feel tonight we did a really good job of making them work the whole possession, we were talking and making them work for everything they got," said Wojta who dished out five assists and did not commit a turnover in the contest.

Green Bay led by as many as 43 with 3:30 to play as its defense held the Crusaders to 36 points, tying a season low, while scoring 40 points off Valpo's 29 turnovers. The Phoenix improved on working the ball inside as it finished with 40 points in the paint.

Sension led all players coming off the bench with 12 points, going 5-for-8 from the field in 16 minutes of play.

"She's a very talented player, defensively she played lower today and improved overall on her performance," said Bollant of Sension's performance. "She's talented and gave us a lift offensively tonight. You always hope players play well on their birthday and she certainly did tonight."

Green Bay finished the game with a season-low 12 fouls, sending Valpo to the charity stripe just six times. The Crusaders two made free throws and zero blocks, tied Kress Center records for opponent lows.

The Phoenix finished the game shooting 44 percent (26-of-58) from the field and 84 percent from the charity stripe, sinking 16-of-19 attempts.

SERIES IN REVIEW... Green Bay outscored Valpo 137-73 in the season series, scoring 72 points in the paint while forcing the Crusaders a combined 55 turnovers. Wojta posted a double double in the contests, totaling 35 points and 20 rebounds while Bauer poured in a combined 28 points.

ON DECK... Green Bay will host Butler (12-13, 8-6 HL) in its final regular season home game Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the game is a sell out. Immediately following Saturday's game, the senior class of Katie Bushman, Hannah Quilling and Julie Wojta will be honored.

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