By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Senior Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) posted her fifth consecutive double double, scoring a game-high 27 points while grabbing 13 rebounds as No. 12/12 Green Bay (25-1, 15-1 HL) scored 46 points in the second half en route to its 78-53 win over Butler (12-15, 8-8 HL) Saturday at a sold out Kress Events Center. With the win, Green Bay owns sole possession of its 14th consecutive regular season Horizon League championship.

"There are not a lot of teams that can say they clinched the regular season title outright with still a couple of games left to play," said fifth year head coach Matt Bollant. "We're so thankful for our fans and having this third sell out is amazing."

It was a tight game early with Wojta scoring eight of Green Bay's first 12 points. The Bulldogs took the 13-12 lead with a three pointer from Mandy McDivitt with 11:12 to play in the opening half.

A drive on the left baseline by senior Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire, Wis.) gave the Phoenix the 14-13 advantage at the 9:09 mark. Green Bay also scored on its next two possessions to build its lead to 18-13 before the Bulldogs' Becca Bornhorst sank a jumper to cut the Phoenix lead back to three.

After a called time out at 4:31, Green Bay went on a 6-0 run capped off with a coast-to-coast drive and bucket from Eichler for the 24-15 lead. The Bulldogs closed the Phoenix lead to eight (28-20) with 1:29 to play before Wojta grabbed an offensive rebound and bucket, making it a 10-point game with 1:02 remaining in the first half.

A pair of free throws from Butler's Devin Brierly again pulled the Bulldogs within eight before the Phoenix closed the half with an alley-oop layup from Wojta, giving Green Bay the 32-22 lead at the break.

The Phoenix turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, the most against a conference opponent this season in the opening half of play. Green Bay shot 50 percent (16-of-32) from the field but never made a trip to the free throw line in the opening half while going 0-for-8 from three-point range.

"We struggled to shoot the ball from the outside in the first half and turning the ball over caused us to lose a little of our aggressiveness," Bollant said of his team's first half performance. "The start of the second half we were really good, got back to being confident and shot the ball well and started to get the ball inside."

Bauer opened the second half with a three from the right corner, sparking an 8-0 run by the Phoenix which featured a steal, layup and free throw by Wojta, forcing Butler to call time out trailing 39-22.

"I thought her three in the corner was real big for us after going 0-for-8 in the first half," Bollant said of Bauer's performance. "We challenged our players at halftime on who was going to step up and make the first shot and she stepped up."

Butler came within 15 (44-29) after McDivitt sank a three with 16:59 to play before the Phoenix boosted its lead to 19 when Bauer stole the ball and took it the distance for the layup. A putback from Wojta with 12:53 to play gave the Phoenix it first 20-point lead of the game (51-31).

The Bulldogs outscored Green Bay 9-4 throughout the next four minutes to cut the Phoenix lead back to 15 (58-43) with 6:03 remaining. Three consecutive points from Jenny Gilbertson (Wabasha, Minn.) and a pair of jumpers from Wojta and Bauer, put the Phoenix up 20 with 4:40 to play, putting the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.

Bauer led all players with all 13 of her points coming in the second half while Wojta chipped in 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the closing half.

Green Bay finished the game scoring a season-high 56 points in the paint while its 34 made field goals tied a Kress Center record.

"I look at the stats and see 56 points in the paint and that's something that excites me because you can be consistent scoring that much in the paint," said Bollant.

In addition to Wotja's 27 points and 13 rebounds, the senior captain also had a game-high six steals and five assists. Her double double performance marked the 31st of her career.

"I'm not sure there are many more complete basketball players, she can do everything, and does it so well at such a high level," Bollant said of Wojta. "It's astonishing to watch."

Junior Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) added 10 points while Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.) chipped in nine in 10 minutes of play.

ON DECK... Green Bay will head to the windy city for a pair of games to wrap up its regular season competition. The Phoenix will play Loyola Thursday, Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. before traveling to UIC Saturday, Mar. 3 to battle the Flames at 3 p.m.

PINKZONE/BLACK OUT CANCER SUCCESS... Saturday's game was also the annual PinkZone game featuring pink shoes and commemorative pink uniforms worn by both teams. This was the fourth consecutive season Green Bay held its PinkZone game while the men's team held its first annual Black Out Cancer game on Feb. 4.

Throughout both games, jerseys worn by the Green Bay players were auctioned off through an online auction while a dash for cash was held during a time out. Broadway Automotive partnered with Green Bay athletics in order to raise funds for The Cancer TEAM at Bellin Health. With Broadway Automotive's match of $7,500, a total of $24,167 was donated to the Patient Assistance Fund at Bellin Health.  

SENIOR FAREWELL... Following the game, fans bid farewell and honored its senior class of Katie Bushman (Phillips, Wis.), Hannah Quilling and Julie Wojta. The class of 2012 has been a part of three NCAA Tournament appearances and two Horizon League Tournament championships while compiling an overall record of 116-12 and an impressive 66-4 conference record, finishing 18-0 during two seasons.

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Ticket packages are now on sale for the Horizon League Championship. Fans can order online here. No. 1 seed Green Bay will host the No. 8 or No. 9 seed Wednesday, Mar. 7 in the quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center.

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