MILWAUKEE, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay women's basketball team traveled south to Milwaukee, Wis., for a matchup with in-state rival Milwaukee at the Klotsche Center on Friday night. The game went back and forth for the majority of the night with no team able to fully take control. The Panthers (18-8, 10-5) managed to pull away late and hand Green Bay (21-5, 10-3) its third loss of the league season.
Green Bay's offense was slow to start, allowing Milwaukee to jump out to an early 10-3 lead with 6:06 remaining in the first quarter. The Phoenix began responding shortly after with a series of three-pointers from Allie LeClaire, Caitlyn Hibner and Mehryn Kraker to knot the game at 14-14.
After pulling even, Green Bay was unable to use its momentum to create any sort of a concrete lead, as its largest advantage in the game was only eight points at the 5:52 mark in the second quarter. The game itself saw the lead change hands 18 times.
Entering the fourth quarter down four, 52-48, the Phoenix was forced to make stops on the defensive end. Green Bay answered the call by forcing a Milwaukee shot clock violation on the opening possession and following it up with a Sam Terry layup to pull within two. From there, the Phoenix was able to make it a three-point game on two separate occasions in the final period of play but was never able to completely slow down the Panthers offense, eventually falling 72-60.
Milwaukee shot 58.1% (25-43) from the field, the highest of any Phoenix opponent this season. Green Bay struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively and finished shooting 34.5% (19-55) on the night. Milwaukee scored 28 points in the paint compared to Green Bay's 10, marking just the second time this season the Phoenix was held to a disadvantage inside.
Green Bay finished with four scorers in double digits for the fifth time this season, all led by Jessica Lindstrom with 12 points on a 3-of-6 effort. Mehryn Kraker scored 11 points to move into a tie with Donna Gunville for fifth place on Green Bay's all-time scoring list with 1,572 points.
Frankie Wurtz scored a career-high 11 points while going 3-of-6 from long range in 25 minutes. Caitlyn Hibner nearly notched the first double-double of her young career, scoring 10 points and pulling down eight rebounds in 27 minutes.
Green Bay's next matchup will be its final of the season within the friendly confines of the Kress Center, as the Phoenix welcomes UIC on Monday night at 7 p.m.
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