CLEVELAND, Ohio (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Facing the first of three league tests in five days, the Green Bay women's basketball team took the court at the Wolstein Center against Cleveland State on Thursday evening. The Phoenix faced an early deficit in the matchup, one it was unable to overcome as its winning streak would end at 11 games following a 71-60 loss to the Vikings.
 
The Phoenix (22-3, 12-2) jumped out to a 5-2 lead after a pair of baskets from senior Jessica Lindstrom, but the home team responded with a 17-6 run and constructed a 19-11 lead with 2:23 left in the opening quarter.
 
Green Bay's defense faced numerous tests early as the Vikings shot 9-of-12 from beyond the arc in the opening half, with the Phoenix going just 5-of-17 and trailing Cleveland State (18-8, 10-5) 37-28 at the break.
 
Looking as though Green Bay would face its first double-digit deficit at halftime in Horizon League play, Frankie Wurtz buried a triple and cut the Vikings' lead to just nine points and sent the team to the locker room with some confidence.
 
Coming off a matchup where Green Bay surrendered a season-low four turnovers, its offense struggled to find rhythm early and headed to the locker room with 10 first-half turnovers.
 
Jessica Lindstrom finished with a career-high 21 rebounds, just one shy of the single-game program record of 22 set by Karen Kupper against Milwaukee on Feb. 11, 1988. Lindstrom also scored a game-high 23 points on an 8-of-18 clip from the field paired with a 3-of-9 mark from beyond the arc. The native of Superior, Wis., also tallied the 35th double-double of her career, moving into a tie with Julie Wojta for the program's lead in the division I era.
 
Cleveland State finished the night 25-48 (52.1%), marking the first time this season a Phoenix opponent has finished the game above 50% from the floor. The Vikings also enjoyed a successful night from long range against a Green Bay team that entered the matchup with the No. 1 three-point defense in the nation, finishing 13-for-22 (59.1%) and turning in the best performance against the Phoenix defense this season.
 
With 4:37 left on the clock in the final quarter of action, a layup from Lindstrom lowered CSU's lead to just five points, 61-56, and gave the Phoenix a chance to pull even with two possessions.
 
Khayla Livingston, one of the Vikings' three 21-points scorers on the evening, buried a three-pointer to fend off the attack and push Cleveland State's advantage back up to eight points with 3:30 left.
 
Green Bay would go on to suffer just its second loss of the season in conference play, 71-60.
 
Allie LeClaire finished with 15 points and three rebounds in 39 minutes. Frankie Wurtz contributed nine points off of a trio of three-pointers and grabbed four rebounds in 30 minutes.
 
Ashanti Abshaw, Olivia Voskuhl and Livingston all finished with 21 points for Cleveland State. Green Bay owned an edge in the paint (24-14) and off second-chance points (17-2) but faced a deficit in points off turnovers (18-15).
 
The Phoenix will return to the court on Saturday at Youngstown State, with tipoff slated for noon (CT) at the Beeghly Center.

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