GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Green Bay battled No. 16 DePaul on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,000 passionate fans at the Kress Center, completing a stretch of three-consecutive games against ranked opponents. The Phoenix threatened to hand the 7-1 Blue Demons their second loss of the season but late surges helped the visitors seal a 76-65 victory.
 
The Phoenix raced out to a 10-3 lead against the first ranked program to visit the Kress Center in 2019-20, but DePaul used an 8-2 run in the final two minutes of the first to make it a one-point game when the quarter concluded, 12-11.
 
Efficiency proved to be a contributing factor in the pairing, as DePaul launched 44 three-pointers and only converted on 12. GB proved to be much more accurate in the pairing and shot an impressive 51% (25-49) from the floor while burying five of its 10 attempts from long range.
 
Green Bay's advantage had reached 13 points, 49-36, with five minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter after back-to-back triples from Frankie Wurtz and Anna Brecht. Wurtz finished with a career-high 25 points on a 9-of-13 effort from the field to lead all scorers in the matchup.
 
DePaul used a 14-2 run over the next four minutes of the frame to make it a one-point game, 51-50, before Wurtz converted on a driving layup as time expired to increase GB's advantage to three.
 
The Blue Demons scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and staved off every Phoenix comeback from that point on, working to a 76-65 victory on the afternoon.
 
Green Bay won the overall battle on the boards, 36-33, due in large part to an extra 23 shots taken by the Blue Demons, who finished 27-72 (27%) from the field. DePaul did manage to corral 16 offensive rebounds which led to 12 points.
 
Lexi Held led DePaul in scoring with 21 points on a 7-of-15 performance from the field. The Blue Demons finished with four scorers in double figures.
 
Green Bay travels east next weekend for matchups at Maine (Friday, Dec. 13) and Marist (Sunday, Dec. 15). Maine competed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and Marist currently ranks inside the top 10 on the mid-major top 25 poll.
 
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