GREEN BAY, Wis. --The Green Bay women's took their home opener Saturday afternoon over North Dakota State thanks to a huge second half where they outscored the Bison 38-22.
The Phoenix (1-1) had two players score in double figures, led by Meghan Pingel, who had a career-high 22 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. Brooklyn Blackburn added 11 points, two steals and two blocks and Sydney Levy added eight points and six rebounds.
The Green Bay defense held North Dakota State shooters to just 31.7-percent from the field. The Bison did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only six offensive rebounds and scored six second chance points while Green Bay pulled down 22 defensive rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After falling behind 8-3, Green Bay went on a 6-0 run with 7:28 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Jasmine Kondrakiewicz, to take a 9-8 lead. The Phoenix then surrendered that lead and entered the second quarter down 19-14.
North Dakota State kept adding to that lead, building a 26-19 advantage before Green Bay went on a 5-0 run to narrow its deficit to 26-24. The Phoenix kept the rally going and overtook the Bison on a free throw from Pingel with :04 left for a 33-32 halftime advantage. Green Bay forced five North Dakota State turnovers in the period and turned them into six points.
Following intermission, Green Bay continued to expand its advantage, pushing it to 37-34 before going on a 7-0 run, punctuated by another basket from Kondrakiewicz, to expand its lead further to 44-34 with 5:24 to go in the third. Before the conclusion of the third period, the Bison had cut into that lead somewhat, but the Phoenix still entered the fourth with a 50-44 edge. Green Bay played well near the basket, scoring 10 of its 17 points in the paint.
Green Bay kept widening that lead, expanding it to 54-47 before going on a 10-0 run to grow the lead to 64-47 with 4:42 to go in the contest. The Phoenix held onto that lead for the rest of the game for the 71-54 win. Green Bay took advantage of four North Dakota State turnovers in the quarter, scoring seven points off of those takeaways.
GAME NOTES
» After grabbing the lead at the end of the first half, the Phoenix never trailed again.
» The Green Bay bench made an impact by adding 26 points to its scoring output.
» Green Bay had a 37-25 edge on the boards in the win.
» The Green Bay defense forced 19 turnovers.
» Green Bay cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 15 offensive boards in the game.
» Meghan Pingel led the Phoenix with a game-high 22 points.
» Green Bay got a game-high seven rebounds from Jasmine Kondrakiewicz.
UP NEXT
Green Bay will waste no time getting into their conference schedule, as they host Northern Kentucky on Thursday Nov. 18 at the Kress Center.
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