GREEN BAY, Wis. --The Green Bay women's basketball team won its sixth straight game Friday night when it defeated Northern Kentucky in a close 54-51 contest at home. The Phoenix also secured their 32nd 20-win season with the result.
Bailey Butler led the Phoenix (20-4, 13-2 HL) with a career-high 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. The Phoenix crashed the glass and hauled in 22 offensive rebounds, turning that into 22 points.
Green Bay made their money on the boards, grabbing 54 rebounds compared to Northern Kentucky's 39, led by nine boards from Sydney Levy.
Kailee Davis led Northern Kentucky (14-10, 8-7 HL) with 21 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was a close affair in the first, with NKU taking an early 13-9 lead with 3:48 to go. Green Bay then went on a 9-0 run with 3:03 left in the first quarter, culminating in five straight points from Butler, to take an 18-13 lead at the end of the quarter. Green Bay did most of its first-quarter damage in the paint, scoring 12 of its 18 points close to the basket.
After GB led by as many as six early in the second quarter, the Norse notted the score at 24 with 4:22 remaining. Almost three minutes of game time elapsed until the next made basket. A triple from Butler with 1:18 to play put the Phoenix ahead at halftime, 27-25.
GB came out of halftime cold, failing to score for the first 4:55 of the third quarter. In that span, Northern Kentucky scored 11 points to take a nine-point lead. However, the Phoenix turned it around in the second half of the quarter with their own 11-0 run, highlighted by four points each from
Jenna Guyer and
Natalie McNeal. Green Bay finished the quarter with a slim 38-36 lead.
Northern Kentucky fought back and took a brief 41-40 lead with 7:34 to play in the game. A pair of Kondrakiewicz free throws 20 seconds later gave GB a lead they would never relinquish. She totaled seven points in the quarter, including five straight with 3:10 to go. With the Phoenix leading 50-48, the Norse turned to fouling with 26 seconds to go, and Green Bay took home a 54-51 win.
GAME NOTES
» The Phoenix held the Norse to only 30 percent shooting from the field.
» Green Bay had a stellar day defensively, holding Northern Kentucky to 20 percent from three-point range and 30 percent shooting from the field.
» The Phoenix bench chipped in 16 points compared to one point from the Norse bench.
»
Tatum Koenig led Green Bay with three steals and also nabbed six rebounds.
» GB notched its 20th win for the season; it is the sixth-fastest 20th win in program history.
COMING UP
The Phoenix will wrap the weekend up with Pinkout Day on Sunday against Wright State at noon.
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