GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay women's basketball team dropped its home opener to Northern Iowa, 71-56 Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center. 

Green Bay (0-2) had three players score in double figures, led by Natalie McNeal, who finished 13 points. Callie Genke added 12 points from the bench, and Jasmine Kondrakiewicz chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

Northern Iowa was led by Maya McDermott's game-high 22 points and seven assists. Grace Boffeli added 16 points and eight rebounds while Taryn Wharton shot an efficient 6-for-9 from the field, tallying 16 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Green Bay led 11-8 after a layup by Jenna Guyer with 3:16 to go in the opening quarter. UNI responded after Bri Robinson and Grace Boffeli combined to score four unanswered to give visitors a 12-11 advantage after the first quarter. Those buckets kicked off a 17-2 UNI run that gave the Panthers a 25-13 lead with 7:05 to go after a Maya McDermott three. Later on, McDermott found Taryn Wharton in the corner for a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Northern Iowa its largest lead of the game at 41-24.

Out of the break, Northern Iowa continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 51-30 advantage. Green Bay responded with a 6-0 run, finished off by a basket from Schreiber, trimming the Phoenix deficit to 51-36 with 2:06 to go in the third. Northern Iowa countered and stretched its lead to 57-36 heading into the fourth. Green Bay came out of the timeout clicking, going on an 8-0 run, finished off by a Genke three, shrinking the deficit to 57-44 with 7:51 to go in the contest. Northern Iowa didn't let Green Bay get closer than that, ending the game with a final score of 71-56.

GAME NOTES
» Callie Genke had four three-pointers, a game-high.
» Maddy Schreiber led the Phoenix with five assists and tallied two steals.
» The Phoenix forced 20 turnovers while committing 16.
» The last time Green Bay started 0-2 (2018-19 season), the team made the NCAA Tournament.

COMING UP
GB will head to the Windy City for a battle against former Horizon League foe UIC. Tipoff is set for 7 PM CST from Credit Union 1 Arena in downtown Chicago. Watch the game on ESPN+.

###

For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.

Follow Green Bay Women's Basketball on social media: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

To receive Green Bay Women's Basketball news via email, please fill out this form.

---GreenBayPhoenix.com---