GREEN BAY, Wis. – It's the final January edition of Phoenix Weekly, and the Green Bay Phoenix basketball teams are in the thick of their seasons, with the women hosting a Horizon League Championship rematch as they face Cleveland State on Thursday before traveling to face IU Indy on Sunday. The men compete in a pair of road games against Oakland on Thursday and Detroit Mercy on Saturday.
 
The Phoenix Swimming and Diving team will host their first meet of 2025 against Northern Michigan on Saturday afternoon following last Saturday's meet in Milwaukee.
 
The Green Bay Nordic Skiing team will head west to Duluth, Minnesota to compete in a pair of events to start their February stanza, beginning with the 7.5K Classic Individual on Saturday, and wrapping up the weekend with the 20K Freestyle Mass on Sunday to conclude the weekend.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW

MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Green Bay men's basketball team fell to IU Indy at the Resch Center on Wednesday evening 77-86. The Phoenix had five players score in double figures, led by Jeremiah Johnson, who had 18 points. Marcus Hall and Mac Wrecke scored 12 a piece while Preston Ruedinger and Ryan Wade finished with 11 each. IU Indy (7-17, 3-8 HL) was led by big performances from Sean Craig and Paul Zilinskas. Craig had 24 points and nine rebounds while Zilinskas finished with 21.

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— Green Bay Men's Basketball (@gbphoenixmbb) January 28, 2025

The green and white fell a second time to Cleveland State 66-81 Saturday afternoon on the road. The Phoenix (2-20, 0-11 HL) was paced by 19 points each from Yonatan Levy while Mac Wrecke had a career night, chipping in with a career-high 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Cleveland State (16-6, 10-1 HL) was paced by 17 points from Chase Robinson. Tevin Smith added 15 to the scoreboard, while Reece Robinson and Ebrima Dibba each piled on 14.
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Green Bay women's basketball team entered their two-game road trip on a eight-game winning streak, which grew to a 10-game win streak following the trip. The week began in Dayton, where the women rolled passed Wright State, riding on a career-high 31 points from senior Jasmine Kondrakiewicz on 12-of-17 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Natalie McNeal was the only other Phoenix to hit double digits, adding 15 points on her way to her second double-double in four games with 12 rebounds.
 
The Phoenix continued the road series on Saturday where they faced Northern Kentucky in a more back-and-forth contest. After being tied through one quarter, Green Bay pulled ahead after terrific shooting from beyond the arc behind three of their key starters to get the tough road win 64-56. Cassie Schiltz led the way with 14 points and her 4-for-7 three-ball aided GB. Bailey Butler went the full 40 minutes of the contest, setting new personal season highs with 12 points and six rebounds in the process while shooting a season-best 3-for7 from deep range. All 12 of Callie Genke's points came from downtown, burying four of her five three-point attempts, moving her into fourth in the nation in three-point percentage this season, shooting 47.06 percent. Kondrakiewicz added her tenth double-digit scoring night of her final season with the Phoenix, adding ten points and nine rebounds, one shy of what would have been her fourth double-double this season.
 
SWIMMING AND DIVING
The Green Bay swim and dive teams returned to the pool Saturday afternoon for a meet against in-state foe Milwaukee. GB had a challenging night, falling 235.5-64 on the women's side and 200-92.5 on the men's side.

WOMEN'S RECAP
Kaleigh Gale took second place in the 200 free, posting a time of 1:57.36. Freshman Hailey DuVall was just a couple of seconds back of Gale for a fifth-place completion of the same event. In the 100 back, Esther Oswald took third place but finished within two seconds of the top spot. Mia Pagel finished less then one second behind Oswald to take fifth place. Emily Allen was solid in the 50 free, finishing in second place by .08 seconds. Elise Pasholk and Gale completed the 500 free in second and third place, respectively.

MEN'S RECAP
In the 200 free, Chris Aristondo and Sebby Smolecki took second and third place, respectively. Aristondo finished exactly one second behind the first-place finisher, Milwaukee's Jay Jensen. Freshman Jerett Maalis picked up where he left off before the holdiay break with a first-place completion of the 100 back, finshing with a time of 50.59. He also placed first in the 200 back with a time of 1:53.41. Eli Zimmerman placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.67, less than .30 seconds behind the first-place finisher from the Panthers. Max Kasal narrowly took the top spot in the 100 free, posting a time of 45.67, beating out MKE's Charlie House (45.75).
 
NORDIC SKI
This past weekend the Green Bay Nordic Ski team hosted the second annual Ariens Nordic Invite at the Ariens Nordic Center in Brillion, Wis. The Phoenix had a very successful weekend, highlighted by big performances in the women's 15K Classic Individual Start on Saturday. Green Bay was led by career-best finishes from Lilly Franzen, Silje Busklein, and Hedda Samuelsson. Franzen led the way for GB, crossing the finish line in 39:34.0 in seventh place (18th place was her previous best finish). Busklein and Samuelsson were not far behind, finishing in 11th (39:51.3) and 12th (40:02.6) place respectively. As a team, the Phoenix finished in third, beating out the College of St. Scholastica for the first time since 2011. Franzen's seventh-place finish also brings her much closer to an NCAA Qualifying spot from the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA). The top six student-athletes in the CCSA qualify for the NCAA Championships based on their top four finishes throughout the season. After this weekend, Franzen sits in seventh place in the qualifying rankings. On the men's side of the 15K, the Phoenix was led by Ryan Thieme, who crossed the finish line in 34:06.6 for 14th place. A group of Green Bay skiers was not far behind, as Noah Erickson finished in 19th, Myles Brown finished 21st, Grant Rocheleau finished 22nd, CJ Young finished 23rd, Zaine Braaten finished 24th, and Sam Folland finished 25th. Sunday was also a very successful day in the 4x5K Mixed Gender Relay. The Phoenix had a team finish fourth, once again ahead of CSS, while the other two GB teams finished ninth and 12th. The four Phoenix that made up the fourth-place team were Hedda Samuelsson, CJ Young, Lilly Franzen, and Ryan Thieme.

The squad got it done in the classroom this semester ??#RiseWithUs pic.twitter.com/Hb0N8ppn7v

— GBPhoenixSki (@GBPhoenixSki) January 29, 2025

A LOOK AHEAD

MEN'S BASKETBALL
 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland has had a season of ups and downs, sitting at a 9-13 record and a 6-5 conference record. The Golden Grizzlies post a 5-2 home record, but just a 3-8 road ratio, most recently having a four-game win streak snapped last Saturday at Robert Morris in a 71-73 loss.
 
Oakland will be without their head coach of 41 years, Greg Kampe, for the contest as he's facing a one-game suspension following an altercation in the team's loss on Saturday. The Grizzlies will turn their trust to their prominent leader Tuburu Naivalurua, who leads the team in points (13.6 PPG) and rebounds per game (7.8 RPG). Naivalurua also leads the Horizon League in field goal percentage, with his 57.35 percent ranking 29^th in the country. Close behind Tuburu is Allen Mukeba who averages 13.2 points and 6.9 boards per game, while leading Oakland with 1.5 blocks per game. As a team Oakland allows the second-fewest points per game in the conference, allowing just an average of 69.5 points per game trailing only Cleveland State's 64.8.
 
ABOUT THE TITANS
Under first-year head coach Mark Montgomery, the Detroit Mercy Titans have already improved from their 1-31 record last season, currently sitting 6-16 overall and 2-9 in the Horizon League. The Titans enter Thursday's game against Northern Kentucky with a six game losing streak, and sit tenth of eleventh place in the HL.
 
Detroit's lead scorer is Orlando Lovejoy, whose 15.6 points per game rank fifth in the conference. Lovejoy also leads the club with 4.8 rebounds per game and 1.75 steals per game. The Titans rank second in the conference in combined rebounds per game with 38.1 just behind Milwaukee's 40.8.
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
A game both teams have had circled on the calendar all season is finally approaching. The Green Bay women's basketball team hosts the Cleveland State Vikings in a rematch of last season's Horizon League championship game on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Phoenix enter the week with a 17-5 record, riding a winning streak of 12 games. Green Bay is led by their seniors, with Natalie McNeal averaging 13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while also coming off her second double-double this season against NKU. Jasmine Kondrakiewicz leads the lady Phoenix with 6.9 rebounds per game, as well as 1.7 steals and 0.54 blocks per game. Percentage-wise, senior Callie Genke is shooting an even 50 percent from the field while ranking fourth in the nation with her 47.1 three-point percentage. After the rematch, Green Bay will head south to the Jungle face the Jaguars of IU Indy on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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??? | https://t.co/4NhUj1YOp4#RiseWithUs pic.twitter.com/0oXrcME5xE

— Green Bay Women's Basketball (@gbphoenixwbb) January 29, 2025

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Led by seven-year head coach Chris Kielsmeier, the Vikings ride into the contest with last season's conference player of the year, graduate student Mickayla Perdue, who's 20.7 points per game lead the entire Horizon League comfortably. Wisconsin native Jordana Reisma is second on the team in scoring, but her 15.4 points per game rank fifth in the conference, while her 69.40 field goal percentage ranks her second in the NCAA. Graduate student Sara Guerreiro leads the Horizon League with 8.1 rebounds per game while ranking 19^th in the country for free throw percentage, with an even 90 percent from the line.
 
Cleveland State sits third in the Horizon League with a 17-4 record and an 8-2 conference record, dropping contests to first place PFW and to fifth place Oakland each by three points. The Vikings handled Ohio Christian University 107-46 in their most recent outing extending their win streak to four games.
 
ABOUT THE JAGUARS
With head coach Kate Bruce at the helm of her third season with the Jags, Indy has moved to 5-15 after a 1-11 start, which included a loss to Green Bay at the Kress on Dec. 4. Despite a 1-10 record on the road, IU Indy is 4-3 at home, only dropping to PFW and CSU among conference opponents. Katie Dvidson leads the way for Indy, averaging 16.4 points per game for the Jaguars since returning to action this month, aided by a field goal percentage of 49.5 percent. Junior Faith Stinson leads Indy with 5.4 rebounds per game, and her 1.3 blocks per game ranks second in the Horizon League.
 
IU Indianapolis is on a two-game losing streak after tough draws against Cleveland State in a 39-61 loss, and most recently a 55-82 defeat to the Mastodons in Fort Wayne on Saturday before facing Milwaukee on Wednesday night.
 
SWIMMING AND DIVING
The Green Bay swim and dive will host their first meet since November 2^nd as the teams hit the pool against Northern Michigan in their return to Peter F. Dorschel Natatorium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
NORDIC SKI
GB returns to the slopes this weekend after a week's break to the College of St. Scholastica CCSA Qualifier at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minn. on Feb. 1-2.
 
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