COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Let's dance! The 12th-seeded Green Bay women's basketball team is ready to compete against fifth-seeded Alabama on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Tipoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. eastern/12:30 central time.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
(12) Green Bay Phoenix (29-5, 19-1 HL) vs. (5) Alabama Crimson Tide (23-8, 10-6 SEC)
Saturday, March 22, 2025 |
XFINITY Center
12:30 PM CST |
Game Notes |
History |
Tickets
Follow the action: Watch (ESPN2) |
Listen (SiriusXM 960) |
Live Stats
WITH THE CALL
ESPN returns for a 30th season as the exclusive home of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. Saturday's first round action will be broadcast nationally on
ESPN2, as part of ESPN's
first round coverage
presented by Intuit TurboTax. It will also be streaming live on
watchespn.com, and in the
ESPN App, free to download on mobile devices.
Jay Alter (play-by-play) will be joined by
Hellen Williams (analyst). Fans can also
listen live on SiriusXM 960 (SEC 960).
ABOUT THE CRIMSON TIDE
The Phoenix and Crimson Tide will face off for the first time ever on Saturday. Alabama has a high-powered offense, with four players averaging double figures. Sarah Ashlee Barker leads the Tide at 17.5 points per contest. Bama's top three scorers (Barker, Zaay Green, and Aaliyah Nye) all shoot well from beyond the arc at clips of 36.8, 36.3, and 45.5 percent respectively. One area that the Crimson Tide isn't as strong in is free throws, with Alabama ranked 266th in the country at 68.6 percent as of Friday morning. Of Bama's top seven scorers, only three shoot 72 percent or better from the line. It has been a while since the Crimson Tide last played a game, when they dropped their SEC tournament second round matchup to Florida on March 6, 61-63.
1. WINNING WITH KARIUS
Head Coach
Kayla Karius earned her 60th career win in her third season as an NCAA Division I head coach on February 15 with a 76-60 win against Detroit Mercy. With a win on Saturday, Karius would become the fastest to 30 wins in Green Bay women's basketball history since the program joined the Division I ranks in 1987. Matt Bollant achieved the feat in 36 games, Carol Hammerle did it in 42 games, and Kevin Borseth tallied his 30th win after 47 contests.
Fastest to 25 wins - Green Bay HC history *since becoming Division I program in 1987*
1. Matt Bollant - 29 games (2007-08)
2. Kayla Karius - 30 games (2024-25)
3. Carol Hammerle - 33 games (1987-88)
4. Kevin Borseth - 41 games (1998-99)
2. GREEN BAY IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Saturday's contest will mark the 20th appearance in the Big Dance for the Phoenix. Green Bay has a 6-19 overall record, including a 5-9 record on neutral floor, at the NCAA tournament. GB's last Big Dance victory came on March 17, 2012, a 71-57 upset over the host team, Iowa State. Saturday's matchup is third time Green Bay will be playing in College Park in the NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix traveled to College Park in 2005 (65-55 loss to seventh-seeded Maryland) and in 2015 (80-70 loss to eighth-seeded Princeton).
3. SENIOR STATUS
Six of GB's seven seniors (
Natalie McNeal,
Cassie Schiltz,
Callie Genke,
Maddy Schreiber,
Bailey Butler, and
Jasmine Kondrakiewicz) have accomplished a lot together in their time as a Phoenix. They have won two Horizon League regular season championships and two Horizon League tournament championships, making their second NCAA tournament appearance this March. Since all six started playing together during the 2022-23 season, Green Bay has amassed an 84-18 record, good for a 82.4 percent win percentage. The seventh senior,
Miah Meyer, transferred from Eastern Illinois this past offseason.
4. THE GREAT GENKE
Senior guard
Callie Genke is shooting a career-best in overall shooting percentage, three-point percentage, and from the charity stripe. She is averaging a career-high 8.8 points per contest. Genke has nearly as many rebounds (266) as she does made field goals (270) in her career.
Callie Genke Career Shooting Splits
Season FG% 3pt. % FT% *bold indicates career-high*
2021-22 44.30 21.21 69.23
2022-23 44.14 33.80 77.42
2023-24 44.30 38.18 78.57
2024-25
48.10 43.45 85.00
5. (M)OST (V)ALUABLE (P)HOENIX
Natalie McNeal became the first-ever Horizon League women's basketball player to win consecutive conference tournament MVP awards. 'Middy McNeal' earned the accolade after racking up 26 points to help GB beat Purdue Fort Wayne in the championship game on March 11.
For more news, notes, and to view the NCAA Tournament Guide,
click here (PDF).
###
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---
