By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The No. 10/9 Green Bay (19-0, 9-0 HL) women's basketball team tips off its longest homestand of the season Saturday, Feb. 4 as it hosts in-state rival Milwaukee (6-14, 2-7 HL) at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. Saturday's game also marks the start of second half of the Horizon League schedule.

Green Bay enters the contest as one of two unbeaten teams in the country with No. 1/1 Baylor (22-0, 9-0 Big 12) being the other. For the first time in program history, Green Bay is ranked in the top 10 in both major polls. Its No. 10 ranking in the AP Poll is the program's highest and its No. 9 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll is tied for the highest.

The Phoenix is currently on a 39 consecutive regular season winning streak, the longest in the history of the 38-year-old program. In addition, Green Bay has won its last 35 regular season games against conference opponents and a record 44 consecutive games in the confines of the Kress Events Center. With a win Saturday, Green Bay would tie the Kress Center winning streak, including postseason play, with 27 straight wins.

Green Bay continues to be led in both scoring and rebounding by reigning Horizon League Player of the Week Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.). The senior captain is pouring in 18.8 points per game and grabbing 9.7 boards per contest. Both statistics rank second among league players behind UIC's Jasmine Bailey. Wojta leads the league with 73 steals, averaging 3.8 per contest.

Including Wojta, three other Phoenix players are scoring in double figures with Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) and Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) chipping in 12.3 and 12.1 points respectively and Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) adding an average of 10.4 points per contest.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS... Milwaukee is coming off a loss against Seattle Wednesday at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee.  Saturday marks the fourth time this season the Panthers face a nationally-ranked opponent in the Phoenix.

With the youngest roster among Horizon League teams, three players are averaging in double-figure scoring for Milwaukee with sophomore Courtney Lindfors leading the way with 13.1 points per contest. Junior Sami Tucker is chipping in 11.2 points per game and leading the way on the boards with 7.3 per contest. Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team selection Angela Rodriguez is also contributing 10.6 points per game for the Panthers.

ABOUT THE SERIES... Saturday will be the 72nd meeting between the in-state rivals with Green Bay owning the all-time series record of 54-17 with a 32-4 record on its home court in addition to winning the past 14 meetings.

LAST MEETING (Jan. 7, 2012)... After Milwaukee took a 12-10 lead at the 14:03 mark in the opening half, Green Bay went on a 24-0 run. During the run, Green Bay's defense held the Panthers scoreless for over six minutes while Wojta scored 15 points, including three three pointers, grabbed seven steals and dished out two assists throughout 12 minutes of play. Wojta finished with a program and Horizon League record 12 steals, 11 in the first half of play, just two shy of tying the NCAA record. Wojta finished the game with 27 points, 12 steals and five assists in 25 minutes of play. As a team, Green Bay dished out a season-high 27 assists on 32 field goals.

BAUER BOND... Green Bay junior Lydia Bauer's mom, Rachel, is a Milwaukee basketball alumna and one of 16 players in the Panthers' 1,000-point club. Rachel (Mickelson) Bauer, ranks number 11 in scoring with 1,152 career points and career average of 10.2 points per game. Mickelson played for the Panthers from 1986-1990 and is also a member of the 500-rebound club with 530 career boards.

HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN... With the Packers unexpected early exit from the playoffs, the Phoenix has been receiving a lot of attention from local, regional and national media outlets including a feature in Monday's edition of The New York Times. Since the close of the Packers' season, ticket sales to see the Phoenix play have gone up 14.2 percent with an average of 2,660 fans venturing to the Kress Center in the past two games.

Saturday, fans are encouraged to donate canned food items for the fourth annual Cellcom Canned Food Drive. Every fan who donates a canned food item will receive a reusable jute shopping bag, presented by Cellcom.

FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE... Fans unable to make it to the Kress Events Center for Saturday's game can watch the game live on Time Warner Sports 32 with play-by-play announcer Chris Roth and analyst and Green Bay alumna Mary Simonsen.

Fans can also watch a live stream of the game here or track live stats on GreenBayPhoenix.com, here.

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Single-game tickets for both men's and women's basketball programs are currently on sale with the Green Bay ticket office. For more information, click here.

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