By: Jill Wunrow
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The top-seeded No. 10/10 Green Bay (29-1, 17-1 HL) women's basketball
team will look to avenge its lone season loss as it faces No. 2 seed Detroit
(20-12, 14-4 HL) in the Horizon League championship game Sunday at 12 p.m. at
the Kress Events Center.
Sunday's game will
be the sixth time Green Bay and Detroit have met in the title game of the Horizon
League Championship with the Phoenix owning an overall record of 4-1. Green Bay
has won a record 11 conference tournament titles, 10 in the Horizon League,
while Detroit owns two Horizon League Tournament crowns (1987, 1997).
Under reigning
Horizon League Coach of the Year, Green Bay fifth-year head coach Matt Bollant
is 10-2 in Horizon League Championship play, winning two titles (2009, 2011). Sunday
will be the first time Bollant faces his former assistant and current Detroit
head coach Autumn Rademacher in the Horizon League championship game. The two
coaches led their respective teams in a quarterfinal meeting in the 2009
tournament with eventual champion Green Bay edging the Titans 60-46.
The championship
game will feature two of the top five scorers in the league in Horizon League
Player of the Year, Green Bay's Julie Wojta (Francis Creek, Wis.) leading the
league with 19.5 points per game and First Team All-League selection in Detroit
freshman Shareta Brown who is fifth averaging 15.5 points per contest. Brown
leads the way in field-goal percentage (.565) while Wojta is second (.520).
Throughout this
week's Horizon League Championship, Green Bay has had three players averaging
in double-figure scoring including Adrian Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) who is
leading the Phoenix with an average of 17.0 points per game while Sarah Eichler
(Grafton, Wis.) is chipping in an average of 16.5 points with Wojta adding 15.0
points. Wojta leads the way on the glass, grabbing an average of eight boards
in quarterfinal and semifinal action.
Detroit enters
Sunday's contest with four players scoring in double figures with Brown leading
the way averaging 24.5 points per game while Jalesa Jones is chipping in an
average 14.0 points in the past two games. Sophomore Megan Hatter is
contributing 10.5 points per game in Horizon League Championship play while
Chanahl Putnam is posting 10.0 points per contest. Horizon League Sixth Player
of the Year, Yar Shayok leads the Titans on the boards, grabbing an average 6.0
throughout quarterfinal and semifinal play.
HOW THEY GOT THERE... Detroit advanced to its first
championship game since 2004 with a 79-43 win over No. 7 seed Cleveland State
in its quarterfinal game Mar. 7. The Titans then went on to hold off No. 3 seed
Wright State, 78-70, in semifinal play at the Kress Events Center Mar. 9.
As the No. 1 seed,
Green Bay battled No. 9 seed Valparaiso to a 77-53 win in quarterfinal action
before capturing a 73-53 victory over No. 4 seed UIC in Friday's semifinal
contest.
REGULAR SEASON REWIND... Detroit is the lone squad to beat
Green Bay in regular season play. The Titans halted the program-record 40-game
regular season winning streak and 36-game regular season winning streak against
Horizon League opponents. It was Green Bay's first loss on its home court in 28
games of play. Wojta and Ritchie each scored 31 points in the regular season
series to lead the Phoenix while Wojta led Green Bay averaging nine rebounds
per game. Green Bay shot a season-low 29 percent (20-of-67) from the field in
the loss.
The Phoenix was without its best on-the-ball defender in its
lone season loss with Eichler missing the contest after suffering a sprained
ankle in practice Feb. 7.
WOJTA THE WARRIOR... Wojta has had a record regular season
with the Phoenix, moving into the top 10 in nine statistical categories on
Green Bay's individual career record list. After pouring in 13 points in Green
Bay's semifinal win, the Horizon League Player and Defensive Player of the Year
moved up to fourth in scoring with 1,579 career points. With 268 career steals,
the Wooden Award Finalist is one steal shy of moving to fifth on Green Bay's
career record list. Wojta ranks sixth with 818 rebounds and 620 field goals
made, and is three free throws shy of tying Assistant Coach Amanda
Leonhard-Perry who has 283 during her career, ranking sixth on the career
record list.
Wojta's 33rd career double double performance in the Horizon
League semifinal against UIC set a new Division I program record. In Green
Bay's quarterfinal game against Valpo Mar. 7, Wojta's game high six steals put
her atop the individual season record list with 105 steals. Entering Sunday's
championship game, Wojta has 107 career steals. The senior captain will make
her 100th career start in a Phoenix uniform.
In addition to earning Horizon League Player of the Year,
Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-League and All-Defensive Team
honors, Wojta was recently named to the John R. Wooden Finalist ballot, is a
midseason addition to the Wade Trophy watch list, Naismith midseason 32 watch
list, and Capital One Academic All-America Second Team selection.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT US... Wojta is not the only player to write
her name in Green Bay's record book this season. Second Team All-League
selection Adrian Ritchie is tied for seventh on the individual career record
list with 123 made three-point field goals and sixth with 340 three-point field
goal attempts. Classmate Lydia Bauer is tied for sixth on the individual season
record list with 144 three-point field goals attempted while Ritchie is eighth
with 139 attempts beyond the arc. Meanwhile senior Hannah Quilling (Eau Claire,
Wis.) is one of 12 players in program history that has played in 124 games or
more in a Phoenix uniform.
20-WIN SEASONS... With its 29-1 record, Green Bay has 13 consecutive 20-win
seasons. This season marks the fourth time in program history Green Bay has had
29 wins or more in a single season. With a win in Sunday's championship game,
it would be the second time in program history the Phoenix has amassed 30 wins
in a season, second behind last season's record 34 wins.
FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE... Sunday's
Horizon League Championship game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Jim
Barbar and Julianne Viani with the call. Fans can track live stats of the game
on GreenBayPhoenix.com here.
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The Green
Bay ticket office in the Kress Center will be open Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Fans can also order tickets by phone by calling 920.465.2625 on Saturday from
10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Green Bay
will host a NCAA Tournament Send-Off Celebration and Selection Show Party on
Monday at the Kress Events Center beginning at 5:30 p.m. For more information, click here.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on
Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.
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