By Justin Grones (@JustinGrones)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY,
Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The most
team assists in program history. Five players with 12 or more points. Seven
career highs. Two double-doubles. The most points in a game since the 2005-06
season and the sixth-most in program history. On quite the historic day, the
Green Bay women's basketball team (17-2, 7-0 HL) returned to the Kress Center after
a four-game road trip in dominating fashion, extending its winning streak to 12
games with a smothering 99-53 win over UIC (6-14, 2-5 HL).
With the help of two three's by Taylor Foulks to open
the game, UIC built a 6-4 lead less than two minutes into the contest. A triple
from Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich, Ill.)
gave the Phoenix a 7-6 lead, which turned into a 9-7 advantage at the first
media timeout.
UIC's Katie Hannemann cut the deficit to 11-9 with
13:51 remaining, but that's when Green Bay put the fire out. The Phoenix went
on a 31-2 run over the next 10 and a half minutes, holding UIC scoreless for
nearly nine minutes.
"That run really helped spark us in what started out
as a back-and-forth game, and our kids did a great job of finding their open
teammates," head coach Kevin Borseth said.
A three from Adrian
Ritchie (De Pere, Wis.) pushed the run to 20-0 with 6:33 remaining in the
half, and another triple from Bauer gave Green Bay a 42-11 lead to cap the run.
Leading 48-21 on the final possession of the half, Green
Bay worked the ball around the Flames' defense until Sarah Eichler (Grafton, Wis.) dished it off to a wide-open Jenny Gilbertson (Wabasha, Minn.) in
the corner for an open three at the buzzer. Gilbertson finished the game with
career highs in points and rebounds, notching 14 and 13 for her first-career
double-double.
Both teams found success scoring to open the second
half, but with 13:42 remaining Green Bay started a 21-4 run with a Bauer layup.
At the 10:49 mark, redshirt junior Breannah
Ranger (Skokie, Ill.) laid it in off the glass to double-up the Flames at
72-36.
With 5:16 remaining, Green bay eclipsed its previous
season-high point total of 86 off the first-career three from redshirt freshman
Ellen Edison (Maple Grove, Minn.),
giving the Phoenix an 87-42 lead. Less than two minutes later, she hit both
attempts from the free throw line to give Green Bay 90 points in a game for the
first time since Feb. 16, 2012.
A jumper that rolled all the way around the rim from
redshirt freshman Taylor Thomas (Wausau,
Wis.) with 24 seconds remaining moved Green Bay's effort into the top-10 in
program history for single points in a game with 97. With nine seconds on the
clock, redshirt junior Sam Zastrow (Algoma,
Wis.) hit two free throws to hit the final score of 99-53. With her free
throws, every Phoenix player that saw time on the court scored in the game and
the team finished with 99 points-the sixth most in a single game in program
history.
PROGRAM
RECORDS: In today's win, Green Bay
had 34 assists, breaking a 27-year-old record for the most in a single game in program
history. The Phoenix's 99 points is tied for sixth-most in program history, and
the most the since a 103-53 win against Lewis during the 2005-06 season.
CAREER
HIGHS: Redshirt senior Stephanie Sension (Hopkins, Minn.)
scored 12 points and grabbed a tied-career high 10 boards, giving her the
second double-double of this season and her career. Fellow post player Breannah
Ranger scored a career-high 16 points after tying her previous career high of
14 in the win at Wright State on Monday. Jenny Gilbertson tallied her first
career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs. Ellen
Edison's five points rank as her career-best, while Sarah Eichler had a
career-high eight assists and Adrian Ritchie tied her career high with the same
mark.
NUMBER
200,000: In the win against UIC, the
Kress Center saw its 200,000th basketball fan attend a Green Bay women's
basketball game. The Phoenix leads the Horizon League in attendance, and has a
total women's basketball attendance of 200,609 in its five-year history.
NEXT ON THE
SCHEDULE: Green Bay travels to Loyola
next Thursday for a 7 p.m. battle before returning home to host rival Milwaukee
on Saturday, Feb. 9. The game against the Panthers will be the first of four
straight at home.
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