By Stephen Wagner
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay women's basketball team concluded play in the Paradise Jam this evening, taking the floor against a strong Big Ten team in Rutgers at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, USVI. The game went back-and-forth for the majority of the contest, but the Scarlet Knights were able to piece together a timely run in the closing quarter to defeat Green Bay 54-43.
Neither team was able to get much going in the first quarter, but the Phoenix defense managed to frustrate Rutgers enough that they only managed to put seven points on the board in the opening quarter, trailing Green Bay's 13 by six.
Green Bay shot 9-of-27 in the first half and went into the locker room with a three-point lead (22-19) over Rutgers. The Scarlet Knight's frustration was visible on the offensive side of the ball in the opening half, as the relentless pressure from Green Bay defensively forced Rutgers out of rhythm, causing numerous poor shot attempts and shot clock violations.
After three quarters of play, Green Bay was clinging to a 35-34 advantage and had just received two free throws from senior Kaili Lukan, who would eventually be named to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament team, to garner the one-point advantage.
Rutgers found a rhythm on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter, however, outscoring Green Bay 20-8 while disrupting the Phoenix's offensive flow, holding it to just 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from the field in the second half. Conversely, the Scarlet Knights shot 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) over the final 20 minutes to down Green Bay in the Island Division finale.
Lukan led Green Bay with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting in the contest, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, while adding three steals in 38 minutes. Sophomore Jessica Lindstrom continued her early season production as well, recording 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.
Rutgers senior forward Kayleah Cooper finished 9-of-14 to post a game-high 20 points, and was later named the tournament MVP.
Green Bay will take a week off before returning to the court on Sunday, Dec. 6, against the Drake Bulldogs at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The Phoenix round out another three-game road trip on Dec. 9 at Hinkle Fieldhouse against Butler and Dec. 13 at the Kohl Center against the Wisconsin Badgers, before returning to the Kress Center on Dec. 16 vs. Loyola.
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