The Green Bay Phoenix braved the elements, after receiving over a foot of snow in a Friday blizzard, earning its ninth straight win, this time getting past the Robert Morris Colonials, 72-40.
The Colonials came out strong with an early 5-0 lead before Green Bay got on the board, but the Phoenix would close the quarter on 16-4 run, taking a 16-9 advantage into the second quarter.
Robert Morris didn’t go away quietly. The Colonials battled back and brought the game back to within 1 at 20-19 with 4:46 in the 2nd quarter. Green Bay pushed the lead back to 9, closing the half with 8 unanswered points for a 28-19 halftime lead. The Colonials held Green Bay to 10-27 shooting from the floor in the first half, and only 3-10 from behind the arc. The Phoenix though, dug in defensively holding Robert Morris to only 7-24 in the half as well and forced the Colonials to commit 12 turnovers that led to 14 points for Green Bay.
The Phoenix run extended into the 3rd quarter, scored 11 straight, before Robert Morris scored at 6:36 in the third, closing a 19-0 run across the halftime break. Green Bay continued on, busting the game wide open with 26-7 3rd quarter.
Green Bay’s formula of tough defense and someone different having a standout game, where junior guard Natalie McNeal led all scorers with 18 points. It was McNeal’s 11th double digit scoring effort of the season. Maddy Schreiber and Jenna Guyer also reached double digit scoring totals, Schreiber with 12 points and Guyer with 10 points. The Phoenix defense forced 19 turnovers in today’s contest and scored 26 points off those turnovers.
In a postgame interview with the Phoenix Radio Network, Jenna Guyer talked about the importance of getting minutes for all the bench players in games like today, “for myself it’s about staying sharp defensively.” Associate head coach Megan Vogel added in the importance of everyone who got in the game, forcing Robert Morris to be one and done, “we’re not just five deep, we’re 13.”
Green Bay gets back on the road for three straight, starting with Detroit Mercy on January 18th, with a 6pm CT tip-off.
