The sun rising in the East, death, taxes, and the Green Bay women winning a nonconference game against a Power 5 school. Some of the certainties of life. Kayla Karius earned her first Kress Center win, and Green Bay’s third straight, as her squad took down the DePaul Blue Devils out of the Big East by a score of 70-57.
Green Bay led this one from wire to wire, starting the game on a 7-0 run, with Bailey Butler, Jasmine Kondrakiewicz, and reigning Horizon League player of the week, Maddy Schreiber, all scoring in the opening two minutes, which forced DePaul to have to use a timeout. After the media timeout, Cassie Schiltz splashed a three, extending the lead out to 10-0 before DePaul could get on the board. The Blue Devils were able to dig in through the remainder of the quarter, shrinking the lead to just 4 points, with a score of 17-13 after 10 minutes.
In the 2nd quarter, Green Bay was able to open the lead up to 9, with a 25–16 advantage, as Natalie McNeal scored 4 straight points, followed by a pair of Butler free throws and a Jenna Guyer bucket. Coming out of the media timeout, DePaul did end the run with a made free throw, but Green Bay responded promptly with another make by Bailey Butler to get the lead back to double digits. DePaul clawed its way back into the contest cutting the lead down to 3, before the team exchanged scores, giving Green Bay a 32-28 halftime lead.
Coming out of the half, DePaul was able to go on a 4-0 run, tying the game at 32-32. This would be the closest the Blue Devils would get. Green Bay responded with a 7-0 run, briefly trading baskets before opening up an 18 point lead after a 13-0 run. The Phoenix were able to outscore DePaul 22-14 in the quarter, and went into the final 10 minutes with a 54-42 lead.
Green Bay kept its foot on the gas over the final period, extending the lead out to as much as 22, before the final score of 70-57. McNeal scored a team high 17 points, being joined in double digits by Maddy Schreiber and Butler who scored 14 and 11 respectively. The Phoenix got points from all 9 players who played in the game, with Schiltz, Guyer, and Callie Genke leading the way among the other scorers. In the loss, Jodie Allen scored a game-high 20 points to lead DePaul.
Green Bay will get a week off from games, traveling to Puerto Rico early next week, to play in the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout, where they will play 3 games in 3 days, slated to play Virginia on Thursday, Drake on Friday, and Norfolk State on Saturday. Natalie McNeal will be on Milestone Watch, as she is 4 points away from 1,000 career points.
