Phoenix earn weekend sweep ahead of battle with CSU 

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Photo courtesy of Green Bay Athletics

Another weekend, another Phoenix sweep.  The Green Bay women have now won 10 straight games, with a 75-62 win over Wright State, and a 64-56 win over Northern Kentucky.  The wins helped Green Bay keep pace with the league leading Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, who remain undefeated in conference play after a pair of wins over the weekend as well. 

The Phoenix got a career high scoring output from Jasmine Kondrakiewicz on Thursday to get past the Raiders. Green Bay  got off to an early advantage, scoring the opening two buckets of the game, before the Raiders were able to grab the lead after a 7-0 run as the middle point of the 1st quarter neared.  Green Bay grabbed the lead back after the media timeout after a pair of Callie Genke made free throws.  The Mastodons grabbed the lead back as Macie Taylor bookended a 7-0 run, giving Purdue Fort Wayne what would be its largest lead at 14-8.  Green Bay closed the quarter on a 10-2 run with Natalie McNeal and Jenna Guyer each scoring 5 in the run, giving the Phoenix an 18-16 lead after the opening quarter. 

Both teams battled defensively to start the second quarter, before Wright State snagged the lead back after a Claire Henson three.  Wright State extended the lead to 3 after Abbie Riddle got a layup to go.  Jasmine Kondrakiewicz caught fire, scoring the next 7 straight points, part of a 12-0 run by the Phoenix where Cassie Schiltz contributed the next 5.  Makiya Miller finally ended the run with a pair of free throws before Natalie McNeal answered on the offensive end. Kondrakiewicz scored 4 more points in the quarter to give her 11 in the period, and Green Bay a 36-27 lead to go into halftime.  

Kondrakiewicz kept the scoring going to open the third, as the Phoenix got up double digits on Wright State.  The Raiders trimmed the lead down to 4, at 42-38 before Green Bay closed the 3rd on a 16-4 advantage to lead 58-42 after 30 minutes.  The Kondrakiewicz scoring explosion continued in the 4th, as Jasmine scored 9 of her game-high 31 in the final period. Green Bay was able to open the lead to a high point of 24 before some late Raiders baskets to make the final score look a bit more respectable.  

Kondrakiewicz’s 31 points was a game and career high, shattering her previous high of 21, nearly a year to the day she did so on January 24, 2024 against (then) IUPUI.  Natalie McNeal had her second double double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. 

Green Bay finished the weekend sweep by taking down Northern Kentucky in a tight battle on the road. Genke made back to back 3s to open the game to give the Phoenix the early advantage.  The Norse would answer with 9 straight, grabbing a 3 point lead, a mark that would be its largest of the game.  Jenna Guyer broke the run with a layup, then got a rebound on the ensuing NKU possession.  Genke splashed her third three of the first quarter to give Green Bay the lead back. Northern Kentucky was able to tie the game late in the first quarter at 11-11, which would be the score after the opening quarter.  

Kondrakiewicz scored Green Bay’s first points of the 2nd, only for NKU to tie the game up shortly after.  Ultimately, this would be the closest the Norse would get in the game, as the Phoenix hit a barrage of 3s to open the margin.  Genke, Schiltz and Bailey Butler all connected from deep as the Phoenix doubled up Northern Kentucky in the quarter, outscoring the Norse 18-9 in the second, and going into halftime with a 29-20 lead.  

Things did tighten up in the third quarter. Green Bay was able to extend the lead up to as much as 10 at point in the third, coming off a Miah Meyer And 1 in the early part of the period.  However, NKU had a few pushes left, narrowing the gap to just 3 points with 3:29 left in the third off a Macey Blevins made three. Schiltz was able to push the lead back to 5 a minute later, but was almost immediately answered by an Abby Wolterman layup. Kondrakiewicz did score the final points off the quarter for either team with 1:01 left in the 3rd to keep the Phoenix lead at a two-possession game, 45-40. 

In the final period, the Phoenix got off to a red hot start. Schiltz hit a three-ball on the opening possession, then, late in the ensuing possession for NKU, Kondrakiewicz got a steal and found McNeal in transition to get the Green Bay lead back to double digits.  A 5-0 Norse run over the next 2 minutes brought it back to a 52-47 game, until Kondrakiewicz scored 6 straight as part of an 8-0 run by the Phoenix to put the lead to a game high 13 point advantage.  The run helped Green Bay close out the game, as NKU was held scoreless from the 5:13 mark to 0:51 left in regulation. The Norse were forced to foul and Green Bay hit most of its free throws to seal the game.  

Green Bay had a united and balanced scoring effort, as four Phoenix players reached double figures in the game.  Schiltz scored a team high 14, Genke and Butler reached added 12, and Kondrakiewicz had an even 10 in the game.  

The Phoenix return home for just one game though it has big Horizon League standings implications.  Cleveland State, the preseason favorite to win the league, comes to town on Thursday.  Green Bay currently remains second in the Horizon League standings, just 1 game back of undefeated, in Horizon League play, Purdue Fort Wayne and 1.5 games up on the third-place Vikings. Tipoff is set for 6pm from the Kress Center. 

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