The Green Bay Phoenix women picked up one of its biggest wins of the season, taking down Cleveland State 66-52 in front of a raucous Kress Center crowd.
Natalie McNeal got off to a fast start, picking up where she left off against the Vikings in last season’s conference tournament championship game, scoring the opening 4 points for Green Bay, and 6 of  the Phoenix’s 11 first quarter points.  As for the Vikings, Cleveland State scored on its opening possession and didn’t score again until there was 1:51 left in the first quarter.  The Vikings would add one more bucket in the half, to cut the Green Bay advantage to 11-6 after 10 minutes. Â
The Phoenix scored on its opening possession, with McNeal continuing her scoring momentum.  McNeal would add a free throw on the next possession to increase her scoring total up to 9, and extending the Phoenix lead to 14-6.  Green Bay was just as effective on the defensive end, holding the Vikings scoreless for the first 5:23 of the quarter until Sarah Guerreiro scored on back to back possessions.  The media timeout came late in the quarter, with Green Bay holding a 20-11 lead with 3:26 left in the half.  Jordana Reisma scored her all 4 of her points for the game in the 2nd, on back to back possessions. Green Bay would dominate rest of the half, as the Phoenix went into the locker room with a 27-17 lead, after forcing 14 Vikings turnovers. Â
Green Bay held a double digit lead for most of the 3rd quarter, exchanging buckets with Cleveland State for the majority of the period. With another late media break, the Phoenix held a 37-26 lead with 2:44 left in the 3rd, but with Mickayla Perdue going to the free throw line to try to convert an And 1. Out of the timeout, Perdue sank the free throw cutting the Phoenix lead to just 10. The Vikings were able to rally back into the ballgame, closing the 3rd period on a 12-3 run, including that And 1, to make the score 40-36 going into the final quarter.
Green Bay and Cleveland exchanged baskets early in the 4th, keeping the game to a 4 point difference.  That is, until Green Bay was able to explode offensively.  Callie Genke hit a 3, Natalie McNeal scores 4 in a row, and Jasmine Kondrakiewicz scored as well on a layup that prompted the Vikings to call timeout, as the Phoenix had Cleveland State on the ropes.  After the timeout, Perdue did break the scoring run with a jumper, but Green Bay was able to break the Vikings full court press in short order, as Miah Meyer found Jasmine Kondrakiewicz on the break.  The sequence darn near repeated itself, as Perdue hit another shot, and once again Meyer found Kondrakiewicz again on the press break.  Green Bay put the finishing touches on the game minutes later as Bailey Butler hit a 3 to put Green Bay up 61-45 with 3:15 left in regulation prompting another Vikings timeout. Mya Moore was able to tack on a 3 point play for the Vikings, which Jenna Guyer answered with a corner 3 deep in the shot clock.  Green Bay got one more defensive stop and called a substitution timeout to go deeper into the bench and give the starters a well deserved ovation from the raucous crowd. Â
McNeal led all scorers with 24 points on a 10-13 shooting display. Nearly all of her points came from exploiting the middle of Cleveland State’s 2-3 zone. Genke also finished in double figures as she totaled 11 in the game.  Defensively, Green Bay forced 21 Vikings turnovers, including 9 steals. The Phoenix also held former Horizon League Player of the Year, Destiny Leo, scoreless for the game and held Mickayla Perdue to 6-21 shooting from the floor. The game also saw the return of Green Bay star guard Maddy Schreiber, who had been out with injury since mid December.  In her return, she scored 3 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.Â
After the game, Karius and McNeal spoke with the media on the win, the team chemistry, the return of Schreiber, and the rivalry against Cleveland State among various topics. You can see that in the video below. Â
Green Bay travels to IU-Indy for a one game road trip on Sunday before returning home next week. Tipoff is set for 1pm against the Jaguars.
