In sports, people often say, it isn’t how you start, but how you finish that is the most important. It’s a cliche that is older than anyone reading this piece, but one that once again showed why it is a tried and true sentiment. In Thursday’s matinee contest between the visiting Green Bay Phoenix and the Robert Morris Colonials, Green Bay was able to weather the storm and pulled out a thrilling 61 to 58 win over the Colonials.
Things started out disastrously for Green Bay. Not that the players or coaches would ever make excuses, but it was an environment ripe for the league’s top team to get knocked off. With the game being played at Robert Morris, the game essentially had a 10:00 AM central time tip off, in front of a crowd of hundreds of screaming school children attending the game for Education Day. The Colonials got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 10 to 0 run to open the game, forcing coach Kayla Karius to burn a timeout and prompt the first quarter media timeout. Robert Morris would add another long ball before the Phoenix finally got on the board with a Meghan Schultz bucket, its lone score in the first quarter. The Colonials though, weren’t done in the opening period yet, building the lead to a staggering 19 to 2 advantage before the first ten minutes were up.
Green Bay opened the second quarter with the ball, and immediately got on the board again, this time Gracie Grzesk scoring, despite being fouled. While she was unable to convert the three point play, this bucket helped spark a Phoenix rally. Grzesk, Maddy Skorupski and Ellie Buzzelle helped rally Green Bay back into the game, ahead of the second quarter media break. Another Schultz bucket brought on the stoppage, where she would have a chance to convert an And 1 after the break. Schultz was unable to convert the three point play, but got the rebound but Grzesk came up with the rebound and Schultz ultimately found the bucket again for a four point possession. RMU was able to break up the run, and the teams matched buckets over the next few minutes. With 1:32 left in the second quarter, Buzzelle splashed a three, tying the game for the first time since the opening tip. Aislin Malcolm put the Colonials back in front to close scoring for the half, as RMU took a 30 to 28 lead to the locker room.
Malcolm scored the opening bucket of the third quarter to expand the lead out for Robert Morris, and later hit a three to cap off seven point run that spanned across the halftime break. Jenna Guyer got Green Bay on the scoreboard in the third with a made triple of her own, starting a small run for Green Bay. Layke Fields had a pass intercepted by Skorupski, who scored on a pull up jumper to trim the deficit. Malcolm found the basket again, this time from inside the paint, but Guyer connected on another three on Green Bay’s ensuing possession. Eva Levingston and Schultz exchanged baskets for each team, prior to Guyer connecting on yet another made three pointer to give Green Bay its first lead of the contest. Myriam Traore would hit a trio of free throws over the next few minutes to tie and ultimately put the Colonials back in the lead. The advantage was short lived, as Schultz split a trip to the free throw line in the final minute of the third to tie the game, and after 30 minutes of play, the game was deadlocked once again.
An early exchange of points in the final period of regulation started with the Colonials going back in front again, but answered by free throw shooting from the Phoenix. Another Guyer three ball gave Green Bay a four point lead, that ballooned to six points after a Grzesk bucket in the paint. Robert Morris coach Chandler McCabe called a timeout to slow Green Bay’s momentum, and out of the break in action saw Bailey Kuhns go to the free throw line after a Grzesk foul. Kuhns split the trip but the Colonials got a stop on the defensive end, leading to Malcolm burying another long range jumper to cut the Phoenix lead down to just two points. Green Bay tried to answer with Guyer pulling the trigger on a three, but it missed, giving the ball back to RMU. Both teams exchanged misses before Malcolm was fouled and tied the game up at the free throw line for the Colonials. Robert Morris used this to surge out to a 58 to 53 lead with 2:39 left in regulation. The Phoenix were held scoreless over the next minute plus, but had one last rally in it, starting with a Skorupski jumper with 0:56 left. Late in the shot clock, Schultz blocked a Malcolm shot, who got her own rebound but was unable to complete a pass, as it went out of bounds on the exchange and gave the ball back to Green Bay. From there, it was the Kamy Peppler show. Peppler tied the game with a made three pointer with 0:11 left in regulation, leading to McCabe calling a timeout. Peppler guarded Jada Lee and forced a bad shot which went out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Phoenix with a little over one second left. Coach Karius’ timeout advanced the ball, and Peppler curled off a screen, and banked an NBA range three pointer as time expired to keep Green Bay undefeated in Horizon League play this season.
Skorupski led Green Bay with a team high 13 points, part of which took her over 1,000 career points early in the contest. Guyer and Schultz each added 12 points to lead the Phoenix. Kuhns led all scorers with 18 points in the loss, with Traore adding 16 and Malcolm chipping in 15 for Robert Morris. The Colonials bench was held scoreless in the contest.
Next up for Green Bay, a Saturday afternoon contest against Youngstown State in the Beeghly Center, as the second place Penguins will look to see if they can create a narrow window to contend for the Horizon League’s regular season championship. Tipoff is slated for 1:00 PM CT. Robert Morris will host Milwaukee on Saturday with the same 1:00 PM CT start time.
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